Me, the Book-worm

I've been reading like crazy this summer!
Truth is, my summer plans changed quite a bit. Originally, I was planning on spending my summer in China, Vietnam, maybe Australia and then in Japan where I would work in Beppu (southern Japan) with a friend of mine. Unfortunately, that didn't happen so I've been lazily hanging around Prague. Many of my friends left for the summer or are doing their internships so I've been spending a lot of time wandering around the city, reading books and sipping on iced lattes. I won't complain as it's nice to relax before writing a bachelor's thesis but....I'm a type of person who loves to be busy all the time. So, in order to make use of my endless reading, I figured I would share with fellow wanderlusters who are book-worms like me:

1. Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami (my favourite author)
2. Norweigan Wood by Haruki Murakami
3. 19Q4 by Haruki Murakami
4. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
5. The General's Son by Miko Peled
6. Wild by Cheryl Strand
7. The Little Book of Mindfulness by Patricia Collard

Read on wanderlusters!

Whoa...New Name?

So...you may have noticed a slight change (okay, a big change! in TWW: the NAME. Yes, I decided to change the name to La Vie Bohème, seeing as now it won't only be a travel blog but a travel and lifestyle blog. I felt that the name would be a little deceiving to new readers. Plus, changes with TWW mean it's okay to change the name, right?

I'm working on getting the URL changed so it will be lavboheme.com instead of travelingwithwanderlust.blogspot.cz.

The name was inspired by the fact that I mostly reside in the Bohemia region of Czech Republic and life truly is quite 'Bohemian' there. A little ironic that the name is French and the region is in Czech Republic, eh?

I hope the new name and newness of everything else won't retract old readers and if so, drop me an email at travelingwithwanderlust@gmail.com and we will see what can be done :)

Have a lovely evening wanderlusters (yes, I will still call you all that) and travel on!

2015 Means Big Things

I broke my promise.
The promise that I would blog again more.
But there's a perfectly good excuse as for why that promise was broken and it's something called life.

Lame excuse, huh?
I can't tell you how quickly the last year and a half slipped by. I know a blogged here and there during that time but not as consistently as I used to.

I started off 2015 though with several goals in mind and one of them was to start blogging again. Over the last year and half I've been on a journey of what some would say 'self-discovery'; learning about the ins and outs of myself and the wide, wide world out there.
While I haven't traveled much, except between the United States and Europe, 2014 was a pretty monumental year. I'll be honest and admit it was definitely not my favorite years and I'm VERY glad that it's over but the lessons I learned and the improvements I've made will stick with me forever. One of the major things that changed was my writing and my ability to express myself through my writing. So, I'm very excited to write more on TWW and share my thoughts with fellow wanderlusters!

I'm really looking forward to this year (and the years that lie ahead). Some big things are going to happening this year. I'll get those 'big things' in future posts but I'm positive that these big things will make for good blog posts on Traveling with Wanderlust.

I also hope that I can share with you all more than just travel, but also my passion for style and fashion, my (usually sad, pathetic) attempts at cooking and baking, my yoga and meditation practices, photos which spark something wonderful inside me and just daily thoughts/short stories/poems I write.

Another major happening which will occur this year is the release of my first book. I've been working like a maniac the last year or so on writing, editing and ultimately finishing my first fiction drama/mystery novel. I won't disclose anymore as I want to keep it as much of a surprise as possible but I hope that once it is finished and published, I can share some of my thoughts, reasons and what not behind the book with you all!

Here's to a New Year and new beginnings either with old projects/things or entirely new ones.
Happy traveling and a wonderful Monday to all you wanderlusters out there!

P.S. Keep your eyes peeled for a post tomorrow morning- U.S. time, so afternoon for all my other global readers! :)

TWW- Under Construction + BIG Changes

Traveling with Wanderlust is about to become more of a personal blog with a little bit of fashion, a lot of travel, some opinions on various subjects/current events, along with random writing pieces and what not...a little bit of everything!

