Summary of 2014
For me 2014 just flew by. I don’t know where the year went, honestly. I still remember very clearly the three days we spent in Harghita a year ago, gathered with dear friends to celebrate New Year’s Eve. And here we are again! 🙂 It has been a great year for me. I have learned so much by having my first real job, being in the last year of my Master’s course and by traveling (although not as much as I would’ve liked).
Since this year I was focusing more on work and got into a routine (which I realized was not actually for me), travel was put aside a bit, so was the blog. Although a bit painful, but I have to admit that the routine of things was stripping me from the drive to write and continue with CityoftheWeek, something that I had created and nobody can take from me. But in September things changed and due to unforeseen circumstances, I started freelancing. And I absolutely love it! I had a better organization over my schedule and eventually decided not to give up on the blog. Freelancing also pushes me to be creative, so it’s a win-win situation compared to the blogger’s block I have experienced earlier this year.
Adventures of 2014
But I wouldn’t want to bore you with the personal stuff, so I’d rather share the travel facts of 2014:
In 2014 I:
- spent 28 days traveling – some for business, but more for pleasure
- spent 37 days going back and forth from my hometown to the city where my university courses are held.. those are a lot of bus rides, I tell you!
- published 48 posts on the blog – next year will be better – it’s a goal!
- visited 3 new countries: Bulgaria, Turkey and a third of which I’ll be talking a lot in January 🙂
- saw 7 new places in my own country, Romania
- visited 3 new UNESCO World Heritage Sites : The Ancient City of Hierapolis & Pamukkale, The Old Town of Nessebar & the forgotten Saxon Fortified Churches of Transylvania (soon!)
- went hiking 4 times : Madarasi Harghita (Harghita Mountains), Szekler’s Stone (Trascau Mountains), Orban’s Stone & Tihu Peak (Calimani Mountains)
- finally got to a Christmas Market – the nearest one in Sibiu
- I had the honor to travel with my love, my parents and my friends – and this is the most important achievement of the year!
All in all, I look back fondly at 2014, and have to say that it has truly been a YEAR OF LEARNING.
As for 2015, no resolutions were made.
I know there will be a lot of traveling involved, even though I have booked tickets to only one trip (up to today). I know that because it has become a very important priority, never before seen in my 20-something years on this Earth.
So stay tuned!
There will be big adventures coming up in 2015…
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I wish you that you always have enough books for your long bus rides!
I like it that you made no resolutions for 2015. I made one, but then I also could have made that a few months before or later. If people want to change something, I don’t get it why they wait until 31 December with it: https://andreasmoser.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/new-years-resolutions/
I am glad I came across your blog. You have been giving me some very good recommendations. Without your article, I never would have found Madarasi Harghita for example. I am still waiting for my brother to send me the photos and then I’ll write about that trip. It was ice-cold, but beautiful.
I read a lot of travel blogs, but yours is one of the best because it’s a good combination of personal account and practical information, plus beautiful photos. Too many travel blogs nowadays are just full of so much marketing bla bla that you can’t really read them.
First of all, thank you for your comment!
I agree with the resolution thing – the 31st of December doesn’t change anything if you don’t.
I am really happy you liked Madarasi Harghita, based on that I can give you similar recommendations. For ex. yesterday we were in Turda, 75 kms from Tg.Mures. A day trip – the Salt Mine (which was absolutely awesome) + a 2-hour “hike” in Turda Gorge (post from last March: https://cityoftheweek.net/category/tordaturda/ )which is beautiful at any time of the year – and there are no scary dogs! 🙂 If you want something extra, you can visit Tur Gorge (or Tureni in Romanian, old article here: https://cityoftheweek.net/2013/04/11/the-gorge-of-tur/), equally stunning. Post about the day will be up soon I hope!
Thanks for the comment regarding the blog! It’s really nice to see someone who actually uses the practical info! I am not really happy about the quality of my photos (I use a Nikon P100, a compact camera that doesn’t know much but at least it is fast to use and handy), planning to get a better camera this year. I try gaining my income from Freelancing rather than marketing if possible, the only ad on my sidebar is of a family member’s business which I totally support and put it up voluntarily, they don’t even know about it.
I have been to Salina Turda already and it’s a crazy place (in the positive sense). Good to know that there is some hiking in the area as well.
I also have a small camera (Nikon Coolpix L120) because i don’t want to carry anything heavy with me and because I can’t handle gadgets with too many buttons.
I was veeery surprised by the awesomeness of the Salina. It’s rare to see something so awesomely done in my country, sadly. So it was a very pleasant surprise
It’s a top-notch place, also by international standards.
The only thing I missed were more explanations about the history of the mine, the technology, how many people worked there, and so on. It was all more a underground version of Disneyland.
That’s exactly what we thought! There was very little history which would’ve been interesting. Otherwise, awesome job!
And Romanians are sooo modest. It IS an awesome country.
I went to the Palace of Culture in Targu Mures for example. It blew my mind. You don’t find buildings like these in Paris or Vienna anymore (or they cost 25 EUR entrance fee and you can’t just pop in to watch a concert rehearsal).
And many, many other things as well.
And there are so many more buildings, monuments, which were burnt, or simply not really taken care of anymore..We don’t really know how to add value to our places. For ex, Bucegi mountains became accessible to everyone with the help of a cable car. The downside? Every idiot can go up to the Sphinx and Babele, and leave all their junk and garbage there…And it’s the same with the more easily accessible mountains and peaks.. And the amount of garbage left everywhere is awfully scary.
Bucharest is another example. The ones who come to Transylvania from Bucharest always say how clean our cities are..compared to theirs..and it’s the capital city..so it’s just sad.