What a month! This has definitely been one of my busiest months to date. The first two weeks were spent in the UK, with quite a few mini-trips. The last two weeks were spent traveling around the Balkans! Here’s everything I got up to this August.
Where I Went
York, Eden Camp, Ness, Pen-y-Pass, Snowdon, Neston, Port Sunlight, Levisham, Hole of Horcum (United Kingdom)
Skopje, Matka Canyon, Ohrid, Sveti Naum (North Macedonia)
Pristina, Prizren, Gračanica (Kosovo)
Tirana, Berat, Shkoder, Lake Koman, (Albania)
Kranj (Slovenia)
Best Moments
Returning to the Balkans and visiting every country in Eastern Europe! I absolutely love the Balkans, a region located in southeastern Europe. I loved returning to this fantastic place and visiting new destinations. Not only that, but I achieved a huge goal as I have now visited every country in Eastern Europe! The trip was incredible. I learned so much. I was in my element and truly felt like I was living my best life. I loved all the places I went and the experiences I had in them—it’s going to be hard to keep this blog post short!
Finally hiking Snowdon in Wales, my last of the Three Peaks! The beginning of August saw me tackling Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. I nearly made it in February 2018, but had to turn back due to snow and ice. While there was absolutely no visibility at the top, I made it and it was incredible!! The clouds cleared enough on the way down to show off some of the beautiful Welsh scenery. As I hiked Scafell Pike in May 2018 and Ben Nevis in September 2018, I have now hiked the Three Peaks, the highest mountains in England, Scotland, and Wales!
Watching the sunset over Lake Ohrid. I planned to be overlooking St. John at Kaneo Church in Ohrid for sunset, and it did not disappoint. The colors were gorgeous, pink and purple and blue hues as far as you could see. It was such a stunning setting, and I loved sitting here to relax and enjoy it. It is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to and if you’re going I definitely recommend planning to be here for a sunset!
Going to lots of cool bars in Pristina. Kosovo surprised me in the best ways. The capital city, Pristina, is one of my new favorite cities in Europe, and I had so much fun going to loads of bars there! Once the evening hits, everyone goes out for their stroll around town—so they can see and be seen. Drinks aren’t expensive, and if you luck out you might even get a free shot of rakija from the bar owner. I’ve really enjoyed checking out new and cool bars on my trips in the last couple years, and Pristina definitely delivered!
A daytrip to Lake Koman in Albania. There were so many amazing places I visited in Albania. But one of my favorites by far was the daytrip from Shkoder to the mountains, and doing the boat trip on Lake Koman. Going out on the river in the middle of mountains and gorges and watching the scenery go by was just amazing. The photos don’t do it justice. If you’re going to the north of Albania, don’t miss this!!
Visiting quirky capitals: Skopje and Tirana. Now, Skopje (the capital of North Macedonia) and Tirana (the capital of Albania) are never going to be the most beautiful cities of Europe. They are both weird AF and very funky. But I absolutely loved that! They don’t have a lot of attractions to tick off a list, but simply being in the city was perfect to just get a feel for what these places are actually like. There are good bars, funky statues, and aren’t inundated with tourists. I loved it.
Swimming in lakes!! Living in the UK, I rarely get the chance to go swimming. On the nice sunny days, the seaside towns are rammed with people that really ruin the experience in my opinion. Lakes (like those in the Lake District) rarely warm up to temperatures that make for comfortable swimming. So when I had the chance to swim on my trip to the Balkans, I did!! I loved going for a dip at Matka Canyon, where the water was freezing and all the guys were jumping off a bridge. I had the best afternoon at Lake Ohrid, where the water was the most perfect temperature. I swam in Lake Shkoder (or Lake Skadar, as it’s called in Montenegro—the lake makes the border between Albania and Montenegro) and loved it. When we went to Lake Koman and Blini Park, I waded through waist-deep water to a resort and let the current of the icy river carry me downstream. As a Minnesotan, I love swimming in lakes and didn’t realize just how much I missed it until this trip!
Hiking the Hole of Horcum. This is probably my favorite walk in Yorkshire. This is the third time I have done my annual hike here to see the purple heather blooming over the countryside. It is so beautiful and I loved seeing the purple blanketing everything you can see. We lucked out with weather—it started raining 5 minutes after we got back to the car! I love this place and I love that I go (at least) every year.
