Nostalgic Rogla and an Interesting Collection of Souvenirs

Who is Nastja? Please, tell us a bit about yourself, so our readers get to know you.

I'm Nastja. I'm 28 years old. I live in the vicinity of Ljubljana. By profession, I am a teacher of the Slovenian language and a counsellor working at a primary school. I love chocolate, coffee, sweet wines, books, travelling and organising.

Do you by any chance remember when you started travelling?

My first trip (without parents and by plane) was to London at the age of seventeen. In my second year of secondary school, we went on a multi-day trip to England. At the time, I discovered two things: that I love travelling and that I don't like travelling with travel agencies. Later on, I picked art history as a subject and there I had two amazing teachers. We did many excursions around Europe, all organised by them. Those were great trips, full of art and architecture.

How do you document your travels?

I always take a camera, notebook and a pen on trips. I write down my experiences, travel anecdotes, special places and people I meet. I have all the photos carefully stored on a disk in a chronological order. Plus I write about my travels on my blog which is in the Slovene language: www.razgledniceizkovcka.si.

Which place in Slovenia do you visit more often and why is this place the closest to your heart?

Especially in the last two years, I often take my time at weekends to explore Slovenia. I relax and release all worries, on top of that I also recharge my batteries. I think I know Slovenia quite well. Still, I like to explore lesser-known villages, special places in Slovenia, its dialects and cuisine. Most often, the trail takes me to the Upper Carniola region. One of my favourite places remains to be Rogla, where I spent my winters skiing.

You're one of the more active volunteers at Hostelling International Slovenia. What exactly do you do there and what led you to collaborate with Hostelling International Slovenia?

We started working with Anja and Igor at Hostelling International Slovenia in 2013, when I was the editor of the university student newspaper, Spekter. In it, we created a section in which every month we presented one place in Slovenia, youth tourism, HI hostels and so on. That was how our collaboration began. Since then, I have written more than 50 articles, travelogues, interviews and tips for the Globetrotter online magazine.

What is the most valuable thing you have bought on your wanderings?

The most expensive thing... I don't know. I usually buy scarves for myself (because I love them) and spices. For my family, I find some drinks and/or food, like biscuits. On each trip, I buy a pencil with the inscription of the country where I’m visiting and a postcard on which I write down the date of the trip, who I was with and some interesting facts about the place.

Which travelling books or blogs, both Slovenian and foreign, can you recommend us?

I love travelling; I spend a lot of time organising my trips. I’m not a loyal reader of any particular blog, so I can’t really point out any. Usually, before travelling, I look up the destination online and read blogs that describe the places I plan to see. Lonely Planet guidebooks and internet help a lot. Classical guidebooks, too.

I’m closing with a bit of a cliché, but still… What are your future travel plans?

As much as the job and savings will allow. I hope we’ll head to America next summer and, still, my greatest wish is Scandinavia. For two years, I’ve been procrastinating and daydreaming about the Italian villages of Cinque Terre. I finally managed to visit them, when we spent our autumn holidays in Italy. Slowly, the time will come to explore other continents.

Nastja, I hope you get to visit America soon. And maybe Scandinavia in the summer if you're not such a fan of cold. Plus, you gave us some good ideas. Slovenia is so diverse that something new and interesting is always to be found. Plus, it's also important to document and store the memories from our travels.