Julika, Author at sateless suitcase

10 Things that Surprised Me about Jordan

Looking back, I had no idea what Jordan was going to be like before I boarded my flight. I had tried to google some of the places on our #GirlsGoneJordan itinerary, but in the end I traveled to the Middle East with little expectations, ready to be surprised. And Jordan most certainly surprised me -- especially when it comes to the ten points below. Just beware, the following list is a personal one -- don't expect verified facts only in here, but more personal tales of tea and toilets (not kidding): 1. Jordan Has Several Different Climate Zones Obviously, when I [...]

By Julika|2021-12-22T17:20:20+01:002015/05/10|Categories: Destinations, Jordan, Middle East|Tags: Jordan, Middle East|25 Comments

Photo Essay: The Best of April 2015

April was a rollercoaster ride kind of month: From weather to emotional states, there was just plenty going on this month for me. There were many ups and some downs, but mainly: There was spring! The month had actually started off with a giant April fools' brought to Germany by the weather in Central Europe: Snow! And not just a little sleet, but the actual white stuff that sticks. Only two days later though, I landed in the Middle East for a glorious week of Mediterranean spring sunshine and desert heat by the Red Sea. When I returned, Germany was still grey and gloomy, [...]

By Julika|2015-07-21T11:41:48+02:002015/04/30|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: Europe, Germany, Jordan, Middle East, Photo Essay, thoughts|18 Comments

The Best Food Finds in Florence

Of course, I wanted to go to Florence for the art, the architecture, and the Renaissance history. But I can't deny that I was looking forward to eating all the food. I mean, it's Italy, right? Give me Italian pasta and gelato, and I'm a happy girl. Despite all my excitement though, I knew it wouldn't be easy to find really good Florentine food among all the tourist traps with multilingual menus. When I visited Rome last year, I realized that you just can't just find the good places by accident. If it hadn't been for my Walks of Italy food [...]

By Julika|2015-08-26T11:32:33+02:002015/04/23|Categories: Destinations, Europe, Italy|Tags: Europe, Florence, Italy|14 Comments

First Impressions of Jordan via Instagram

Jordan was a lot of firsts for me: My first time in the Middle East, my first time in a country with a Muslim majority, the first time I left Europe in a decade, and the first time I saw a desert. I was excited for all these firsts, but I was also a little worried, because I hadn't left my little European comfort zone in so long. Within the first 24 hours of being in Jordan though, I understood that my worries were completely unjustified: The warm climate was perfect for my migraine issues, the sanitary institutions were cleaner than in most Western [...]

By Julika|2015-04-17T18:01:28+02:002015/04/16|Categories: Destinations, Jordan, Middle East|Tags: Jordan, Middle East|14 Comments

I’m going to Jordan!

This is the biggest news I've had in a long time, maybe even the biggest news I ever had ever since starting this blog: I'm off to Jordan tomorrow! I'm going to the Middle East! I know! I can't even believe it myself! I'll be visiting Jordan as a guest of the Jordan Tourism Board and will get to see all the places I could only dream of until now! For the first time in forever I actually needed to get myself a passport! It's the first time in ten years that I'm actually leaving the European continent to explore [...]

By Julika|2015-07-20T11:16:22+02:002015/04/02|Categories: Destinations, Jordan, Middle East|Tags: Jordan, Middle East, thoughts|14 Comments

Photo Essay: The Best of March 2015

March somehow went by so quickly that I can barely believe it's been four weeks since wrote my February round-up. But busy months always pass quickly, and March definitely was a busy month: From work obligations, to networking at the world's biggest travel trade fair, to photo shoots, to a trip to Italy with my mom, most of March felt like I was running around with barely enough time to catch my breath. March evening skies over Germany Travel I spent so much of my time in transit this month, traveling back an forth in-between German states for family birthdays, social events, [...]

By Julika|2015-04-25T18:25:40+02:002015/03/31|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: Berlin, Europe, Florence, Germany, Italy, Photo Essay|13 Comments

Photo Essay: Impressions from Florence

This photo essay doesn't really need an introduction: I was in Florence last week, and yes, it was a dream. It was my first time there and was so thrilled to finally see all the famous art and architecture in person. The weather was perfectly springtime-y, I had gelato every day, I took way too many photo of pretty lanterns, and I visited all the churches, museums, and cloisters. This trip was exactly was I needed after a long German winter: Feeling the surprisingly strong spring sunshine on my skin, drinking late-night espressi, and reanimating my love for art which I [...]

By Julika|2015-04-03T08:15:54+02:002015/03/25|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: Florence, Italy, Photo Essay|16 Comments

Why I Don’t Quit my Job to Travel

We had just ordered our pizza and were hungrily sipping on our drinks, desperately waiting for our food to arrive after a long day at the world's biggest travel trade fair. It had been a day of small talk and business appointments, but as the evening commenced our press badges and business selves were slowly vanishing. We started chatting about non-work related topics, but naturally always returned to the same old one, the common favorite: Travel. -- Have you been to the Algarve? Can you repeat how to say cheers in Hungarian? What did you think of Bratislava? I suddenly realized [...]

By Julika|2015-09-29T12:53:25+02:002015/03/13|Categories: Specials|Tags: thoughts|24 Comments

Photo Essay: The Best of February 2015

Back in 2012 when I started this blog, I began researching what kind of blog series I should have. Because apparently, a blog needs a weekly series, right? At least I seemed like that to me. Basically every blog I've been following has, or has at least used to have, a weekly (photo) series. For many of us bloggers, this was how we got used to editorial calendars and the pressure of having a certain kind of blog post published on a certain day of the week. From Sunset Sundays, to Travel Tuesdays, to the (indestructible) Photo Friday, there's basically no [...]

By Julika|2015-04-25T18:24:55+02:002015/03/01|Categories: Photo Essay|Tags: Europe, Germany, thoughts|10 Comments

On Being Content

When I look around, everyone seems to be so ambitious. Whether it's people I barely know, or my closest friends, everyone seems to be striving toward something: To lose a few pounds, to graduate magna cum laude, to find the dream job, to gain more Instagram followers, to find the love with that everlasting spark. Being surrounded by all these ambitious friends and acquaintances (aka people I stalk online) can be exhausting. Don't get me wrong though, it's in no way a bad thing to work toward something, to have certain goals. But sometimes I feel like this ongoing ambition contest also leads [...]

By Julika|2015-05-28T16:18:55+02:002015/02/27|Categories: Specials|Tags: thoughts|27 Comments

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