Holiday Updates 2: Maldives
There are so many truly precious moments that we need to embrace and cherish. One of them is being surrounded by our family and closest friends, experiencing things together, laughing together and traveling together. As I told you in Holiday Updates: Maldives, I recently graduated from uni and have been traveling since. As a final holiday with my best friends, we went to the Maldives together before we all parted ways. It was a beautiful last week and I'm so grateful for having spent such great time with them.
Since I came back, I've been moving (check!) and job hunting (check!). Some of you might remember me doing an internship for Fit 'n' Tasty, a Swiss detox company. Turns out I'll be going back full-time to take charge of the Swiss German market. Yay! I also started my nutrition studies at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and am currently in the 2nd module. I'm already loving it and can't wait to learn, grow and evolve over the coming months. One concept that particularly resonates with me is the importance of 'primary foods'; elements such as an inspiring career, meaningful relationships, a great spiritual practice and regular physical exercise all constitute as primary foods. The more primary food we receive, the less we depend on secondary food (aka actual food) to nourish ourselves. No amount of secondary food can nurture us the same way that primary foods can. The fun, excitement and love of daily life has the power to feed us in a way so that actual eating becomes secondary.
Well, this trip has definitely been nourishing on so many levels!
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.
With my move from Lausanne to Bern in September last year, I haven't been around Lausanne a lot lately. But when I heard that a fully vegan cafe opened it's door, I couldn't resist and go check it out myself. Vic and I went to go try out the second we had a chance.
Open since the beginning of autumn 2015, the Veganopolis café has become the new place for healthy foodies to try out. Not that there are many alternatives, uhmm... The Veganopolis collective was already hosting Les midis vegan and the Vrunch, two vegan pop up take aways in Lausanne which were both hugely successful, so this café was only a natural extension of their already successful business.
When Vic and I arrived, we were both starving after a killer leg day and all we wanted was food, ASAP! So it was to our advantage that their menu is rather simple with a narrow selection of vegan burger and pasta dishes. The only caveat: there was not a single gluten free option in sight. Vic and I usually don’t eat gluten, but given that we were super hungry and didn't have a lot of time, we opted for a half-wheat, half-rice burger bun. It was only until later that we read about their gluten free days on Wednesday and Friday. Lesson learnt.
Moving from Lausanne to Bern has brought it's many benefits. Not only am I 10 minutes away from a local Tibits, but I am just a short hour train ride away from Zurich. We in Switzerland are not very 'spoiled' when it comes to healthy eating options and Lausanne is right up there in terms of vegan-unfriendliness. The change in residency might not be the best for my wallet (read: I am taste testing every health hot spot in my way of destruction), but my taste buds are happy campers.
Before going to the Rhythm108 event at Balboa with Victoria, we had some serious catching up to do. We decided to grab a quick lunch at Roots, which opened a couple of months ago and has been getting lots of attention since. I'm happy to see such positive reactions towards a healthy, trendy restaurant; maybe it will encourage more of this type to pop up?
Back in November when I went to Phuket with a bunch of friends I randomly stumbled across Phuket Cleanse, a raw vegan 'active' detox retreat. Unfortunately our stay on the island was short and I didn't get the opportunity to check out the resort then. But after taking a closer look at their offer, I left the island with a burning desire to come back one day and experience Phuket Cleanse for myself. I had never been on a detox holiday before and it was one of those things I had been meaning to tick off my bucket list.
That wish finally came true last week; my boyfriend and I spent five amazing days detoxing, working out and getting our asses kicked by Phuket Cleanse's lovely but torturous trainers. But let me take it from the top and explain a little bit more:
Phuket Cleanse is a health retreat located in Rawai, Phuket that offers what they call an 'active cleanse.' It is a common misconception that energy levels are low when on a cleanse, and you will definitely be proven wrong if you think that way. Unlike other wellness retreats where the focus is on yoga and meditation, the schedule at Phuket Cleanse is jam packed with up to nine workouts a day to choose from, herbal baths and infrared sauna sessions, ice bathing, raw food cooking classes, trips to the beach and educational workshops about nutrition and wellness. Oh, did I mention (almost) daily recovery massages? Jackpot!
I can't even begin to count my blessings. As we speak, I am in Chiang Mai munching away on super ripe bananas and sipping on a young coconut. My boyfriend and I decided to spend the entire month of August in Chiang Mai with his family (they live here) before ending our summer holidays with a detox trip to Phuket Cleanse. Our days have been filled with daily yoga, massages, trips to the local food markets and disovering the city's food culture. I feel zen, balanced and extremely grateful for life right now.
This is my 4th time in Thailand, and I am as in love with this country as during my first stay. The people, the warm weather, the FOOD, the cheap massages..Can I move here please? As you can imagine, the food is the most interesting to me. I love to learn about local ingredients, their cooking style and working my way through every restaurant in my way. One thing you definitely have to do when in Chiang Mai is to go to the local food markets, especially at night. The one we went to is close to Meechok Plaza but there are tons all around town. I'd suggest to go with an empty stomach so that you can really try some of the dishes they serve. A word of caution: Many of the fruit juices have added sugar in them, so make sure to ask before buying them.
Every time after visiting Thailand we bring a bunch of herbs, spices and the good intention of finally starting to cook Thai, back home. Once unpacked and settled back in, all things get shoved into the far end of top cupboard and eventually get forgotten about. Including those good intentions. We have vowed to change this and to finally (4th time is a charm, right?) attend a Thai cooking class in the hope that this will inspire us to actually recreate our favourite Thai dishes at home.
After doing some research, we decided on May Kaidee, a vegetarian/vegan cooking school with centers in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. They offer a variety of cooking classes ranging from a standard Thai cooking class to raw food, fruit carving and tofu making classes. They even have an advanced chili paste course. We opted for the standard 4-hour course at a price of 1500 baht (around 38 Euro), where we got to learn a total of seven dishes: red and green chili paste, Pad Thai, green curry, massaman curry, fresh spring rolls, som tam, pumpkin hummus and mango with sticky rice.
There are so many truly precious moments that we need to embrace and cherish. One of them is being surrounded by our family and closest friends, experiencing things together, laughing together and traveling together. As I told you in Holiday Updates: Maldives, I recently graduated from uni and have been traveling since. As a final holiday with my best friends, we went to the Maldives together before we all parted ways. It was a beautiful last week and I'm so grateful for having spent such great time with them.
Hello everyone! If you follow me on Instagram, you will have noticed that a lot has happened in the last couple weeks. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hospitaly Management, went on grad trip to Ibiza, started my studies at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition to become a certified health coach and escaped to the beatiful Diamonds Thudufushi Resort in the Maldives with a bunch of my best friends before we all part our ways and start jobs in different parts of the world.
With all these things going on I have neglected this space a bit lately, so my sincere apologies for that. On top of it all, my laptop just crashed the other day, making it even harder for me to post here.
Excited has to be the world's biggest understatement when it comes to my feelings about going to Paris. Which girl doesn't love the city? Paris is known for many things - romance, art, fashion, the Eiffel tower - but, until recently, the city of baguette and crepes in the land of cheese and wine hasn't earned much of a reputation as a healthy eating hotspot. Apparently, less than 2 % of the French identify themselves as vegetarian, compared with four times as many Brits and Germans. Over time, I have become used to receiving weird, confused, bewildered and annoyed faces when requesting a meal for specific dietary needs. Thanks to more and more healthy restaurants, cafés and juice bars popping up, the grass is starting to look a bit greener.
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.