#008 Backpacking Experience Ireland

Hello and Welcome back,

it was summer 2017, shortly before my uni summer break when I decided I want to go backpacking. I heard lots of good things about Ireland, so Ireland was the destination for my first backpacking tour.

I booked a flight and an accommodation for the first 4 nights in Dublin. That’s it! I packed my backpack with all my things, in the end far too much! My bag was really heavy, but I thought I need all this and wanted to be prepared for every possible scenario. REALLY BAD IDEA! I had around 20kg without any food or drink to carry around. It was a big torment! The bag was much too heavy for me. Half of the things I didn’t even used. Since then I try to minimize my luggage as much as possible. This works out more or less 😂 My tip to all of you is carry maximum the weight of 1/4 of your weight on your back. It is really not nice to have too much weight on your back. Believe me. I speak from experience!

The backpacking life is a very simple lifestyle. You don’t need so many clothes and beauty products. Luckily I could give some of my things to my friend when she had to head home after 2 weeks.

The first 2 weeks I travelled around with a good friend. We walked, took the bus and started hitch hiking. When she left I made my way with a tent and hitch hiking only. It was a really good experience. I met lots of very nice and interesting people. Once a woman picked me up, I still had my coffee to go with me. She drove like crazy, I nearly couldn’t balance my coffee. But I had to because I didn’t wanted to spill something when she was so friendly and gave me a lift. The Irish are all very nice and good people. I wouldn’t hitch hike in many countries but there I wasn’t scared or worried at all.

Both parts of my trip were amazing but very different. In the first time it was good to have someone to rely on and don’t stand there on your own. Normally you don’t meet many new people. You don’t need to. But when you travel on your own you need to be open, meet and speak to new people.

We made our first hitch hiking experience in the Killarney national park. First we took the shuttle bus to go into the park. Unfortunately the bus didn’t drive to the Gap of Dunloe and we really wanted to go there. So we took the bus to the stop as close as possible to the Gap. From Aghadoe we had to walk 12km. I don’t know what we thought or if we thought at all 😂

After around 8km we decided to ask someone to give us a lift. It was totally worth it. The Gap of Dunloe is really beautiful.

When we finished our visit we had the problem to come back to our hostel. We asked nearly everyone in the car park. We found a nice spanish family. They could barely understand us and we them 😂 They first said one of their wheels are broken but we drove anyway. We weren’t sure if they understood where we wanted to go. They spoke about totally different places. But we got home safely!

To find out which places I’ve visited come back in around 1 week.
See you soon.

Jenny’s Travels 😊

#007: Goodbye Malta

Hello all together,

after 11 unforgettable weeks in this beautiful country with super weather, sunshine and lovely people, it is time to say goodbye.

On my last day I had to pack all my things in my bags and sort out what I don’t want anymore or can’t take home. I also had my finishing meeting with the organization. I got an internship and a language course certificate. I have really and officially B2 now 😉😍

For the flight back home I wore all I could wear, 3 sweaters, 2 pairs of socks, 2 trousers, 2 jackets, a hat, a scarf and gloves. It was so hot but I had too many things and bags to take home. I tried to take everything into the airplane. Sadly my bags were noticed. First they told me I need to give up one extra luggage. But then a very nice woman on the counter told me I should pack as much as possible in my big luggage and don’t care about the weight. I broke my phone charger by this but it was totally worth it 😉 I had 2 kg overweight. I was so glad to find this friendly woman. This was definitely my first Christmas present this year.

I arrived at the airport in Germany packed like a donkey but I could bring everything and this is what really counts. I was so happy to get a warm welcome of my family at the airport. We drove home and I had a big welcome back sign on the front door. When I got inside, my whole family and friends jumped out of the dark. This was the sweetest thing someone ever did for me! I was very happy to see my beloved people all in one go. This was a really good surprise. I didn’t expected anything. We had a great party 🎉 I directly felt home again.

Next week I will head of with my blog to my second adventure the summer 2017 in Ireland.
See you soon.
Love,

Jenny’s Travels 😊

#006: Popeye Village

Hello and Welcome back,

On one of my weekends in Malta I wanted to visit Popeye Village and see the original Film Set of the 1980 Musical Production Popeye.

Until then I was familiar with the bus connections and I received my 3 month bus card. I took the bus 41 from Mosta to Ghadira and then the 101 to Popeye Village. It took me round about 1 hour and 30 minutes to get there.

Popeye Village is located at the coast in the middle of nowhere so I was really lucky that there is a bus to go there and don’t need to walk there. The bus connections are really good in Malta. You can easily go sightseeing without a car and the bus is very cheap. This is just perfect for me and my way to travel. I want to see and do everything in a foreign country!

