The Blog

Real stories from the road — with a voiceover option on every post. Read or listen, your call.

Anca with arms outstretched on a hilltop summit above a volcanic crater lake, Azores

Solo Female Travel

One Year of Solo Travel: What I Wish I'd Known Before I Left

The things no travel blog told me. The things I had to figure out alone at 11pm in a city where I didn't speak the language. And the things that made every bit of it worth it.

June 2025 · 15 min read

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Anca cycling free in the Veneto countryside, arms open, gravel road ahead

Sports & Adventure

Endless Gravel, a Man With His Dog, and Getting Very Lost Near Venice

Gravel cycling in the Veneto. A detour that became the best part, a very cool man who brought his dog to the race, and cleaning the bike in a river after.

Veneto, Italy · 5 min read

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Veneto Gravel 2025 race start — riders lined up in the Veneto countryside

Sports & Adventure

Veneto Gravel 2025: Rain, a Ranch Bed, and the Day the Pope Died

The race days. A family ranch, GPS failing at Lake Garda, strawberries when exhausted, and the moment mid-stage when news arrived that stopped everyone.

Veneto, Italy · 7 min read

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Anca walking on a snowy mountain path under a violent orange and red sunset sky in the Dolomites

Sports & Adventure

A Week in the Dolomites: Five Hikes That Made Me Stop Walking Just to Look

Late-season hiking around Cortina d'Ampezzo — Tre Cime, Lago di Sorapis, Lago di Braies, and the sky that made me forget where I was going.

Cortina d'Ampezzo · 8 min read

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Group of five friends watching sunset above Funchal, Madeira

Remote Work

Madeira in March: Rain, Cowork, and the People Who Made It Worth It

Month one of full-time remote travel. The trails were closed. Something better opened instead.

Funchal, Madeira · 7 min read

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Lone figure climbing Pico Arieiro steps at dawn, above the clouds

Sports & Adventure

The Hikes That Made Me Understand Madeira

Pico Arieiro at dawn, 25 Fontes, swimming under waterfalls, running in fog with cows.

Madeira · 8 min read

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Narrow red dirt path through dense green ferns, Madeira moorland

Travel Stories

Off the Map: What Happens When You Leave the Trail

No path. No plan. A yellow bush in the wind and a carpet of daisies at the end.

Madeira · 4 min read

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Porto Santo's long golden beach with dramatic storm clouds and turquoise water

Travel Stories

Porto Santo: One Day, Two Beaches, Grilled Octopus, and an Airport Sunset

The island next door. A day trip that ended with sleeping on the airport floor and the best sunset of the trip.

Porto Santo · 6 min read

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Group of skiers at golden hour on a Romanian ski slope

Sports & Adventure

Ski Camp: Trial, Error, and Fire Shows at Night

Some people were jumping between trees. I was looking at my ski tips. Both are valid.

Romanian Carpathians · 7 min read

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Two climbers ascending a frozen waterfall near Cluj

Sports & Adventure

Climbing a Frozen Waterfall 30 Minutes from Cluj

In winter, Cascada Mireasa freezes solid. Ice axes, crampons, and the thunk of metal finding purchase.

Cascada Mireasa, Romania · 5 min read

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Anca with arms raised on a vast boulder field in the Retezat, Romania

Sports & Adventure

Run Your Age in the Retezat: The Weekend That Tested Everything

30km in the Romanian Carpathians for my 30th birthday. Boulder fields, glacial lakes, and the specific satisfaction of doing something hard on purpose.

Retezat, Romania · 12 min read

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Anca cycling solo on a road with a full rainbow overhead

Sports & Adventure

Dogs at the Border, Blindness in a Tunnel, Fireflies at Night

Three moments from a bicycle trip from Romania to Croatia that I'll never forget.

Romania → Croatia · 7 min read

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Nice coastline, France

Solo Female Travel

I Burned My Eyelashes in Nice. I'd Do It Again.

My first solo remote work trip. What the Côte d'Azur taught me — the hard way.

Nice, France · 6 min read

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Anca paragliding above the Tenerife coast, volcanic landscape and blue Atlantic below

Travel Stories

Tenerife Is Not Just a Beach Holiday: Paragliding, Dolphins, a Mysterious Bike Chain, and Sand Art in Spanish

Two weeks of water sports, road trips, kite surfers, a crab standoff underwater, and a sentence written in sand that stuck with me long after the tide took it.

Tenerife · 9 min read

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Anca doing yoga silhouetted against a Tenerife sunset

Remote Work

Tenerife, Week Two: Outdoor Gyms, Yoga at Sunset, an Argentinian Cookie, and the Party with the Best Food I've Ever Eaten

Coworking life, daily outdoor workouts, a cookie that saved the afternoon, one unforgettable night out, and moving on.