So, with that said, the TWW site will be under construction for the next few days but when it goes live again, I will make sure to inform everyone via a new post and there will also be several exciting posts which will follow!

I'm really looking forward to sharing my latest wanderlust adventures (and some other stuff) with fellow wanderlusters + anyone who wants to read about my life...good luck with that...I'm actually laughing out loud right now so I guess it's appropriate to write "lol".

Travel on wanderlusters!

The Resurrection of TWW

I couldn't take the absence from writing about travel and life in general anymore.

So, with that being said, commence the resurrection and relaunch of Traveling with Wanderlust. 

Passports and Coffee is now a separate website- www.passportsandcoffee.com- which is being constructed and put together at the moment.
However, I'll bring back Traveling with Wanderlust to this blog and redesign the page and come up with some exciting new posts for you all to start reading regularly again.

This is exciting stuff! I am so happy to be back and writing again.

Travel (and now read on) wanderlusters!

UNKNOWN ISLANDS OF THE WORLD

So you think you know all the little islands this planet has to offer? Well, here are 10 that you probably have never heard of. We're not off to the islands of Waikiki, as Nicki Minaj would say, but the secret islands hidden in plain sight.

1. The Azores, Portugal


2. San Andres, Colombia

3. Summer Isles, Scotland

4. Chiloe, Chile

5. Lord Howe Island, Australia


6. Isle au Haut, Maine



7. Ibo Island, Mozambique

8. Juist, East Frisian Islands, Germany

9. The Corn Islands, Nicaragua


10. Koh Rong, Cambodia


Have you ever been to any of these mysterious islands? I know I sure want to go and see what these islands have to offer.

Travel on wanderlusters!

WORDPRESS

Traveling with Wanderlust is now on Wordpress, go check it out!

Just a few more hours left at work...I feel like a little kid in the candy store, butterflies and excitement in my tummy! Freedom is just around the corner!

Travel on wanderlusters!

PSYCHICS

Are another topic, whom present us with an extremely controversial opinions, which I feel strongly about.

Okay so, I'm going to share some stories with you all...again, a nice little break from travel posts, right?

The first time I visited a psychic was about 12 years ago when I was about 6 years old. Crazy, right? Well, my dad was doing a website for this one psychic woman who was well known in my state. So, we drove about 4 hours to her house so my dad could talk to her and set up what she wanted for the website. She asked me if I wanted a free reading...again, I was 6 years old at the time and had a vague idea what she did for a living and from what I had heard, psychics were cool!

Before I get into more detail, I want to say that when I was younger, I had very, extremely vivid dreams, that were repetitive, of events that happened anywhere from 200-700 years prior. I have never learned about these time periods in school and what existed/what was typical of these time periods so these dreams were incredible because looking back, they composed of everything those time periods were known for (again, I had no previous knowledge so to be dreaming of this was unexplainable).

I remember this experience (visiting the psychic) as one of my few lasting childhood memories. Anyways, it started by her asking me to turn over my hands so that my palms would face her. Over the next 30 minutes she told me a variety of things. From what I remember, she told me I would be working in the arts/writing career one day. I remember that I wanted to be a vet or children's doctor of some sort at the time so I was in denial. Plus, I hated the way I drew, painted and wrote so I was pretty confused. She told me I would have 3 children and marry the love of my life. I would face more hardships in coming years and there was to be a significant amount of change in my life. The rest, I unfortunately do not remember, but in the end I asked her about my dreams. I remember her being so surprised and amazed that I could explain such detailed, vivid dreams. She explained to me in the simplest way and in a way that would not freak me out that "my spirit" lived in numerous time periods, one in the 1700s where I was a young entertainer in large events another in the era of King Arthur and I was one of his assistants so-to-speak.