Popeye Village was a bit expensive but it is really well made, with lots of activities for children and children in heart. You can easily spend one day there. The location is just amazing! In one activity you could take part as assistance actor.
I certainly took part. I had to dress up as an angel and then we got told what to do. They recorded our little story. Popeye saved the beautiful dancing angels from the drunk seamen. It was really funny! The video is real fun to watch. It was definitely worth going.

After a really good and a bit childish day out I had to go home. Especially when you are in isolated places you need to take extra care to catch the bus. The buses normally don’t drive until very late hours.

It is not a nice experience to be alone, in the dark, no clue where you are and don’t have a chance to go home! I had this twice!

Once I haven’t checked the buses for the whole journey back. Half way home the bus schedule was different than I thought. I was standing there and didn’t know what to do. And then I saw a bus coming but the bus didn’t take the street I was waiting in. So I run as fast as I could, faster than ever in my whole life to catch this one. I was really lucky! It was the last one in this area for this day and the bus went in the right direction. Luckily I got home without bigger problems. But it could have been different!

The second time I went to Gozo by ferry to see the opera. I arrived there early and that’s why I asked people around to take pictures of me. I met two German girls who were going to the opera as well. We sat together and found out that we go in the same direction after the opera. Luckily we stayed together. Because the opera take longer than it was planned. By foot we couldn’t do the last ferry. One of the girls found us a nice man to give us a lift to the ferry. On the main land we went to the bus station. But the bus we needed didn’t drive today! The same man saw us standing helpless at the bus station and offered us a lift home. We were so lucky to find this guy and get home safe!

But since then I am always checking the whole journey twice and always have a backup plan! I never want to have this helpless feeling again! That’s why I plan all the trips I do in great detail since then. I definitely would highly recommend you to do that.

To hear my last experience in Malta come back in one week.
See you soon.
Love,

Jenny’s Travels 😊

#005: Internship in a Private School

Hi all,

Today I want to speak about my internship. I worked in a very nice private school close to Mosta in the kindergarden. I looked after 15 children of the age of 3 to 4 years. They were the cutest kids I have ever seen.

All kids had different nationalities and tried to speak to me in their own language like Italian, Thai or Belgian. From them I learned the creativity to guess and understand what other people want to tell me without speaking the same language.

The time schedule was very strict. They had time slots for teaching sessions or playing in and outside. They all behaved very well due to the strict rules. The kids all had to learn english and maltese. Neither of this languages were their native language, all kids spoke at least 3 languages! This was really impressive!

With the kids I did lots of activities like a sports day, Halloween activities like pumpkin carving and soup making. We played learning games and had a Maltese day and an excursion to the Playmobil Fun Park.

On their last school day before Christmas they all dressed up as angels and sung Christmas Carols. They gave each other presents, we baked Christmas biscuits and they could do a picture on Santa’s lap. One of the kids was scared and only wanted to do a picture with me and Santa. So I sat on Santa’s lap as well.

I had a great time here and found 2 good friends. We spent lots of time together during and after work. We did some sightseeing together, went out in St. Julian’s together, we were in the Marine Park and saw some shows and one of them swum with the dolphins. In addition we were at a Rugby Game and watched the fit players. 😉 We were at a horse race in Marsa and made crazy pictures, on Nikolaus day the 6.12., on the beach to spread some Christmas spirit. Furthermore we saw the children choir of the Disney Christmas concert and sung karaoke together.

The day I had to leave and say goodbye to my lovely kids was really hard. I could make so many good memories in Malta. I will never forget my time there or the kids ever in life.
Come back in one week.
See you soon.
Love,

Jenny’s Travels 😊

#004: Malta Sightseeingtour

Welcome back,

After my harsh start I had a bit of piece and quiet. Everything went to normal. I started my intensive language course with 20 hours per week. I had 4 hours private lessons every weekday and after that I had lots of free time to explore the island. Luckily the island isn’t big, so I could reach every location very quickly.

My first tour was to Valletta. I wanted to see the capital city and everything that it has to offer. The entrance to Valletta is really romantic especially during Christmas time with all the Christmas lights.

I was in the impressive St. John’s Co Cathedral with its golden decor everywhere. It was really worth going there. I hadn’t seen anything like that ever before. I also went to the war museum in Fort St. Elmo to learn about the Great Siege of Malta. I was at the harbour and in the Upper and Lower Barrakka Gardens. The last sight I visited was the 16. century palace.

What else can you visit in Malta as a long term tourist?

I was in Mdina, Rabat and the Three Cities, Senglea, Birgu and Kalkara. One highlight was the Sunday market in Marsaxlokk. I was there twice, once on a nice day with sunshine and once it was raining cats and dogs. It was a completely different experience! But it was still nice there.

