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Atlas, Wanderlust

A Love Letter to Romania: 10 Stays That Will Steal Your Heart

Don’t Know Much About Romania Beyond Dracula? Let Me Fix That.

If the only thing that comes to mind when you hear “Romania” is a vampire with questionable dental hygiene, then I have fantastic news for you: my home country is so much more than spooky legends and pointy castles.

It’s time to pack your bags and fall in love—with fairytale landscapes, charming villages frozen in nostalgic time, painted monasteries that look like something out of a storybook, fortified churches that whisper secrets of the past, and a national obsession with sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls) and mamaliga (our golden maize porridge love child). Read more

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Atlas

Two Friends, One Island And A Tropical Storm Named Diane

If you ever want to test the strength of your friendship, don’t go to IKEA. Go to Mauritius, preferably during cyclone season. And, for extra spice, make sure a global pandemic starts right when you’re supposed to fly home.

I know, I know — Mauritius sounds like a dream: turquoise lagoons, white-sand beaches, fruity cocktails with mini umbrellas. And we had all that for about 72 hours. Then things escalated… both meteorologically and globally.

Read more

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Atlas

Morocco – One Thousand One Nights In Agadir

I’ve been to Morocco. So what? Well, I’m already planning my next trip there—this time with a backpack, no child, and a list of Moroccan towns to explore. Here’s the thing: my daughter, Miss J, at the tender age of early teenagehood, suddenly became more enamored with swimming pools than with wandering from one city to the next. Our hotel had a massive pool, and I barely convinced her to leave the water long enough to see the sights. Eventually, she abandoned me entirely. But that’s okay. It gave me all the more freedom to dream of returning to Morocco. Read more

Atlas

A Winter Escape in The Gambia – Part 3

Let me start with a confession: I don’t do 5 a.m. wake-ups. I’m not one of those sunrise yoga people. I’m more of a “snooze-button Olympics” kind of girl. On a regular weekday, I wrestle myself out of bed at 7:30 a.m., groggy, unenthusiastic, and half-human.

But then came Gambia. Suddenly, I was springing out of bed at 5 a.m. like a caffeinated meerkat. No alarm. No grumbling. Just me, excitement, and the road. Turns out, curiosity and wanderlust are better than coffee. Read more

Atlas

A Winter Escape to The Gambia – Part 2

Once upon a time — say, the 13th century — the land we now call The Gambia was home to Wolof, Fulani, and Malinke tribes. Fast-forward a couple of centuries: Portuguese explorers stumbled upon the Gambia River in 1455 (as explorers tend to do), and by the 1600s, British traders had settled in. Today, Gambia is a cultural patchwork quilt, stitched together with tribes and tongues. Mandinka is the largest (38% — they helped build the Mali Empire), followed by Fula (21%), Wolof (18%), Jola (4.5%) — even the (now ex-) president hailed from this tribe. Read more

Atlas

A Winter Escape to The Gambia – Part 1

For years, I had a dream: to welcome the New Year not wrapped in wool and sipping mulled wine, but barefoot in a bikini under the palm trees. There was just one catch—I’m a Christmas-at-home kind of woman. So, that left exactly eight days to jet off somewhere warm during my daughter’s winter break. The rule? It had to be sunny, not too touristy, and no more than six hours away by plane.

Enter: The Gambia. Read more

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