Now, get ready for the freaky part...my dad and her kept in contact for the next several years when one day they were talking and she told him she had a strong feeling she was going to pass soon. Of course my dad was confused and just let things go. Well, about a week later, he got another phone call. This time, it was a friend of the psychic informing my dad that she was found passed away in her bed due to heart failure or some complication of that sort. Mind-blowing, right? Sounds like it's one of those fake stories but I promise you this happened.

Fast forward to present day and what she has predicted in terms of hardships and change could not have been more accurate. I am also now pursuing a career in writing after a certain hardship. So, is it a coincidence or did she see my near future and accurately predict it?

There's another story, well two more that I will briefly sum up.
About 5 years ago, I went to another psychic. My dad had tried numerous psychics over the years but never really felt it was as legitimate as the first...until he finally met one...in the middle of a mall. In the last place you would expect it right? He said he was walking by and the woman summoned him over. He sat down and she began telling him his entire life story over the next hour and she predicted his future. Every exact thing she has told him, has happened since then. I am not even joking. He has gone to her over the last few years and the most recent visit about 2 years ago, she told him that someone who has been in his life for about 20 years will reconnect with him and they will get married. My dad laughed out loud and denied that would ever happen (my dad was very set on being alone the rest of his life). Well, a little over a year ago, he told me he had a girlfriend and they were most likely going to get married. I said, "Dad, you barely know this woman...what are you talking about?" He said, "No, Shelli, I've known her for 17 years, I had feelings for her way back when but it was very subtle and now we just recently reconnected, she emailed me, and we've been dating for several months." My mind went back to when my dad came home that night from the psychic and told me about what had been predicted (at the time, he was newly divorced and the very suggestion was so far-fetched).

However, that was my dad's story with her...my experience with her is scary accurate as well. The first time I went to THIS psychic was when I was first starting high-school. I still did not have any idea what I wanted to do with my life but I was set on going to college somewhere on the west coast. When I sat down, she turned over my palms and read them aloud. She said that hardship and change is yet to come, I will experience a lot in the next few years (as said above, shortly after this is when many changes and hardships began happening to me). She told me I would be attending school somewhere far away from home and would meet the love of my life when I was 18 years old. She said I would have 3 children, a career in the arts/writing, I would be well-off, travel often and be married only once. I would have a better life after leaving for college and I would live a very long life without any disease or sickness. Phew, relief. I was petrified that she would give me some earth-shattering news about my future. At the end, she emphasized most of this would happen IF I kept on the "same path" and that my future would change IF I made any "life-changing decisions." Whatever that meant, I thought at the time. I was content and thought, "Damn, I meet the love of my life in 4 years...better start getting ready!"