I visited the Palazzo Parisio in Naxxar. I was also in San Antons Garden. I saw the temples in Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples such as the Limestone Heritage to get an insight in the history of Malta and its temples.

I had a boat trip trough the Blue Grotto. I can highly recommend this tour as it was just an amazing tour!

Another point worth seeing was the sunset at the Dingli cliffs, it was really beautiful.

I visited the St. Agatha’s Tower, known as the Red Tower, in the middle of nowhere, as well as Mellieha Bay, Sliema and I had some great night outs in the party city of St. Julian’s.

I also had a Jeep tour in Gozo and saw the Azure Window in its real beauty before a big storm 2017 smashed it.
I visited Comino and the Blue Lagoon.

Malta also has lots of festivities to offer. Nearly all year round you can go somewhere and learn about their history or see the real life in Malta.

I participated on nearly all special events. I was at the Birgu Light Festival. The whole city was covered in candles and lights, so romantic!

I took part at the Senglea war festival to hear some more about the life in Malta during the wars. I was at the book festival in Valletta. I bought my first book in english. I was so proud of myself when I really understood it!

I run for the charity fun run. In Birgu I saw the impressive Madonna at the Immaculation Conception. But my personal highlight was the Commonwealth meeting in Valletta when Prince Charles and the Queen waved at me! 🤩
To hear some stories about my internship come back in around one week.
See you soon.
Love,

Jenny’s Travels 😉

#003: My first day in Malta

Welcome back,

Like I said in my last blog, 19 year old Jenny is in Malta now. After 1 hour in a foreign country with foreign people and a foreign language I pulled myself together. It is to late to go back, so I need to look forward.

I took my camera and went to the city centre of Mosta, the town I lived, to see the Rotunda. I didn’t know the way but I could see the top of the Rotunda from the street I used to live, so it couldn’t be so hard to find. I found it pretty quick and I saw some really nice streets and buildings. The Rotunda was very nice. I saw the bomb of the Second World War which hit the church but luckily nothing happened. I had a great afternoon out there exploring the city. I started to like my new adventure and believed everything changed to a better start and my mood improved. But this was just for a short time. After I have finished my sightseeing tour I had to find back home.

Normally I am good in navigation and remember my way I came before… but not this time! I thought I would take the same winding streets like my way down. But I didn’t! After a while I was of the same height of the view from my street but it was the wrong angle of the Rotunda. I took my phone out of my pocket to use Google maps for my navigation. Sadly I couldn’t remember the address and I couldn’t find it on any documents on my phone. I am officially LOST! On my first day. SUPER! I was about to go crazy. I thought this can’t happen to me right now. I walked up and down every street in this area for round about 1 hour to find the right house. I was really relieved and tired. The only thing I wanted to do is go to bed and sleep.

When I woke up on my second day everything looked better. So I decided to go out again and explore more from the city before my appointment with the organization. And this time everything went well 😉

The meeting was on a random place I don’t know yet. They send me a description how to find them but it was not really clear to me. I was really worried to get lost again. That’s why I was very blessed that my host father gave me a lift there. The meeting was good. I got all the necessary information about my language course and my internship.

After that they kicked me out with a direction to go and a bus number. I managed to find the bus stop and the bus. But it drove past me even though I was standing on the bus stop. So I had to wait for the next one. Luckily someone else was standing on the stop with me this time. When the bus came closer I saw that I have to put out my hand and wave as a sign I want to take the bus. As a tip for you, always wave for the bus.

So I managed to find the bus stop and got into the bus. But what do you have to do in a bus? PAY! Because I didn’t received my monthly ticket yet, I had to pay as well. But I didn’t have coins. I only had big notes and the bus driver couldn’t change. This was a huge problem! So what now?
In the bus no one could change my note. To get out of the bus and walk home was no opportunity. I must have looked really scared. Because one person in this bus gave me the money for the bus. This was my absolute hero! I was so glad. I didn’t know how to thank this kind person. I will never forget how kind this person was to me in a situation like that!

So remember always have enough coins in your wallet for the bus. I know I should have know this but I think it was all a bit much for me. It was definitely not a nice experience to go through and not to know what to do and how to get home or if you get home. So please learn from my mistakes.

After this shock I drove to Mosta and got home without any other problems. The first thing I did after I arrived home was to store every important number and address on my phone. Since then I always do this first and I never had a problem like this again 😉

To find out which places I visited in Malta and hear some more crazy stories come back in around one week.
See you soon.
Love,

Jenny’s Travels 😊

#002: From A-Levels to …?

Hello and Welcome back,

Before I start with the travelling and adventure stories I have to tell you some more about me and my past.

In school I was a good student, boring, quiet and shy. I liked all subject except of two. German and English! Who can see the irony? I write my own blog in English!!!! A few years ago if somebody had told me I would be doing that I wouldn’t believe them.

