France - Paris

I have always told myself: "I will visit Paris when I am married and 50+ years old". I´m not married nor 50, but I´m off to Paris! Without much research, Ina and myself decided to spend a weekend in the wonderful city of Paris. Arriving in Paris, we where both excited about everything. We took the train to the city centre, where we had to transfer to the blue line towards Place Charles de Gaulle. As we walked up the stairs to exit the subway, we immediately got a wonderful welcome from the Arc de Triomphe. Before we got too excited, we decided to drop our bags to the hotel. Thanks to my new job, I managed to book a standard room at Le Meridien Etoile, which had a very good location during our stay.  

We kicked off the day with a french lunch at GUEST, a café located nearby our hotel. The owned knew every single guest and greeted them with kisses on the cheeks. The atmosphere was amazing and oh boy, that lunch was good! Straight after, we walked back to the Arc de Triomphe to take some photos and just explore. Straight after, we walked towards the Eiffel Tower. On our way there, we walked by some embassies, and suddenly met Dash, who is working for the Mongolian embassy. He had some pretty interesting stories to tell, and was in general a very nice company during our first day in Paris. Not only was he fun, but also made people wonder. Literally, everybody thought that we were hanging out with PSY (the korean singer), and were taking photos of him/us. We walked up the stairs to the tower, took some photos and had a 360 view over Paris. Straight after, we headed to the Notre-Dame Church, for me the most important attraction to see here in Paris. Just seeing the church, and see it from the inside was magical. We were lucky to experience a worship, in Notre-Dame. How crazy is that? Outside the Notre-Dame, we enjoyed some red wine and crepes. After a long day with a lot of sightseeing, we headed back to our hotel. Later in the evening, we met up with some friend of Ina. We enjoyed a dinner at their restaurant and after to VIP ROOM. It was definitely a club experience out the ordinary. Not did we only enjoy several bottles of champagne for 600€/bottle for free, but the music was excellent, the dancers and the man hitting the drum.

So let´s continue to Saturday, the morning when Ina was suffering of a bad hangover. I decided to have a walk along the Champs-Élysées. I ended up walking through a Christmas market, past the Petit Palais and Pont Alexandre III Bridge and ending up at the Roue de Paris. I reunited with Ina there, and we walked to the Musée de Louvre. We bought some souvenirs and had dinner together. When we got home, I found out that my dear friend Yewon, from South Korea, were in Paris and only 600meters from our hotel. We had a quick coffee and it was lovely to catch up!  

Sunday, our last day was spent having a wonderful brunch at Season. We also managed to visit the Sacre Coeur before we had to head back to the airport and home to Stockholm. Paris was more amazing than I expected. I could definitely see myself visit Paris again and maybe even living there for some time. Paris, Je t'aime!

Germany - Austria

One of the best ways to create memories for life and travel is to visit friends living in other countries. Christina, who I became my best friend after spending a year in South Korea together, visited me in Finland last year. Now, naturally, it´s my turn to pay her a visit. Germany doesn´t sound like the most exciting and exotic destination, but the main reason for my choice of destination is Christina of course.

I arrived late Tuesday evening and I got the most loving hug from Christina. It´s rare that someone is meeting me at an airport and trust me, it´s the best feeling. We drove back to her hometown and had plenty of time to catch up, talk, and plan for the next upcoming days.

Christina lives in a little town called Palling. When I say a little town, I really mean it. People are growing their own vegetables, herbs and spices on their balconies. There was one little bakery, a few supermarkets and miles and miles of cornfields.

Wednesday morning we woke up and headed to the local bakery. We enjoyed some croissants and hot chocolate before continuing our journey to Salzburg, Austria. Our friend Natalie, flying in from London, also decided to take some days off and spend them with us in Germany. I love reunions! Whenever our trio has reunited 3 times since we left South Korea, and whenever we meet, it feels like we´ve never been apart. Anyways, the whole Wednesday was spent in Salzburg. The weather was perfect and what a beautiful city Salzburg is! We walked through the Mirabell Garden, stopped by Mozart’s birthplace and had the perfect panorama view from the Fortress Hohensalzburg. We had a lovely typical Austrian lunch at a market in the middle of the city. To finish the day off, we had the most delicious steaks at a cozy restaurant.

Thursday, probably the day we have been waiting for the most. Our morning started with a homemade breakfast (yes I got used to eat breakfast everyday) and continued with just hanging out and making ourselves ready for… wait for it… Oktoberfest! Lucky me, Christina had a dress for me, and it was perfect on me! She also braided my hair before we had to leave to the train station. In the train we had a few Radlers, since none of us really likes beer. When we arrived in Munich, you could see everybody men and women wearing the traditional clothes. The Oktoberfest area was huge and full of people, amusement rides, food stands, bars and tents. Most of the evening was spent in one of the big tents drinking beer, dancing on the tables and singing. It was a blast! After the party was over, we took a taxi to Christina’s friend’s apartment and spent the night there. Christina’s boyfriend Wolfie joined us at the apartment.

Feeling-fresh-Friday… After visiting a bakery in the morning, we drove approximately 2 hours to Schloss Neuscwanstein. This was something unknown to me, before I did some research about the south part of Germany. Immediately when I saw this wonderful magical castle, I told Christina that we have to go there. Luckily, none of us had ever been there, which made the trip there more exciting. When we arrived to the castle, all Disney princess songs started to play in my head and an instant smile appeared on my face. I have never seen something to magical, almost unreal. Who knew Germany, a country so close to Finland could be so beautiful and have these hidden treasures? The castle was amazing, but our stomachs were screaming for food, and we had the most delicious döner kebab before driving back home.