Now, for the grand finale. If you have been reading from the start, you know that my decision, my "life-changing" decision, to move to Prague was very spontaneous and was one of my wake-up-in-the-morning-revelations. My entire life changed in a matter of seconds after waking up one morning and deciding to move to Europe and start fresh. It was only a year or two before that I discovered my life passion for writing and traveling. So, towards the very end of my senior year of high-school, I told my friends that we were going to go visit this psychic. They heard the stories previous so they were either excited to get their futures told or extremely scared. When we got there, I asked the woman for a palm reading, she didn't even look up (I looked very, very, very different, so even if she did look up there would be no way of recognizing me and she did not have my name or any contact info). I put down my $10 bill and turned my palms over. She told me my entire life story, a story that about only 4 people on this Earth know and is so very complicated and complex that no one, I mean no one, could ever in a million years just guess by looking at me. My jaw dropped but I remembered that it's best not to show emotion. After she told me my life story, she looked up and asked me if it was true. I nodded, hiding the amazement in my eyes. She then sighed and I thought, "Jesus Christ what is it". She said, "I see you have been treated poorly by men in your life, you let them treat you this way and I don't like that, I see who you are. Kind, giving, nurturing, warm, you do not deserve this treatment. Please do not let this continue." Again, I was mind-blown. How did she know about my personal relationships? She then said that aside from that I had a good future and she proceeded to tell me, rather give me a guide line as to what is in store. She said, "I see big, very big travel plans and a big move is coming up very soon. Am I right?" Amazed, I nodded, numb to my astonished emotions. She went on, "You will feel refreshed and happier than you have in years when you finally move. You need this move. You deserve this move. I see good things coming from this move. You spontaneously decided this." True, so very true. She went on to tell me that at about 28 years old, I would meet the love of my life (a tall, dark haired, tan skinned, green eyed human god...okay, not human god but you get it, attractive, caring man) who I would stay with for the rest of my life. She said I would make more money than him (woo-hoo) which will at first cause some issues but overall we would have a happy, successful marriage. I would have 3 kids (I want to have about 4 of my own and adopt) so I interjected and asked about any adoption. She said, "I see you want to but in the end you will not end up adopting." I was bummed out, but I mean that doesn't mean I won't adopt a child still. She told me that the next 10 years of my life will be spent working hard for my future career in writing and spent traveling the world, hopping from place to place often so she couldn't see a specific place where I settled down, it was "unclear due to frequent travels." After settling down, she said she saw me on TV, hosting/anchoring for a show (I am not so good with public speaking), I was surprised by this but pleased nonetheless. She finished by saying that money would not be a worry, I would love my career and be fulfilling my dreams, no disease or sickness was visible in myself or my family and that I would live a very long, healthy and happy (after moving) life.

My friends then got their palms read and had the same reaction: mind-blown. Each of our futures were very different and our life stories vary drastically so to pinpoint 5 different people's life stories and futures in a matter of minutes is just unexplainable if she were a fake. This emphasized my belief in this specific psychic.

So, will all of this happen? Who knows, I mean, I sure hope so! What she has predicted SO FAR has been spot on, without a doubt correct and she told me my life story which makes me believe that there ARE real psychics out there, her being one of the very few. Granted, there are MANY fake ones who will tell you any random thing but I believe if you take the time (several years and numerous test sessions with other psychics, like my dad) you CAN find a legit one, especially in the most unlikely of places. Seriously, who would ever think that a legit psychic would be sitting under an umbrella in a mall? No one. Maybe that's her secret though...

INTERIOR DESIGN

Lately I have been obsessing over interior design and I find myself glued to the screen whenever browsing through the Pinterest 'Home Design' section.
So, this is a fun, non-travel related post! Enjoy and have a lovely morning browsing (at school when you are bored or at work when you are drinking your first cup of coffee).

 

I love doing these types of posts, so I think I will make this a weekly thing- plus it's a nice break from all the travel posts. Also, I want to do a little 'What I am loving this week' at the end of a post sometime in the week. Starting this week sometime I will begin to do that.

Have a fabulous Tuesday and travel on wanderlusters!

P.S. It's the last day of April (on my side of the world)--where does time go!? I have two weekends of work left, three weeks of classes + exams left, I am moving into the new flat in the next few weeks, in 21 days my best friend comes to Prague and then we are off for our mini Euro-trip!!

THINGS TO DO IN A CZECH VILLAGE

Nothing.

No, I'm just kidding.

There ARE things to do but you have to really, really think hard about it.
Earlier this week, I spent some quality time with my grandma and great uncle in a Moravian village. I took the bus after class for several hours and passed through a town called Jihlava, which I can firmly say is one of Czech Republic's hidden gems but more on that in a minute. I actually had to stop in Jihlava to get on a smaller bus to the village and when I was at the bus station, I was like "jeeze, I am seriously in the middle of no-where!" When I was coming back from my grandmother's village the following afternoon, I discovered there was a lot more to that city than just the bus station. I fell in unexpected love.

