english Archives - yoursjuliet

Review: Camping with the Tentsile tree tent

by Juliet on August 16, 2017·Gear & Resources, Travel

[featured photo by Risto Kuulasmaa – CC BY-NC 2.0]

Hi everyone,
it has always been my dream to go camping with one of the Tentsile tree tents, I mean look at all those incredible Instagrams! So earlier this year, we finally planned a camping trip to Yosemite National Park and I was lucky enough to find a Tentsile on Airbnb that we could pick up on our way! Isn’t it great that you can even rent camping equipment on that site now? The rental included all kinds of useful camping gear too, so we didn’t have to buy anything extra (the mister has quite a collection of gear, too).

tentsile instagrams — Photos by @tentsile

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July Roundup and some links

by Juliet on August 13, 2017·Conscious Living, Lifestyle, Living Abroad

Hi everyone,

slightly delayed, this is my July round up! It was a pretty exciting month for me:

I was still traveling with my parents but that is going to be a whole other blog post. I went to Yosemite National Park (again), Mill Valley and surrounding area, as well as on some local day trips.
It was my birthday! And the mister secretly hijacked my plans and turned my standard backyard BBQ into a fantastic Harry Potter themed party. Our friends made a Quidditch beer pong table, intricate wands, a unicorn cake, and so much more. Unfortunately, I was way too excited to document any of it properly. So here are some crappy Snapchat screenshots:
I went on a pretty intense day hike through the State Park of Nisene Marks in Aptos. We hiked about 8 miles in total and it was totally worth it. I went with a friend I hadn’t seen in ages so we had plenty to catch up on.
I got one decent blog post out. See my first 5 zero waste swaps here
I read 1984 by George Orwell, Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman and Sapiens: A brief history of humankind by Professor Yuval Noah Harari. That was some good progress in my reading challenge but there is still a lot to read.

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Sustainability: My first 5 zero-waste swaps

by Juliet on August 1, 2017·Conscious Living

Hi everyone,
I’m so excited to share my first “minimal waste” post with you. I want to address a few things before we get started, though: I am in no way a perfect “zero waster” of even “minimal waster”. I just recently started this journey and thought it would be fun to take you along with me. There are so many awesome zero waste blogs out there that have way more extensive and detailed advice for you than I will ever have. However, I found that these blogs can be overwhelming, especially in the beginning. That’s why I thought, my first baby steps might be interesting for you. Also, these five swaps might not be the first swaps that come to mind. Everyone starts these lists with reusable shopping bags but I wanted to share with you the swaps that came easiest to me maybe even before I really thought in terms of minimal or zero waste. Enjoy!

Swap 1: Bar soap

Why is this swap a good idea? First of all, you can avoid the big plastic containers – bar soap can be purchased wrapped in paper or even better, completely unpackaged. Check Lush, Whole Foods, or your local health food store. Secondly, liquid soaps contain a large percentage water but you’re going to add water when you wash your hands anyway. So why do we need water in our soap? Additionally, you have the chance to shop local and be picky when it comes to the ingredients.
How did I make the swap? My dad actually initiated this zero waste swap long before I moved out. He was annoyed by the moisturizing effect of liquid soaps and prefers the really clean feeling of bar soaps. So he did his research and started buying bar soaps from a local soap maker. They had so many different ones for different purposes. My mum would always store them in our closets to make our clothes smell nice and fresh.

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100 Things to do in San Francisco

by Juliet on August 15, 2016·Bucket Lists, Travel

Hi everyone,

as promised and to celebrate my imminent move to the San Francisco Bay Area, I wanted to share my bucket list for that area with you. Similar to my Berlin bucket list, this one is composed of items from my own list and of things that I have done myself and can strongly recommend. I am planning to edit the list as I go and add links and more recommendations, so come back once in a while. Enjoy!

Food

Dottie’s True Blue Cafe
Twirl & Dip Ice Cream Truck
Smitten Ice Cream
The loving cup
Trouble Toast Coffeeshop
Sightglass Coffee
Brunch at Zazie’s
Dynamo Donut in Mission
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One big update

by Juliet on August 10, 2016·Lifestyle

Hi everyone,

it’s been forever that I published something here. This is mostly due to plenty of things happening out there in the world and me struggling to keep up. However, now I am taking a little break from all of this so I finally have time to fill you in on all the big news.

First of all, the very obvious change: I switched to a self-hosted blog with a new design. So from now on the URL is even easier to remember. It’s just yoursjuliet.com. Now, there are still some minor design flaws roaming this site but so many people advised me to make the switch rather sooner than later. So apologies if something is not working correctly just yet. Let me know about it and I will try to fix it asap.

Second, I basically finished up my Master’s program. I recently handed in my thesis and now I am just waiting for the defense to be over (which won’t be until mid-September). This means my days are not filled with scientific writing and graph making any more and can now be filled (at least partly) with blog post writing and photo editing.

And last but certainly not least, I AM MOVING TO CALIFORNIA! I am still having trouble believing it since everything happened so fast. I got into grad school in Santa Cruz ,where I will be starting mid-September already. So there are some stressful but also very exciting times ahead of me. I’m excited to go back to all the places I loved so much, discover new ones, and blog about it all.