Saturday morning, Natalie left from Salzburg back to London, while me and Christina did some shopping before heading back home. At home we had a lovely lunch at her balcony and enjoyed the sun. My last day with Christina was just spent at home and her family, talking and just spending time together. In the evening, Christina and me made some hamburgers from scratch.

Early Sunday morning, Christina drove me to the airport and we said goodbye. It´s always hard saying goodbye, but I know we will meet again very soon, because we both will make an effort making it happen. I´m truly blessed to have a friend like Christina, who was the best host ever! Not to forget Natalie, who is a dear friend who I love a lot aswell.

All in all, this trip was such an eye-opening experience. I saws things I never thought I will see and attended the Oktoberfest in Munchen, which I thought I never would. Very satisfied with this trip and I wish I can make it to Germany and Oktoberfest again maybe next year or in the soon future!

All good things comes to an end

Travelling is an adventure full of new experiences, new cities, countries and new people. While on the road you will learn new things about the country you visit, you will get to know new people and hear their life stories and simultaneously share your story with others. What story do you share? What kind of impact do you have on people you just met and how will they perceive you? Travelling doesn´t only teach you about new destinations, but about something that´s closer than you think – you. It only takes a ticket to an unfamiliar country, long flights, new challenges and a few lonely days to make you stop and think. Who am I, where do I want to go and how do I want to be perceived by others?

Travelling brings happiness, life lessons, more value and memories for life, but how do you maintain that drive while being back home? When the unknown parts of the world treats you better than your life back home, why return? When a complete stranger notices you, values and appreciates your gestures and your existence, why return to a place where it´s all about “me” and less about “us”? Why waste time in a place or with people that will suck out your energy for life, take your happiness and turn you into someone you don´t want to be. The world will let you be whoever you want, and most importantly, the world wants you to be you.  

When you leave your comfort zone, the world becomes your best friend – take care of it, enjoy it, love it, appreciate it and treat it with respect. Don´t be afraid to give the world a chance, get to know it and let the world get to know you and most importantly get to know yourself – your true self.

These were some of the thought that were twisting inside of my head while I sat on my flight back to Helsinki from Bali. I can´t wait to say bye to Finland and say Hello to the world again!

Nusa Islands

The Nusa Islands consists of three islands - Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. Nusa Penida has some of the best dive sites in Bali. Today Josefine, two of her roommates and myself took a speedboat at 12:30am to Nusa Lembongan. We rented two scooters and drove to our guest house. It was a bit tricky to find, but when we finally found it we jumped into the infinity pool. The Kubu Sunset Guest House is a new guest house with beautiful rooms where you can enjoy a shower under the stars, since the bathroom didn´t have a roof. On Thursday we drove around the island, had dinner, a few drinks and mostly relaxed. The next morning I woke up early to dive. Whenever I get the pictures from the dive shop, I will write more about the amazing diving trips I did on Friday and Saturday morning! Even though we were staying at Nusa Lembongan, we crossed the Suspension Bridge to see Nusa Ceningan, and because of my diving trips, I was lucky to have a look at the Nusa Penida Island too. Today before heading back to Bali we did a short kayak trip in the mangrove forest. Such a nice get-away and now enjoy some of the pictures.

Green Bowl Beach and Uluwatu Temple

After a long day on the scooter, we finally made it back home. Josefine finally made it to school today (no, she hasn´t attended classes yet this week). When she got home we had lunch at Taco Casa before we drove to the southern part of Bali. We enjoyed the sun at Green Bowl Beach for a few hours and from there we drove to the Uluwatu Temple to watch the sunset. Such a beautiful place! The evening was spent at the beach listening to live music.

Selamat Siang Bali

Once again the adventure continues. Bali will be my final destination on this trip, but also one of the destinations I´ve been looking forward to the most. My trip so far has been hectic so being in Bali will be my vacation from my vacation pretty much. My best friend since many years ago, Josefine, is currently studying in Bali for one semester. I´ve never been to Bali before and since she visited me in Seoul two years ago, I felt like going to Bali right now was the perfect option. We haven´t seen each other since December, so it will be great to catch up again and see how Bali has been treating my sister.

From Seoul I flew to Kuala Lumpur (6 hours) and after a 2,5 hour layover the trip continued to Bali, Indonesia. When I arrived, Josefine picked me up with her scooter and drove us to her villa. The villa is located in Kerobokan, where Josie is staying with her 11 villa mates. 

My first day in Bali was spent with Josie´s villa mates. We had a lovely breakfast before we arrived to  the beach. Later in the evening we had dinner at a local dinner and a few drinks with live music at Double Six Beach.

Today was spent at our rooftop just relaxing before heading to Sky Garden for dinner and drinks. For only 115,000 rp (7,60€) you could enjoy the delicious buffet and unlimited drinks from 5-9pm. We had a lot of fun barhopping from Sky Garden, Eikon, Engine and finally to La Faleva.

Bye Seoul

Being in Seoul didn´t feel like a vacation. Walking around in Seoul, meeting old friends and eating at the same restaurant as before feels like being an exchange student in Seoul again. 

We were spending 14 nights at Apple Mango Guesthouse located in Hongdae. It was great to live in another area and be able to try out new restaurants and see some new places. The guesthouse was welcoming, spacious, and had everything and more you can ask from a guesthouse. The only thing that was annoying was some of the guests, but that´s not the guesthouses fault.

In general, Seoul was fantastic, I missed it a lot and once again it´s hard to say goodbye. Would be great to study there again or work for a couple years. Let´s see where I find myself in the future.