While I was at the bus station waiting (I arrived about 30 minutes early), I had to wait in the sun (thank you sky gods) and I was forced to just aimless look around.
As I was waiting, an elderly woman came up to me and asked me, in Czech, about the bus route and what not. I was able to give her an answer and have small talk with her but when the time came and the bus arrived, I got on and found a seat in the back to avoid any unwanted conversation that I would not be able to contribute to.
So, then, she gets on the bus shortly afterwards and asks me how much I paid to go my grandma's village...in my head I was saying, "oh crap oh crap how do you say 29 again?"
I had forgotten and as I response I just gave her a weak smile while sticking two and then nine fingers up. I then said I forgot how to say 29 and tried laughing it off but at this point people were staring at me with open mouths and the grandma just rolled her eyes because she now figured out I was not a full blood, native Czech.
Oops.
As I like to say, half-Czech problems.

Anyways, when I did finally arrive in my bubbi's quaint little village, I did pretty much nothing for about 32 hours straight.
Such a nice, relaxing break from the daily hustle and bustle I've put myself into.
Well, actually, I did homework for the next two weeks (hallelujah!) and was stuffed with food which then prompted me to sleep like a baby in my grandma's feather-everything bed. Bliss.

I remembered how lovely it is to go from a super busy, bustling, polluted city to a very small, quiet, fresh-air village.

I was laying in bed amazed at how much I missed falling asleep to absolute silence and darkness.
Well, I mean, in Prague I can close my blinds and turn off the lights in my apartment but there's still that little bit of street lights, car lights and tram lights that shine through and the loud traffic noises at all hours of the night.
It made me miss the silence of my room in America. I hope that with the new apartment next month, silence and darkness won't be an issue (my room faces a courtyard park and it's on the very top floor of the building). We shall see though, exciting stuff!

It had not been to my grandma's house in several months because I was there and I usually go with my cousin, aunt and uncle, but since I was alone this time, I had to keep myself company.
I explored the house that I went to during my childhood summers and realized that everything has stayed exactly the same. Sixteen years of no change- no new furniture, no new smells, no new anything.
It was amazing to almost go back in time, in a sense, and remember little things from my childhood.
For example, there is this one door by the bathroom that absolutely scared the living bajeebies out of me as a child, and honestly it still does, and I remembered one time going up there and further provoking my fear when I was about 6 years old.
I wouldn't remember that on just any ole day sitting in my apartment or in class but being there in front of the door was like a time-warp that brought me back to that exact moment in time when I went exploring in that attic/room.

After spending some quality time with my family, I left with an extremely full tummy, full bags of food and goodies, hugs and kisses from grandma and some spending money (love when that happens!).
My grandma is one of those stereotypical Eastern European grandmothers that makes you TONS of food and you must eat EVERYTHING put in front of you, even if you are going to explode.
Despite how many times I politely told her "no, no, I'm full", she still, she insisted that I eat more, more, MORE.

It's always nice to see family, especially after such a long time. I am really excited to see my family in America this summer after all my travels. Just a few more weeks!
I have already started the countdown to no more university and no more work, it's what is motivating me these next few weeks.

I will be posting the Malaysia post either tomorrow or Monday...but most likely tomorrow because Monday is supposed to be 21C (70F) so I will be spending the day outside with friends and a nice, cold Czech beer.

Travel on wanderlusters!

CARPELS TUNNEL

Wahh, my carpels tunnel is getting worse. It all started several years ago when I was working in a restaurant, polishing silverware for hours and hours on end. Now, being a college student where all my notes are taken on the computer, working in a communications office and writing travel blogs...my hands and wrists are tired of it all!

On the bright side, I might be having an interview with InStyle and (hopefully) Elle Magazine here in Czech Republic. One of my dreams can still be achieved in Europe, in a country that does not have the primary language English. My friend is also doing it and informed me about it, so I jumped on it. I am really really super excited and crossing my fingers...along with next week's meeting with the editor-in-chief of the travel magazine to see where Traveling with Wanderlust will go :)

Excitement for one, excitement for all! Again, fingers crossed!