Huge achievements for my blog. Where do I even start with this?! I’ve had my best page views ever in August, a 25% increase from July. I was invited to my first event as a blogger (check out my review of the Van Gogh Exhibition in York here!). I published my first ever guest post (read it on York Independent Life here!). I also received another paycheck from some of my affiliates—it’s not much, but every little bit helps as I make a huge push to monetize! I feel like things are finally happening with my blog—that all my hard work of the past few years is finally starting to pay off. I can’t wait to see what the next month will bring!
Worst Moments
The heat in the Balkans. I don’t do very well with hot weather. I get dehydrated very easily. I also get sunburned very easily (I’ve gotten a sunburn when I’ve been inside—yes, it can happen). While I loved this trip to the Balkans, the heat has been brutal. It’s been 90-110˚F every day, and very few places have air conditioning. I specifically booked and paid more for a room with air conditioning in Tirana, and when I found out that the air conditioning was broken I nearly cried. It has been unbearable at times, and I have really struggled.
Hiking up the fortress in Berat in the heat. It was over 100˚F and we hiked up to the fortress in Berat. The views were amazing, but I have never been more uncomfortable or sweaty. I do not recommend this!
My first experience with bed bugs. I’ve been traveling for 8 years and somehow, this trip was my first encounter with bed bugs! Luckily, it happened at the end of my trip, so it was easy to sort out when we got home. But I woke up to several strange bits on my legs and ankles, and after checking out the next day found a live bed bug. I don’t think the place had an infestation, because I had just a few bites and there were no other signs of bedbugs (I am paranoid about it and check the bed of every place I go, and hadn’t seen anything unusual at this place). Thanks to very hot dryers, I eliminated any chances that we were carrying them and it’s dealt with now. But it was horrible and uncomfortable!
Very slow wifi. I know this is the definition of first world problems. But between Ohrid and my last night in Tirana, I stayed at places that just did not have good wifi. Or, the wifi was good, but just not equipped to deal with how many people would be using it in peak summer season. This made things like uploading photos such a pain, and I really struggled with keeping on top of my blog.
A flight delay limiting my last night of the trip. With the cheapest flights back to the UK flying via Ljubljana, we decided to stay for a night in Kranj in Slovenia. It was close to the airport, they had a hostel, and even getting there and back in taxis was cheaper than paying for an airport hotel. We were due to land at 4:00pm, but due to a flight delay we didn’t land until after 6:00pm. Normally this isn’t a big deal, but we only had a precious few hours in Kranj in the first place! So I was disappointed to arrive just as the sun was starting to set and miss out.
Posts Published
I worked really hard at the beginning of the month to publish posts, knowing full well that I wouldn’t be publishing much at all while I was on my trip. Here’s everything I published this August!
Happy Yorkshire Day: 31 Places To Visit In Yorkshire
Unusual And Quirky Bars To Visit In Edinburgh
Highlights From Banff And The Surrounding Canadian Rockies
Hostel Review: Granny’s Inn Hostel, Sliema
A Ferry Trip From Elgol To Loch Coruisk On The Isle of Skye, Scotland
Exhibition Review: Van Gogh, The Immersive Experience—York
The Best Cafes And Coffee Shops In York, England
Instagram Top 3
I’ve officially made it over 2000 Instagram followers! But this month I’ve seen my posts either have amazing engagement, or absolute shit engagement (there is no in-between). Here are my top 3 most popular photos from Instagram!
Coming Up In September
After such a crazy and hectic August, September will be a lot more chill. As it’s my birthday month (yay!), we’re planning on a weekend in the Lake District. Besides that, I have no travel plans which is fantastic. I do have a couple of events I’ll be attending as a blogger in and around York, which is very exciting! So September will be a month to catch up on work, sleep, laundry, etc. After such a busy month this time around, it is definitely needed!
What did you get up to in August? Share in the comments below!
[…] hopefully in Manchester. Since I had booked flights for a trip to the Balkans at the end of August, I wanted my visa application done and (hopefully) approved in time for us to take the trip. So I […]