New Orleans Jazz Fest is the equivalent of Mardi Gras for music lovers. To avoid some of the common faux pas of a first-time visitor, here are some basic do’s and don’ts to observe.
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All articles filed in Alenka, TravelSehnsucht
My imaginary New Zealand job that I am cut out for
All it took was a job vacancy offer for a “Social Media / Digital Expert” that I found on Facebook to send my mind wandering. It wasn’t just any job, mind you, it was an open position at Euro Campers, a New Zealand camper rental company based close to Christchurch. I started imagining myself joining the…
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Ayurveda with benefits or how I survived two weeks offline
On Christmas morning I logged out of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and boarded a plane. I was ready for a mental and physical detox. And what better place to end up at than Perumbayil Ayurvedamana, an authentic ayurveda hospital in Kerala. What followed were two weeks of complete relaxation that led me to some surprising…
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My year 2017 in pictures
Facebook keeps reminding me how great my 2017 was: According to Zuckerberg’s algorithms I made X new friends, earned Y likes, wows and hahas and gained a couple of “biggest fans”. But what does this really say about the last twelve months? Not much, as it turns out. Apart from the fact that I posted…
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Toilets and trains make me want to go back to Japan
The train is seven minutes late. Halfway through a 70 km distance, that is. In Japan something like this only happens after a typhoon wreaked havoc across half a country. Back home it’s a normal part of my morning commute that throws me into an unexpected state of reverse cultural shock right on the first…
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10 best Japanese dining experiences (according to me)
If you’re looking for the ultimate list of the best dining experiences in Japan, you might be disappointed. With so many diverse foods and eateries ranging from informal to exquisite Michelin-starred restaurants putting together any kind of “best of” list would be mission impossible. So what you have here is only my personal account of…
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Japan in rain: 5 tips for surviving even the worst of weather
The weather forecast didn’t look good: Constant rain for the first five days of our trip to Japan with a chance of a typhoon brewing up later on. Of course, my hubbs thought that I was exaggerating and that no weather outlook could ever be as bad as I can conjure it up in my…
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The hidden European gem I don’t want you to know about
Overcrowded tourist attractions are fending off people like flies. Local people are leaving their favourite haunts to hordes of travellers in search of authenticity, best selfie spots and cheap souvenirs. What was once hospitality is slowly turning to hostility towards visitors from all over the world. This seems to be the hottest topic of this…
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Camping Ski Holiday. Seriously?
I love skiing. When I swoop down the slope on a crisp winter day I can feel almost as ecstatic as a dog sticking its head out of the car window. Not even freezing cold and snow can deter me as long as I know there’s the sweet reward of hot sauna and tasty meal…
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Milford Sound Road – a Tourist Deathtrap?
“Gateway to Fiordland becoming a deathtrap for tourist drivers”. The article on a New Zealand online news site immediately caught my attention. Of course I wanted to find out how exposed to risk we were just a couple of months back without even knowing it. “Along with its reputation as being one of the most…
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