Let Food Be Thy Medicine

I've always loved food. As a child my parents were delighted that I would eat a wide variety of foods, yet also perplexed as to where my curiosity and obsession with food came from.

I love to cook

But my love of food goes beyond a mere enjoyment of eating. I love the growing of food, the cooking of food, the sharing of food (and yes, the photographing of food - although I refrain from subjecting my Instagram followers to that).

I can spend hours perusing recipes online and in books; I watch endless cooking shows, food documentaries and cooking clips on YouTube and I frequently trawl food markets and food halls or walk into posh delicatessens and green grocers just to take a look (despite the fact I find most other forms of shopping mind-numbingly dull).

I'm also very enthusiastic about budgeting and frugality, as mentioned in an earlier post. So food waste makes my blood boil (an article about Melbourne's disgraceful food waste here) and I'm always searching for novel ways to eat well for less.

Auf Wiedersehen Berlin - A Budget Travel Oasis

So after two turbulent and hedonistic months in Berlin it was time to throw on our backpacks once again and embark on a new adventure.

It was time to leave Berlin

 We felt that whilst Berlin was a wonderful (and relatively cheap) city to stay and play in, we were languishing in that lifestyle and I was yearning to replace the grunge bars and galleries and city cafes with some snow-capped mountains, turquoise-green rivers, alpine forests and a healthy dose of hiking...  

Fortunately, one country that ticks all of those boxes is picture-postcard Slovenia. Nestled between Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Italy it is indeed a little country; but punches well above its weight in terms of natural beauty and rustic charm.

The country's capital Ljubljana was (whilst small) perhaps one of the prettiest European cities I've seen, offering relaxation and culture and a wealth of sites and activities for a city of its size.

So for the next few weeks we'll be busy exploring the dramatic cliffside castles, serene lakes and tranquil mountain villages that Slovenia has to offer before flying to another party capital: good ol' London Town!

But, I digress - back to Berlin and the budget. How much did two months cost us, and how did we keep costs down?

Money Woes and Ho Ho Ho's

As my last post was a tad gloomy, I figured I'd better fess up about some of the dramas we've been having since our arrival in Berlin.

Finding an affordable room in Berlin proved
harder than we thought

It all began about two weeks into our stay, in the cosy apartment we'd secured via Airbnb. We began talking with our host via the Airbnb site back in October, as we weren't having much luck responding to rental advertisements on Craiglist or the local website WG-Gesucht.de.

I figured if we contacted hosts directly and asked whether they wanted to secure a tenancy for 1-2 months, we may get a better deal. And I was right.

Our host offered us the room in her 2 bedroom apartment for the same daily rate as 2 dorm beds in a hostel. We figured this was a good deal as we would have the autonomy/privacy of our own room in a quiet apartment, rather than sleeping a noisy hostel dorm with 10 other people. In addition, the location was fantastic - walking distance to the East Side Gallery and the nightlife of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, 3 stops from Alexanderplatz and Mitte and literally one street away from where my friend lived.

What Travel Fatigue Feels Like

The weather matches my mood

It's been a tumultuous week for us here in Germany and just as the weather has dampened and darkened, so too has my enthusiasm for this trip.

I know from previous travels how important it is to listen to these feelings and not ignore them, as the remedy can often be as simple as laying low for a little while and licking your wounds... just until the desire to explore returns and your stamina is restored.

In the days leading up to our flight to Berlin I imagined the weeks ahead involving little more than nights spent cruising from one graffiti-covered bar to the next, with days spent recuperating inside the countless museums and serene art galleries that inhabit this city.

But the truth is, in the month we've been here we're yet to set foot in a museum and the big nights out have been few and far between. This is in part because I no longer have the stamina for it (the partying I mean - I can quite happily sit up all night watching movies and scoffing chocolate, but my days of swilling endless jugs of beer and dancing fervently until dawn are sadly over) and in part because what we've really been missing is the same dull, predictable, domestic routine we left behind 6 months ago.

It may sound inconceivable, but after almost half a year living out of bags and hustling our way across foreign countries I really just want somewhere to lounge around in my trackies and sip cups of tea.

Boring, huh?