Look for tomorrow's post on Argentina, South America and a mention at what the following day's post will be.

Travel on wanderlusters!

Find Me on WordPress.com!

I extended to WordPress.com as well, so check out the posts on there! I will also be posting here, many of the same posts but this expands my audience a little bit.

http://travelingwithwanderlust.wordpress.com/

Travel and read on wanderlusters!

Blog-oring...

A travel blog is pretty boring when the blogger isn't blogging, right?! SORRY! I am making a promise to my wanderlusters now that the travels will be awesome next year (2013) starting in January and the blogging will be close to everyday.

Sickness, sleeping and the mass amounts of research papers and readings for my first semester of college have gotten me busier than ever imagined. I'll have the hang of it by next semester and all the fun adventures are being planned for the warm weather.

Until then, I'll blog about some the cool places and adventures happening here in Prague or over in Moravia where I have family and friends. Some more exciting news is that in 2013, my friends and I are going to start video documenting our adventures here in Prague and on our trips throughout Europe and then to ASIA (Thailand) in May...and fingers crossed...Australia in the Fall of 2013.

So, definitely more excitement in 2013, I promise! Until then, travel on for me wanderlusters and share your stories, I love stories!

P.S. Isn't that a great travel quote above?! Love it.

Prague Takes Over Paris

In the land of crepes, chocolate croissants, gorgeous French men, great architecture and fashion...I fell in love, with the city, that is.

I've always seen it on Pinterest and in the movies so I made a promise to myself years and years ago that I would take a trip there, even if it were just for a weekend...which this was, but I will most DEFINITELY be going back for longer. My friend from growing up is currently studying in Paris so that was a plus but she ended up not being there that weekend. Not sure that the French men on their little Vespas, the statue I sexually harassed in the Louvre Museum, the chocolate croissants and crepes were ready for us crazy Prague girls.

So, we left Prague on Friday evening, took a 14 hour bus ride through the Czech Republic then Germany and arrived in Paris at about 9 AM.
About 20 things happened in the 14 hours we took over Paris:
1. We first climbed the Eiffel Tower...took the stairs which was the death of us...and got REALLY rained on.
2. Walked around aimlessly with our cameras pointed at anything and everything.
3. Ate some authentic Parisian crepes.
4. Walked along the Seine.
5.  Was asked for directions (compliment, yes) and replied successfully, "je ne parle francias".
6. Went to Champs Elysees Blvd.
7. Saw the Louvre...for real and not on the computer or tv screen.
8. Louvre Museum and hung out with my girl Mona Lisa and saw some other famous paintings and sculptures.
9. Saw the Opera House
10. Walked across the Love Lock Bridge and saw the Univerisdad de France
11. Frolicked down Parisian streets, just as they do in the movies
12. Ate like a non-French woman in a restaurant with delicious steak and french fries
13. Had a chocolate croissant for dessert given to us by a cute French boy
14. Got successfully but happily lost. This led to being a tourist and buying souvenirs.
15. Wandered over to the Notre Dame Cathedral.
16. Had a jaw dropping moment when we stepped foot into the Cathedral.
17. Lit candles in the Cathedral and said "Namaste".
18. Got lost again and had a temporary freak-out moment walking right by the Seine because we couldn't find our tour group.
19. Boarded the night river tour boat, saw the BEAUTIFUL Eiffel Tower at night, shining radiantly even from afar, saw all the bridges and almost got hit in the head by one of them upon going underneath it, saw a majority of Paris' famous buildings/ landmarks from the view of the water.
20. Fought the rain then sadly, got on the bus only to fight the urge to kick the guy across from me for attempting to play footsie every 10 seconds...

Even though I was bummed that my friend was away from Paris, all in all, I would say it was a pretty successful 14 hours in Paris. Until the next time we takeover Paris...

Travel on wanderlusters!