7 things I miss from Slovakia when I travel
Hopefully you all know by now that I was born in Eastern Slovakia and since I was 18 years old, I lived in other 5 countries (Czech republic, Spain, Scotland, Italy and Mexico). Besides, for a couple of years, when I started travel blogging, I used to travel 10 or even 11 months out of 12 each year. Since 2015 I am slowing down but I still travel more than ”normal” people do.
On one hand, after spending loads of time in foreign countries I got used to not being in Slovakia much. But on the other hand the older I get, the more things I miss from Slovakia. Obviously, I do miss my family and best friends a lot on a daily basis.
But what else do I miss from Slovakia besides my beloved people?
7 things I miss from Slovakia when I travel
1. acai
My favorite summer lunch is frozen acai with fruit, usually berries and nectarines, apricots, bananas topped with raw cacao nibs and cinnamon powder. As soon as I finish one acai bowl, I am already looking for having another one the day after.
Do you what acai is? It’s a berry growing on acai tall palm trees mostly in Brazil. Acai berries are full of antioxidants and for certain time they were known for containing the most antioxidants out of all the fruit. If that’s still the case I’m not sure but I do know that an acai bowl I make at home wakes me up like nothing else. I have so much energy after eating it that I can get a lot of work done. My yummy acai bowls are defiinitely one of the things I miss from Slovakia when I am abroad.
2. hugs
I do admit sometimes I meet very cool people on the road and we become amazing friends. Very often we feel so close to each other so quickly that we do tend to hug. But usually the best hugs are unfortunately the last ones we give to one another before saying goodbye. But when I am at home, I hug my mum every single morning or simply when we first meet each day. Sometimes she goes to work before I wake up so our daily hug is in the afternoon. Hugs heal.
3. motorbike
In summer months we tend to go on motorbike trips with dad. Sometimes just for a day from our home town to the surounding villages, other times for a few days around Eastern Slovakia. I got so used to our motorbike trips that I do miss them when not in Slovakia. I have that indescribable love of motorbikes very few people know of. But I am crazy about them. I turn my head each time I hear a motorbike riding by. I also attend the biggest motorbike reunion in Slovakia which is always in August. Even a quick motorbike trip calms me down instantly.
4. garden
When I am in Slovakia, I share a flat with my mum. The shame is we do not have a garden there but my grandparents have one by their house in the nearby village. When I was younger, I didn’t care about the garden at all. Nowadays, I do appreciate the home-grown veggies from my grandparents’ garden. It’s so great to get tomatoes, green peas, zucchini, cucumbers, strawberries, raspberries, red currants etc. from there. Yum! I even miss walking around the garden barefoot in summer.
5. blender
I am seriously much into smoothies and I have periods when I make 1 or 2 smoothies per day. I usually add some superfoods into them, such as spirulina or chlorella, acai, maca, moringa etc. The smoothies I make at home are light and full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. In many destinations it’s not that easy to get a smoothie, and even less to get a green smoothie with superfoods. That’s why I miss my 3G Herakles blender from Klarstein and my superfoods.
6. infrared lamp
I am a big lover of infrared lamps and sauna. Because it’s not always possible to visit an infrared sauna, I bought a huge infrared lamp. It’s in my living room in my apartment in Slovakia so when I am there around Christmas time I use it a lot. I put it on when I am feeling cold, or when something hurts me. I also heat up the room and my body before doing yoga in winter. Infrared light not only improves circulation, but many bacterias, viruses and even cancer cells have poor tolerance to heat compared to healthy cells and are thus killed. Infrared lamp also calms the nervous system, helps with healing and facilitates detoxification. Too many benefits, right?
7. favorite places
I think everyone has their favorite places, so do I. In my home town I have favorite places where I go for walks , where I practice yoga, where I go for a swim or to sunbathe. In Bratislava I have my favorite restaurants where I get vegan ice cream or healthy vegan meals. In the rest of Slovakia there’s also mountains I fancy for hiking, or lakes for swimming.
Below is one of my favorite lakes in Eastern Slovakia called Morske oko.
Slovakia is my home country and will always be home to me. No matter how many other countries I visit, Slovakia will always remain my home… and I will always miss some of my favorite places, things and people, of course.
TIP: read about 10 reasons why to visit Slovakia.