Tenerife · 6 min read

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Lush green laurisilva forest in the north of Tenerife

Travel Stories

The Green Tenerife Nobody Talks About: Ice Cream After Work, a Sunset Buddy, and Leaving with Fruit in My Bag

The foggy, ancient laurisilva forests of the north — and the smaller moments: ice cream on the beach, a good travel buddy, and a mango eaten on the way to the gate.

Tenerife · 5 min read

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Anca completely mud-covered after five hours of cycling in the Veneto

Travel Stories

Too Many Good Directions, a Brave Pigeon, Five Hours of Mud, and a Beach Day in Caorle

Last Tenerife days — aperol with a nomad, a pigeon with more confidence than most people — then a cycling race in Italy, comprehensive mud, and recovery on the Adriatic.

Tenerife → Veneto · 6 min read

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Anca overwhelmed by the majesty of nature in Tenerife

Travel Stories

No Rush: Arriving in Tenerife, a Huge Potato, Kids Living Their Best Life, and Returning the Car

The arrival chapter — cacti worth stopping for, papas arrugadas, kids at the beach doing it right, and handing back the keys at the end.

Tenerife · 5 min read

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Anca handing her touring bike to a smiling Argentinian traveller in Tenerife

Sports & Adventure

Biking Tenerife: Everything Aligned, the Bushes Did Not, and I Gave the Bike Away at the End

Cycling across the island — elevator logistics, empty mountain roads, getting stuck in scrub avoiding the motorway, strangers who helped, and the Argentinian guy who rode off with the bike.

Tenerife · 7 min read

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Volcanic landscape of Tenerife

Sports & Adventure

El Teide: The Last 500 Metres, We Crawled

A night hike up Spain's highest peak. Wind so strong you couldn't stand upright.

Tenerife · 6 min read

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Anca on a ridge in the Azores with arms wide open, island spread out below

Sports & Adventure

The Hike Where I Believed I Could Fly. The Tree That Made Me Stay.

A ridge with views to both coasts, a waterfall you swim toward, thermal water after, and a sunset that made everything feel connected.

Sao Miguel, Azores · 5 min read

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Rainbow over Sao Miguel on arrival

Solo Female Travel

The Island Greeted Me With a Rainbow. Things Were Clearly Going to Go Well.

First days in Sao Miguel. Terra Nostra, city park rabbits, and the places that make you smile with your whole body.

Azores · 5 min read

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Azores coastal cliffs, Sao Miguel

Solo Female Travel

My Driving Licence Was Expired. The Azores Gave Me Better.

No car, no plan. How I accidentally built the best travel week of my life.

Azores · 6 min read

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Hiking in heavy rain in the Azores, surrounded by wildflowers

Sports & Adventure

Hiking in the Rain, Eating Food Cooked by Volcanoes

Furnas thermal stew, a hot spring called heaven, and getting completely soaked on a mountain.

Furnas, Azores · 6 min read

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Madeira hiking trail above the clouds

Sports & Adventure

The Biggest Smile I Ever Had Came After Going Down a Waterfall

Waterfall rappelling in Madeira. The noise, the power, and the face in the mirror after.

Madeira · 5 min read

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Anca at Vlădeasa summit, arms raised, holding Orbea

Sports & Adventure

Vlădeasa, 1,835m: Up Here with the Orbea and the Romanian Sky

Climbing the highest peak in the Apuseni by bike — the effort, the summit, the Strava route.

Apuseni Mountains · 5 min read

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Orbea on a road through spectacular autumn forest and mountains

Sports & Adventure

The Orbea Knows All Four Seasons

First ride to summer cherries to autumn gold to mud — a year on the mint Orbea around Cluj.

Cluj-Napoca · 6 min read

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Anca with Orbea in a green meadow near Cluj

Sports & Adventure

The Trails Around Cluj I Ride on Repeat

Fagăt, Muntele Rece, Valea Ierii, Finișel — local rides that never stop giving.

Cluj-Napoca · 7 min read

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Anca kneeling beside her Orbea MTB in autumn grass, blue sky

Sports & Adventure

I Came Back with Half the Trail on My Face. Best Day.

A muddy downhill MTB day at Marisel near Cluj — and the moment I understood why people fall so hard for this sport.

Marisel, Cluj · 6 min read

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Paradise found in Bali — the best place, the right light, the feeling of having arrived

Travel Stories

I Arrived in Bali and Didn't Know Where I Was. A God Warned Me Things Would Get Funny.

