 and the ebooks I wrote.){kind=link}
I still remember sitting on the exact spot writing last year’s summary. And here I am again now, writing the travel summary 2019. Where did all this time go? Time speeds up as we get older (or at least that’s what scientists say). But looking back in 2019, I can only think that I spent the year in the best possible way. I traveled a lot, of course, and I had the most productive time of my life in terms of writing. On the other hand, there were also some changes (like moving out of my flat in Berlin and relocating to another one), but such changes are always refreshing at the end of the day.
Meanwhile, the blog that you are reading celebrated in September its first anniversary. I wrote it also back in 2018, but I hope you don’t mind repeating it: creating the Letters to Barbara was probably the best decision of my life. Apart from allowing me to travel a lot, it also helped me develop further as a writer. This year’s travel summary will also be short because I want it to be a wealth of information for you and not a boring post to read. Therefore, you will see a recap of my journeys with links to selected articles, plus a summary of the ebooks I wrote.
So, let’s start with the Travel Summary 2019.
Travel Summary 2019
The places I visited
So, these are the places that I traveled to in 2019. Below you will find several links that will help you plan your journeys.
Poland (Warsaw, Krakow, and Poznan)
I traveled twice to Poland in 2019. The first journey took place in late January. Now, I know what you’re thinking: was it cold in Poland in January? No, it was not cold; it was freezing! I remember that the night I arrived in Krakow, the temperature was -15 C degrees, and later the same night, it snowed a bit.
I wrote extensively about both Warsaw and Krakow. To be honest, I enjoyed Warsaw much more than Krakow: I found it original and vibrant. Krakow, on the other hand, seems more like a playground for tourists. Sure, it’s beautiful beyond words, but it somehow seems sold to mass tourism. So, here’s what you can read from this journey.
The complete travel guide to Warsaw
The complete travel guide to Krakow
In the spring of 2019, I returned to Poland, but this time I visited Poznan. I took the train from Berlin, and a couple of hours later, I reached this charming Polish city. In Poznan’s Main Square, I also read the news about the fire that destroyed Notre Dame in Paris, which made me think a lot about Europe’s landmarks. Here’s what you can read from this journey.
The complete travel guide to Poznan
Transnistria
You don’t visit every day a country that doesn’t exist, right? This year I also uploaded my travelogue from Transnistria, an autonomous region within Moldova. I have some extra material from that journey, and I hope to upload it soon. For now, here’s what you can read:
A travelogue from Transnistria
Czech Republic (Prague)
At the end of March 2019, I visited Prague. The last time I was in Prague was almost ten years ago. I took the train from Berlin, and I thought of re-exploring the city. The first time I was curious to see its attractions, but this time, I wanted to write a tribute to Franz Kafka. I arrived on a sunny afternoon in Prague, but after a couple of hours, it started being cloudy -and the clouds never went away during my stay. I wrote lots of things about Prague:
Franz Kafka in Prague: A literary guide
Spain (Mallorca and Soller)
I remember that in the first days of April 2019, I was desperate for some sun. The winter in Berlin has been very dark, and choosing places to travel with an equally dark winter made me crave for some clear skies. That’s how I decided to travel to Mallorca and return to the Mediterranean Sea. To be honest, Mallorca was never part of my plans. I always thought that it was a hyper-touristic place. But visiting the island off-season proved to be a wise choice. The capital, Palma, is a stunning city. I also traveled on a historic train, the Tren de Soller, and wrote an extensive guide on how you can do it too. So, here’s what I wrote about Mallorca:
The complete guide to Tren de Soller
Italy (Catania, Taormina, Syracuse, Mount Etna, Florence, and Bologna)
I also traveled twice this year to Italy, and I guess my Italian journeys will occupy a good part of the Travel Summary 2019. Straight after Mallorca (and still craving for sun, apparently), I booked a flight to Sicily. I always wanted to visit Sicily, and now the time seemed right. I based myself in Catania, which at first didn’t impress me, but then I fell in love with it. I traveled to Taormina, took a tour to Mount Etna, and visited the majestic city of Syracuse. What I wrote about Sicily:
A guide on how to take a tour to Mount Etna
A very thorough guide for Taormina
I returned to Italy at the beginning of the summer in mid-June, but this time I visited Florence and Bologna. I have two travelogues ready from the two cities, and you will see them within the first months of 2020. When I upload them, you’ll see them also here:
Portugal (Alentejo)
Shortly after Easter, I went on a road trip to Alentejo. This is one of Europe’s last hidden gems and definitely a place to discover while it remains rather unvisited. I’m currently writing a very long post about how to visit Alentejo, so make sure to check the blog in the coming weeks. For the time being, here you can read my travelogue from Alentejo. It was almost 10,000 words long; therefore, I broke it down into three pieces.
The first part of the Alentejo travelogue
Greece (Athens, Astypalaia, Santorini, and Anafi)
Athens is my hometown, and I often return there to see my friends and family. And that’s probably why I never wrote that much about Athens: because I feel more like on vacation in my short stays there. But this will change in 2020, and I will present to you more posts about Athens. At least, I managed to write one post about a small neighborhood called Anafiotika.
