A few months have passed since I moved back to Bucharest and I must say – it feels good to be back inside my comfort zone. It feels nice to sleep in the same place for more than 2 nights in a row, it’s nice to know good restaurants, it’s great to be near family and friends.
I love being home but at the same time, I miss traveling. I love not knowing which is my next destination, I love Bali and I want to go back. If I could just split myself – half of me on a beach in Bali and half laying in bed at home – that would be perfect.
But since this is not possible, all I have to do is relax and enjoy spending time with family and friends until next year when we’ll begin a new adventure.
November has been a full month and I managed to travel a little. I love traveling in Europe and if it wasn’t so expensive, I would visit each city in each country. Haha.
1. Travel
For the first time, me and my mum went on a trip just the two of us. We explored beautiful Bruges and Ghent, in the heart of Belgium. It was my second time in these two cities and I was already familiar with them. However, this didn’t stop me from discovering new places.
We spent three days in Bruges which was a little much given the fact that Bruges is a small city that can be explored on foot; probably 2 days are enough. We also did a day trip to Ghent.
Even though the weather forecast showed rain for all the days, we were pretty lucky. It only rained one morning. When it comes to weather, I am pretty lucky. I’ve traveled for one month during the rainy season in Myanmar and it only rained twice.
I think I am like a sunshine guru. Wherever I go the weather is great. They should pay me to go to places where it rains a lot to bring the sun. This would be my dream job – being paid to travel. Oh, wait – that’s what I currently do.
Back to Belgium. I loved Bruges and I would gladly go back the third time. The cute houses, the canals, the tons of chocolate – everything is just perfect here. I have to admit that I overdosed on Belgian chocolate. I am a chocolate addict.
-> Read my guide to visiting Bruges here
I also tried some local beer and surprisingly, I liked it. Did you know that there are over 1000 brands of beer in Belgium? When you go to a store, you have to choose between hundreds of brands which is quite difficult. I was lucky that one friend who lives in Belgium told me which beer to try (for those of you who are curious – it is called Kwak).
Leaving the chocolate and beer aside, me and my mom visited all the tourist attractions in Bruges but my favorite one was the Kantcentrum. Bruges is well known for its handmade lace and at Kantcentrum we had the chance to see some awesome handmade lace designs. But the best part was that we could watch the ladies making the lace.
Just imagine that 2×2 cm of lace takes 22 hours to make. That’s insane!
Now let’s talk a bit about Ghent. We took the train for about 20 minutes and we arrived in this beautiful city. In terms of architecture, I think I prefer Ghent. The old city is full of incredible buildings and many churches. All the towers, canals and the overall architecture make the old city look like a fairy tale.
-> Read my guide about Ghent here
We did some shopping, took a canal tour, visited a few churches and then we headed back to Bruges.
Overall, I loved spending time with my mum while exploring these two cities. 🙂
2. Travel plans
Next month me and Dan will be celebrating 7 years of being together and we plan to take a short trip to Sibiu, Romania to see the Christmas Market. A few years ago, Sibiu was designated as the European Cultural Capital.
It’s a beautiful city, with a lot of history, and I just can’t wait to eat sweets and drink wine at the Christmas Market.
3. Daily life updates
There’s not much to say here except the fact that I caught a cold and now I’m stuck with a cough that doesn’t seem to go away. Apart from coughing, I spent the rest of the month writing and drinking tea. 🙂
4. Blog updates
At the beginning of November, Google decided to roll out an update that affected most bloggers. Unfortunately, my traffic has slightly decreased but nothing to worry about. Now I’m at about 100,000 page views per month which is not bad.
This month I wrote a few guides. Hopefully, you will find them useful for your future travels. Here they are:
- 20 awesome things to do in Bohol, Philippines
- Everything you need to know about island hopping in Bohol
- 3 days in Bohol – itinerary
- Bruges or Ghent – which one to choose?
- Top Bruges photo locations
- One day in Bruges itinerary
- 10 incredible things to do in Chefchaouen, Morocco
- How to get to Chefchaouen, Morocco
Thanks for reading my monthly journal. It means a lot! See you next month!
May the travel bug bite you!
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Aurelia Teslaru is a professional travel blogger and the writer behind Daily Travel Pill. With a 4-year experience as a travel writer and photographer, Aurelia only shares travel guides about destinations that she visited.
She has been to more than 40 countries during the past 10 years and aims to explore 50 countries before turning 30 years old. Aurelia is a digital nomad who transformed her passion for travel into a lifestyle. Read more about her here.
To follow her adventures, check out her Instagram and Facebook pages!