But after I finished my A-Levels my biggest question was, what next?? What do I want in life? What should I do?

But what are my options? Go to university straight after school, do an apprenticeship or something similar, or do voluntary work. Because I didn’t know what my favorite field is these options weren’t real options for me. I needed something else!

Like I said before, I wasn’t good at English at this time, so why don’t go abroad, do an English course, improve my English skills and my CV.

But which country? The US? I really love this country since I was a little girl and I am sure I will live or emigrate to the US one day. But this wasn’t the right time now. For my first experience abroad on my own, this country is to big and too far away.

What else? Obviously England to learn English. But I rejected this idea directly due to the prejudice of the rainy weather of the country. Living in Germany is rainy ☔️ enough for me at the moment.

That’s why I have chosen Malta! Around 3 years ago I arrived in Malta with nearly no knowledge about this country. I knew Malta is a little island in the Mediterranean Sea. The size of Malta is 316km² and has 475.000 inhabitants. The capital city is Valletta with round about 6000 inhabitants. That’s all.

But what did I need to do before I can fly over to Malta? After my decision was made to go there the paperwork begun. I looked for organizations which offered abroad internship programs. It was also clear I need a language course. After a lot of boring research I finally found a good one.

Luckily they organized nearly everything for me. The only thing I had to do was to write a Cover letter and a CV. After they checked my documents I had a little Skype Interview with them. They want to see if I am good and brave enough to go to a foreign country and they wanted to know what I expect from this internship and in which field I am interested in.

I was really nervous before this interview. The interview was not so bad, but the situation was just weird. This is because I need to leave the camera on, but my Interviewer didn’t. Sometimes the connection was very bad and I had to come very close to the camera. This must have been a very good picture of myself to look at!!

After I survived this the organization looked for possible placements for me. They found one really quickly, luckily because I was really late with my application and the decision what to do. I could accept or reject the offered placement. I really liked the first one and I accepted it. Now it was the turn of the company to accept me. They got my Cover letter, CV and my testimonial. Fortunately they liked me and accepted me for the internship. So the adventure was certain and there was no way back. I will go to Malta for 11 weeks. 2 weeks language course and 9 weeks of work.

The last step was to book the flight. After a couple of days of anticipation it was time to say goodbye. It was harder to say goodbye to my family and friends than I thought it will be. I hadn’t thought of myself that I am an emotional person but it was a really sad day for me.

I got on the plane from Germany to Malta. Thankfully I hadn’t to worry about how I get to my host family. One guy from the organization picked me up and brought me to them. On my first day I was really unhappy. I didn’t know anyone, missed my family, was left alone with some unknown people in a unknown country, their language I didn’t speak.

If you like to know if my experience has turned, come back in around 1 week.
See you soon.
Love,

Jenny’s Travels 😊

#001: Introduction

Hi all together,

thanks for reading my blog. I directly have to apologize for any spelling or grammatical faults. But english is not my first language.

Now I would like to introduce myself. I am Jenny from Jenny’s Travels, I’m 22 years old, I study Mechatronics, I am originally from Germany, but I live at the moment in the UK. I really love doing Sports, books, romantic movies and obviously travelling!

My biggest passion and dream is, since I was a little girl, to travel around the world. From then to now I got a little abroad experience. My passion, my inspiration and motivation grow and grow. That’s the main reason why I started this blog. For the first time in my life I am really doing this. It is not just a plan or a thought in my head anymore. There are no more excuses. It is time to share my experience and life with all of you.

But what exactly makes me special to all the other Bloggers out there?
NOTHING! Yes you read Right. Maybe nothing for you is different to every other blog but for me it is everything.
Because it is my life, my stories, my experience. And this means a lot to me.
I hope it is a bit entertaining and motivating for you as well.
Everybody should do exactly this what makes us happy and what we love.

So how does this all start?
A few days ago I read a really interesting article about travelling. With this article came all my inspiration to start all this.

But what do you need before you can start your own blog?
A name! Yes of course you could use your own name, but this is boring. That’s why I decided I need a cool name. I didn’t want anything boring or a name what could send some wrong messages. This was really important to me. I had lots of ideas but everything was already used in a different way or could lead to misunderstandings. So I took my name and the one thing I love the most. TRAVELLING! ✈🌍❤
That’s the story how Jenny’s Travels begun.

What does a real travel photographer and Blogger need next?
My own logo to make my own pictures unique.
Of course it must be something to do with travelling -> the world.
And I want my motto on it: do what you want.
And voila! That’s the starting Point of my blog.

If you like my story, my personality and my blog, please come back and read my next article in around 2 weeks.
See you soon.
Love,

Jenny’s Travels