6 weeks have passed since I did my Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh, India. Certified yogi: tick
The one question I get after "How was it?" is this: "Did it transform your life like everyone said it would?"
In other words, they want to know if I've come back a zen AF yogi that has found enlightenment at the end of the tunnel.
On the list of things I missed the most while I was in India, Sydney's brunch is definitely in the top 10. Having spicy rice for breakfast is alright and all, but boy did I miss my morning cappuccino, smashed avo and sourdough bread. Aussies just know how to brunch, am I right? The cool thing in Sydney is that their brunch scene doesn't equate to big boozy escapades with all-you-eat-buffets (reminds me of Dubai times, #foodcoma).
I leave India with a 200h yoga certificate, new found friends and a heart bursting full of joy, appreciation, and gratitude for this experience, for myself, my body, mother nature and this beautiful earth we live in. Doing my Yoa Teacher Training in India was everything I hoped for and more.
It was...
It was like one big summer camp for adults.
It was practicing yoga 3-4 hours a day, 6 days a week.
It was morning neti pots and herbal teas.
When you drive into Byron Bay there is a welcome sign, saying, “cheer up, slow down, chill out,”. That pretty much sums up my Byron experience.
From the day I moved to Sydney, going for a long weekend trip to Byron Bay was on top of my travel-list. I had heard endless stories about the region’s bountiful organic produce, health conscious culture, long beaches and laid-back vibes; I was convinced before I even got there. Plus the weather is picture-perfect almost all year round, what's not to love? It's also just a short 1 1/2 - hour flight away from Sydney, making it the perfect quick city escape.
Can you believe that I've lived in Sydney for 10 months now and have not done one single healthy restaurant review?! What.the.hell.is.wrong.with.me. There's a million of places to get your healthy food fix in Sydney, and I find it so incredibly easy to make good food choices around this city. With breakfast being the most important meal to Sydney-siders, I’ve done the leg-work for you and compiled my Top 7 Healthy Eats below. I actually had soooo many more to put on this list, but if you only had time for 7 meals in Sydney, you wouldn't want to miss out on any of these.
Initially, Singapore didn't really strike me as a very healthy place. There's deep fried Asian food everywhere, when you are at the local markets it's impossible to know what you are eating and I didn't see a lot of people being very active. That is, if you don't count the shopping marathons that are possible in Singapore (you can literally walk through the entire 4 million-people city via malls underground.
But after a couple of days exploring the city with my other half Vic, I was more and more impressed with the healthy cafés and studios that we discovered. They aren't as easily visible at first sight like I am now used to in Australia, but if you do a bit of research, you will realise that there are actually plenty of great options. It's a place where the health scene is really up and coming, so if you keep your eyes peeled, I'm sure you will discover some new and exciting places.
The other week Phil and I were lucky enough to be invited to The Billabong Retreat, which is a yoga and meditation retreat about a 1-h drive outside from Sydney. A little getaway is exactly what I craved before heading off to my beloved-but sometimes crazy family over the Christmas holidays, so this couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
Billabong offers different retreat programs, like a yoga, wellness or meditation program. We opted for the latter, and even though the program runs for a couple of days, you can join it for just 1 or 2 days if you like. I’ve built up a meditation practice ever since moving to Sydney, but this trip really allowed me to tap back into it and also to discover new techniques that I had never tried before.
I'm in love with Melbourne. There’s just something about its deeply-engrained coffee culture, boutique shops and mix of new/old architecture that gets me excited. Melbournians are especially spoilt for choice when it comes to all things healthy, both in the food and fitness department. If they had nicer beaches and a bit warmer weather, I'd totally consider moving there!
I've only been twice so far, but in that time I have made sure to explore as many places as possible. And by that I mean I went out for a pre-workout juice, breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner every day because there were so many amazing options and I wanted to check them all out. Plus some workouts here and there. In case you missed the latest #vicandstef travel shabam, check out our hashtag here.
It's been almost two months since I moved to Sydney and I just realized that I haven't posted a single blog post about my experience here so far. I guess my excuse is that I've really been living in the moment, soaking it all in and just enjoying it. Mindfulness is what it's about, right? But I wouldn't want to keep all the amazingness that I've encountered from you, so I've decided to write about one of my best experiences so far: Bondi Farmers Market.
I had been meaning to go to Bondi Farmers Market months before even moving to Sydney as I had heard so many awesome things about it. And it certainly didn't disappoint. Beautiful healthy produce, amazing food stalls, cool chill out spots on the grass with live music and the beach right across the road. That has to be food market perfection!
The farmer's market phenomena may be partially because it's "fashionable" and trendy to shop there, but I'm just so excited to see more and more people becoming increasingly interested in where their food comes from and how it's grown and produced. Plus you get to support local producers and even reduce your carbon footprint.
During my long flight from Zurich to Sydney I cleaned up my laptop a bit and realised I still have loads of pictures from my time at Phuket Cleanse that I haven't shared with you yet. FYI, Phuket Cleanse is an active detox retreat in Thailand that I went to for a couple days last year and totally fell in love with.
Since I'm still getting set up here in Sydney and am currently apartment hunting and doing bunch of other admin stuff, I thought I'd just share these pictures with you guys until I find time to take up blogging again!
Enjoy, xx
P.S.: For a full review of my stay at Phuket Cleanse, click here.
Alright, I’m only two months late, but better now then never right? Here comes your go-to health guide to Berlin!
Because I was super busy with work and my health coaching studies, Vic prepared the entire trip and researched all the places that we wanted to go to (aka she harassed me for three weeks beforehand trying to plan every nitty gritty detail of the trip #slightlyocd). But seemingly it pays off to have friends who study hospitality management, because everything about the trip was simply amazing. In short: I love Berlin because it’s absolute vegan heaven. Okay, you don’t need to read no further. You know everything now. Bye bye.
Since Vic planned the trip, I had no idea what to expect. Normally it’s my boyfriend who gets so lean back and enjoy (that’s debatable) the things I plan out, so it was a nice change to be on the receiving end. These days what I get most excited about when visiting a new place is testing my way through the vegan restaurant scene. Luckily Vic feels the same, so our trip was spent eating, eating and doing some more, well, eating.
But seriously, we had a crazy busy schedule and were basically speed walking from location to location. Which we were both secretly happy about because we ate about the amount of Vic’s weekly meal plan in one weekend. Good thing we were actually writing a healthy jetsetter guide for Well To Do London, at least that gave us an excuse as to why we were stuffing our faces 24/7. A girl has gotta try all the food before she can report about it, right?
Standing tall at 1856 metres high and offering over 250 km of ski slopes, St. Moritz is known as one of the most exclusive ski resorts in Europe. It is mostly known for its jet set clientele, amazing hotels and restaurants, fancy night clubs and more glamour than you can handle. A paradise for billionaires, celebrities & co.
But if you know me, then you can guess that I didn't go to St. Moritz to dance away my nights in a club. No, no...Instead, I was invited by the prestigious Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains to enjoy a relaxing weekend testing how well they could accommodate a health and fitness freak like myself. Challenge accepted! I'm so happy that this opportunity came along because, given that I'm moving away soon, it was my last chance to discover a new part of Switzerland that I'd never been to before.