Also, I will try to use my time off to catch up with blog posts that I meant to write ages ago. So as you’re reading this, I might be working on my Bay Area bucket list or the next posts about Prague, Lisbon, and Porto.

Hope you like the new design!

Yours,
Juliet

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10 Things to do and not to do in Prague

by Juliet on June 20, 2016·Europe, Travel

Hi everyone,

Prague is a very beautiful and unfortunately also very touristy city. To help you avoid some of the worst tourist traps, I compiled this list of things to do and not to do in Prague. Some of the very famous sights will definitely appear on the not to do list, which doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to cut it out of your itinerary, just take my negative experiences with those spots as a warning. In general, there is a high risk of getting pickpockets in this city, so be careful with your belongings at any time. And last but not least a little disclaimer: We are all different and what is a negative or uncomfortable experience for one of us doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the same for everyone else 😉

Things to do

1. Strolling through the big park in the western part of the city: This was one of my favorite spots in the whole city. There was plenty to discover in that park and on top of it, you have an amazing view over the city (for free). There are also little cafés for refreshments and some snacks.

Adventure walking: This is what I call walking around a city without a definite aim and an idea how to get there. Prague was a perfect city for random discoveries by walking. I haven’t found any shady areas, so it is super safe to just explore

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A long weekend in Prague

by Juliet on June 14, 2016·Europe, Travel

To celebrate being midway through our allotted time for our Master thesis, a friend of mine and I decided to take a day off. We further decided to use this three-day weekend to go to Prague and explore the city. Best. Decision. Ever. Prague is such a cute and laid back city and definitely always worth a trip. So let me share a little of my weekend.

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Tips for planning & booking a budget trip

by Juliet on April 25, 2016·Gear & Resources, Travel

Hi everyone,

instead of just talking about all the great places to go, I decided to talk about something different this week: About how to save while planning and booking a trip. So here come the tricks that I found work for me. Let me know what yours are and stay tuned for the next post about how to save money at your vacation destination.

Save on the transportation:

Skiplagged, Skyscanner, and Kayak are the websites I like to use to compare airfares. Skiplagged is actually my favorite because you can see the fares for a couple more days than your chosen date, so you can see which dates would be cheaper. Once you’ve identified the cheapest airline, double check the price of the ticket without going through one of these sites. Sometimes that is even cheaper
Book on your tickets on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, most likely it will be cheaper than on the weekend.
Before booking your tickets, delete your browser history. Apparently, there are algorithms that increase prices when they notice you are looking for certain tickets
Collecting miles and using them on flights and upgrades really pays off. I am still taking my first steps in that business. However, the Points Guy is a true expert in that matter. Check out his website for tips on how to effectively make use of airline miles.
Consider booking round trips even if you won’t need them. I know, I know, it hurts me too. But one-way tickets are just ridiculously expensive.
Enough about flights, consider other modes of transportation. In Europe, it can be super-affordable to take the train. Check out the inter-rail options, a ticket valid for several weeks that can take you all over Europe. Other train tickets are the cheapest if you buy them exactly three months in advance.
In other countries (the US comes to my mind here), road trips might actually be a fun and cheap alternative. Think about it. The one-way rule applies to a lot of rental cars, too, by the way.

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How to deal with culture shock and homesickness

by Juliet on April 18, 2016·Gear & Resources, Living Abroad, Travel

Hi everyone,

let’s talk about feelings today: especially the nasty ones that come along with homesickness and experiencing culture shock. These are the things everyone who moves to a foreign country has to deal with sooner or later and to different extents of course. However, I feel like everyone gets overwhelmed by these feelings at some point. I myself had a rather mild case of culture shock and barely experienced any homesickness. It did kick me in the butt, though, as soon as everything wasn’t all smiles and sunshine (especially when I had the flu over Christmas and had to stay in my bed for a week). In order to make it easier for other exchange students or expats to deal with these nasty feelings, I collected my tips and tricks of how to handle culture shock and homesickness.

Be aware of the phenomenon culture shock: Do your research and learn about the different stages. That alone can make it easier to deal with, because you know that another phase will come up soon and change everything again.
Accept it: Don’t deny it, think about what phase you’re actually in, and remember that you’re not the only one experiencing this phenomenon.
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Chocolatiers Fassbender & Rausch in Berlin

by Juliet on April 11, 2016·Europe, Food, Lifestyle, Travel

[featured photo by Caribb – Creative Commons]

Hi everyone,

today I have a different kind of post for you. Instead of giving you top 5 or 10 of anything, I just wanted to share a fun experience with you. Over the easter weekend I had friends in town, so we went out exploring together. I always enjoy these visits, because usually my friends have a few ideas about where to go and then I get to check out some new spots in Berlin.

That’s exactly how it was this time. After I showed my girls my favorite spots in Berlin, and then they told me about the Chocolatiers Fassbender&Rausch they’ve read about on the internet. So we went to see their shop and restaurant at the Gendarmenmarkt.

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Swap 1: Bar soap