First days in Bali. Morning offerings, a knowing deity, Canggu's chaos, an unexpected beach club, a horse with a price tag, and a family saying thank you to the universe.

Bali, Indonesia · 6 min read

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Golden Buddha under lantern-draped tree, Chiang Mai temple

Travel Stories

Chiang Mai's Temples Are Magical — But Not the Ones Everyone Photographs

Skip the tourist queues. I found the one with the lantern tree by accident, on a scooter, with no map open.

Thailand · 6 min read

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Night market in Vietnam — tropical fruit stalls piled high under warm lights

Remote Work

How I Spent 3 Weeks in Vietnam on a Remote Work Budget

Cafés with fast Wi-Fi, $5 phở, morning glory for a dollar, and lobster on a pavement stool. Here's what it actually costs.

Vietnam · 8 min read

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Anca on a scooter in Indonesia, arms raised, green mountains behind

Solo Female Travel

10 Things I Do in Every New City to Stay Safe as a Solo Woman

My actual routine — including going to bed at 9pm, becoming fully unrecognisable on a scooter, and letting a child demonstrate gym confidence.

Everywhere · 8 min read

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The Evangelical Cathedral of Sibiu lit up at night against a dark blue sky

Travel Stories

Sibiu for a Weekend: Towers, Street Art, Banana Bread, and a Drive Home with Sting

Medieval towers with Făgăraș views, street art in the alleys, very good banana bread, and a sunset drive that needed its own playlist.

Sibiu, Romania · 6 min read

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Lone hiker against a vast white slope on Vlădeasa, long blue shadows in the snow

Sports & Adventure

Winter Hiking in Romania: Vlădeasa in Snow, Tampa Hill, and Watching Skiers Go By

The mountains in winter belong to almost nobody. Vlădeasa frozen, Tampa Hill in Brașov, and the ongoing plan to eventually learn to ski.

Romanian Mountains · 6 min read

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The vast El Teide caldera — dark volcanic rock, summit cone, deep blue sky

Sports & Adventure

I Climbed El Teide. Then I Slept in El Teide.

The full-day hike up Spain's highest peak — remote woods, volcanic caldera, brutal wind — and the hostel room waiting at the end that was named El Teide. I had earned it.

Tenerife, Spain · 5 min read

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Sheer volcanic cliffs on the western coast of Tenerife dropping to the Atlantic

Sports & Adventure

Tenerife Has More Hiking Trails Than You Have Days For

Desert roads, dramatic cliffs, green north forests, above-cloud viewpoints — four completely different landscapes on one island.

Tenerife, Spain · 5 min read

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Sunrise above the clouds from El Teide summit, Tenerife

Sports & Adventure

El Teide at 2am. The Anaga Forest at Noon.

Starting before midnight to summit the highest peak in Spain for sunrise, then disappearing into the ancient laurisilva forest.

Tenerife, Spain · 5 min read

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Tandem paraglider airborne over the Tenerife coastline

Sports & Adventure

Born Under a Lucky Star: Paragliding Over Tenerife

Running off a cliff, catching a thermal, and spending twenty minutes above an island that looks completely different from up there.

Tenerife, Spain · 3 min read

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Sunset over Caorle lagoon, Italy — sky deep orange and pink, belltower silhouetted

Travel Stories

Caorle: the Beach Town That Looks Painted

Coloured houses, street art, very good pizza, and the kind of slow beach days you only find when you stop looking for them.

Caorle, Italy · 4 min read

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Empty ski slopes in the Romanian mountains in early morning — fresh snow, pine trees, clear sky

Sports & Adventure

Starting the Year at Altitude

New Year at a ski camp in the Romanian mountains — slopes, cold air, midnight outside in the snow, and people who feel like old friends by day two.

Romanian Mountains · 5 min read

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Anca riding a horse through the Azores countryside — ocean in the distance, hydrangeas lining the path

Sports & Adventure

From Two Wheels to Four Legs: Horse Riding in Sao Miguel

After weeks on a bike, swapping to a horse in the Azores. A completely different conversation with a landscape I thought I already knew.

Sao Miguel, Azores · 4 min read

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Rice terraces in Bali — cascading vivid green fields in morning light

Travel Stories

Bali: the Flowers, the Rice Fields, the Quiet Corners

Bali between the activity — gardens, offerings, rice terraces that look too green to be real, and the quieter version of the island.

Bali, Indonesia · 4 min read

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Every Story Has a Voice

Each post on this blog comes with an audio version — narrated by me, Anca. Hit play on any story card and listen while you walk, commute, or stare out a window. Travel writing was always meant to be heard.

🎙 Audio files will be uploaded per post. Placeholder player is shown on all cards.

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