Talking about a vacation in Greece in 2019, I visited three islands: Astypalaia, for the first time, Santorini, for the second time, and Anafi for the third. During my vacation in Greece, I have also started my Polaroid Diaries! So, here are my Greek blog posts for 2019:
One more travelogue from Anafi
UK (Glasgow and Edinburgh)
I haven’t been to Great Britain for almost fifteen years. So I thought of returning in 2019 on the occasion of Brexit. A city that always seemed interesting to me was Glasgow. Therefore, I decided to travel there and catch that Brexit feeling. But Glasgow proved to be much more, and that’s why I wrote extensively about it. I also went to Edinburgh for a day, but this wasn’t my first time in the city. You will see my post from Edinburg in 2020. So, here’s what I wrote about Scotland.
A street photography post called “The Glaswegians”
Germany (Berlin and Frankfurt)
I have a similar problem with Athens in Berlin: I sometimes feel too local to write about it. So although I wrote much more about Berlin than I wrote about Athens, I feel that in 2020 I should also upload more posts about the city. In between, I traveled to Frankfurt for a long weekend, and I will soon present to you a photo report. Here are my German posts for the Travel Summary 2019:
A story for the Bleibtreustrasse
A very thorough guide for the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale)
Ukraine (Kyiv)
Before creating the Letters to Barbara, I have traveled to Ukraine twice. I have visited Odessa and Lviv, but I haven’t been to Kyiv. I visited the capital of Ukraine in November, and it didn’t let me down. Kyiv is a fascinating and diverse city, and I wrote a lot about it too. I will upload my articles from Kyiv in January 2020, so make sure to return to the blog to read them. These are:
Polaroids from Kyiv
Travel summary 2019: Where I didn’t travel
I’m adding here a short note on the journeys I failed to take in 2019. I’ll keep it short because they are not technically part of the Travel Summary 2019. But I’m not talking here about some daydreaming: one of them was booked, while the other two were canceled hours before booking my tickets.
First of all, I didn’t visit Romania. I have booked flights and accommodation to Bucharest in February, but I got sick. I couldn’t leave bed for a few days, and despite fighting with myself whether I should go or not, I used common sense: I canceled the journey.
Then a sudden change of plans canceled two more journeys, but I’m glad that I didn’t book anything for them. Due to various reasons, I didn’t travel to Azerbaijan and Morocco. Let’s see if I will make it next year to at least one of these places.
Travel Summary 2019: the articles
Apart from writing exclusively about my journeys, in 2019, I decided to expand the blog’s horizons. I thought that travel-related articles would be a nice fit, and the truth is that your feedback motivated me to write even more of them. Hence, in this section, you will see a bunch of articles, from reviews to opinions, from recaps to travel blogging tips. So, here they are:
Camera Reviews
Traveling with an instant camera
Non-travel
Exploring the travel habits of the Xennials
An article about the painter Emil Nolde
“Faith” exhibition at Draiflessen Collection
Franz Kafka and his whereabouts in Prague
Travel Blogging
What I learned after six months of travel blogging
Airline Reviews
Aegean Airlines Business Class
Ukraine International Airlines Business Class
Travel summary 2019: Photography
In late 2019 I also started a new section called “Photo-reports.” These are posts with more photos and less text. I decided to create this series after reaching out to my mailing list this summer. An impressive 75% of the readers asked for more photographic reports, and in the poll, this request was second only to more travelogues (92%). You can also access all my travel and street photography recaps here: these are short diary entries accompanied by travel and street photos.
So, back to the photo-reports, I started a series, and I have posted three entries so far:
Light and shadow street photography
Polaroids
In August 2019 -and interconnected with the “Photo-reports”- I started my Polaroid Diaries. I have provided some direct links above. Still, here you will find two extra ones: the archive page, where you can see all the installments, and the most comprehensive review you’ll find online about the Polaroid OneStep+, the polaroid camera that I use.
The complete collection of the Polaroid Diaries
Reviewing the Polaroid OneStep+
Products
I have also created some products this year, and you can buy them exclusively from my Travel Shop. More specifically, I wrote three ebooks, I self-published a book about Anafi -my favorite Greek island- on Blurb, and I have also created my own Lightroom Presets for the Ricoh. Here are the links:
Ebooks
My ebook with the Instagram tips & techniques
An ebook for introverted solo travelers
My best tips for travel writing
Bundle: Get the 3 ebooks and pay for 2!
Printed books
The limited-edition (12 copies) for the Anafi book
The regular edition of the same book
Lightroom Presets
Wishes and promises for 2020
So, as you can see, I had a rather busy year. In 2019 the Letters to Barbara kept on growing -and in its database, there are already more than 100 posts. Moreover, I have also created some products. In 2020, I promise to create content for the blog and write posts that will be useful to you.
I want to thank you for being part of this beautiful journey and for supporting this blog. I wish each one of you a Merry Christmas, a happy 2020, and all the best for you and your families.
So, that was it with the Travel Summary 2019. Don’t forget to subscribe below for blog and travel updates. Happy 2020 everyone!
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