About
Welcome to Travel Notes & Beyond, a collection of travel stories, photos and personal opinions focusing on less known travel destinations. This is where you can also learn about culture, history, food and more, and hopefully get inspired, informed and engaged. I am a Romanian-born award-winning travel writer and passionate photographer living in Southern California. Growing up, Read More
Awards
NATJA 2015 Silver Award Winner for "Travel Series – Online" Category
NATJA 2015 Finalist for "Photography Series – Online Publication
Affiliations
Back in the summer of 2016 I had the pleasure of meeting Jane and Duncan Dempster-Smith, the co-founders of “To Travel To.” In 2013, Jane and Duncan decided to leave the corporate world behind and see the world. Read more about Jane and Duncan in my interview with them:
1. Tell us a little about yourself: Who are you? Where are you from?
Jane – Co-Founder, Flashpacker, Travel Guru
Over the past four decades, Jane’s passion for travel has taken her to over 50 countries. She has lived and worked in Australia, UK and Singapore. With extensive experience in all aspects of travel from airport ground staff to air hostessing, retail, corporate and group travel, she has flown in two seaters, hot air balloons and even the Concorde. Jane offers her skills to baby boomers who want to change their lives; to travel light and travel far. Read More
The world is filled with so many spectacular places that one lifetime would not be enough to visit all of them. Most of us will probably never be able to visit everything that this world has to offer, but it’s worth trying. If we can brag about seeing the most famous sites, we should consider ourselves more fortunate than 75% of the world population. Visiting these spectacular places can be a deeply moving and valuable experience. So get your bucket lists ready because here are 10 of the most spectacular places on our planet:
1. Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef includes over 900 islands and 2,900 separate reefs. It’s the largest formation created by living organisms and one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. No wonder that it’s considered one of the seven wanders of the world. The best way to experience the Great Barrier Reef and see some of the most vibrant fish, coral and marine life, is either by snorkeling or scuba diving. Read More
Since beauty is so subjective, what makes a city attractive? Is it architecture, landmarks, cultural life? If you traveled long enough you probably discovered that the world is full of boring, colorless and uninspiring cities. And yet there are so many captivating ones that will steal your heart and lure you back on and on. For world travelers it’s easy to recognize a spectacular city. They are colorful and energetic They have beautiful squares and enough little backstreets where you can feel cozy.They are big and yet compact and orderly. They are diverse and have great cultural centers. And most importantly, they have very distinct personalities that can’t be replicated anywhere else. With so many remarkable European cities it’s easy to put together long lists of must-sees, but there will always be stunning places that get cut from lists like this. With that in mind, here are 10 fascinating European cities that you should visit at least once in your lifetime: Read More
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