Shopping: Protest gift voucher

Hi, my name is Lucky. Lucky Bastard.

Well, not literally of course. But you could say that I'm one lucky girl since I won a €50,- gift voucher which I can spend in the Protest Online Shop! (Thank you Nadja)! I am a huge fan of Protest. One of their board shorts already found its way into my closet last year, and now I can choose another Protest item from their webshop. One problem though: I can't choose!

Travel tip: saving money in the perfect piggy bank

Since I'm currently saving up almost every penny I have, I don't have much to write about, except for this great money-saving-tip I have for you guys. It's called a can coin bank, and I think it's absolutely brilliant.

Solar Weekend Festival!

Sunset at the House of House on Solar Weekend Festival

 

It. Was. Amazing.
I love festivals, and there are still a couple of famous festivals on my 'to-visit-list', like Coachella, Burning Man & Glastonbury. But luckily we have Solar. It's a weekend festival in The Netherlands which is absolutely unique. They create an absolute fabulous festival terrain with lots of creative influences, It's of course mainly about music. They have an amazing House of House and Main Stage, but also other creative things like a theatre area, a jukebox area, you can get married on Solar Festival, you can get massages and play drums... it's just a very nice place to be. Especially when the sun is shining.

Which gadgets to take on a backpacking trip?

So I am going to travel... alone. I know, you'll never actually be alone, since there are many solo backpackers who you'll meet along the way. But it's nice to have at least some gadgets to enjoy yourself while on long train rides or when you can't sleep at night, like an e-reader. Also, I'd love to take pictures of the amazing places I visit, so a camera is kind of a necessity. Furthermore I'd like to keep in touch with the home front. In short: I have a list of gadgets which ideally would all get a little spot in my backpack. Let's take a look:

GoPro | Epic

First of all: I'm sorry it has been a while since my last blogpost. Summer has finally arrived, so I've been enjoying the weather quite a lot over the last month. I didn't use my computer at all, except at work. After an 8 hour work day behind the screen, I don't really feel like spending another few hours behind it to make some blog posts. But here I am, with a little update about something I'm pretty enthusiastic about.

New in: Lushious Lush products!

I already told you about my little Lush Wishlist earlier, and I also mentioned that it's a bit too expensive for me since I am saving up all my money to go on my trip next year. Luckily my boyfriend decided that I deserved a little gift, so he bought me 2 of my wish list items (and a little shampoo bar tin). Want to take a look?

Twitter tip: @Earth_Pics

Since I'm not able to travel very much, I need my daily dose of beautiful travel images so I can at least virtually travel the world every single day. Well, I know where to get this free daily dose of travel pics: Just follow @Earth_Pics on twitter. This account serves you about 45 amazing pictures a day, and every single one of them is enviable. It makes me want to grab my camera, hop on a plane and go to a random location on this planet. 

Food: Chocolate Lava Cake

I love everything that has chocolate in it. I like it even more if it has melted chocolate in it. So you can imagine I absolutely LOVE moist chocolate cupcake-ish cakes with melted chocolate on the inside, which oozes out when you put your spoon in the little cake. That's exactly what a Moelleux Au Chocolat is. It's also known as a chocolate lava cake or chocolate molten cake, because the chocolate oozes out like lava out of a volcano. Anyway, this is a truly devine dessert, and the good thing: it's extremely simple to make!

Backpacking wish list: Lush

When I'm going on my backpacking trip next year, I can't take my usual hair care products. The bottles would take up way too much space, so I have to come up with an alternative. Well, I found the perfect solution: Lush.

Lush is a brand which uses mostly natural ingredients. This is great, but the best thing is that they sell solid shampoo bars which, according to Lush, last as long as three 250 ml bottles of conventional shampoo. If that's true, it is a great substitute for liquid shampoo when going on a 5 month backpacking trip. Also quite nice: Lush is known worldwide, so when I'm out of product I can easily pop by a store in Singapore to buy the same product again. How great is that?

Travel Wish List: Chernobyl

 

I have a list. A list which contains places I really would like to pay a visit to at least once in my life. Today I'll share with you my first travel destination on the list. It's not necessarily on top of the list but I want to visit it soon. I know, it doesn't really sound like the most fabulous travel destination, but Chernobyl is very very very high on my travel wishlist.

Backpacking: the backpacking make-up bag

 

The stereotypical backpacking girl is often portrayed as a 'look, I didn't take a shower for a week' kinda girl with dreadlocks and an outfit that screams 'I don't care how I look because I am a backpacker and I'm freeeee!'. Now let me tell you that I'm not that kinda girl. I'm the girl that selects her outfit thoughtfully and puts on make-up almost every day. Not excessively, but the regular tinted bb cream, powder, blush, eyeliner, eyeshadow (very natural though), and mascara seem to find my face every single day.

 

So now we get to the subject I would like to discuss: Do you take makeup on a backpacking trip? And if yes: which make-up do you take with you?

Backpacking gadget: Leatherman Juice CS4

Sorry, it's been a while since my last post. But I'm back again with a nice little gadget which, according to my boyfriend, I really need to take with me on my backpacking trip. He wanted to give me a practical backpacking tool as a gift (for no reason, did I already tell you I have the best boyfriend in the whole world?). So he gave me a Leatherman.

Weekend break: monkey forest

  

 

Sometimes you just have to take a little weekend break, away from all the stress, staying in a lodge somewhere in the forest doing nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well ofcourse that's not really possible, so we ate, we played a game of mini golf and we tested our bowling skills. The one and only trip we made was to a monkey forest. I love animals, and the great thing about this monkey forest is the fact that all the monkeys run around freely. None of them are caged, not even the gorilla's (but they are on an island so they can't get close to you, thank goodness). Anywayz... here are some amazing monkey pics I would like to share with you:

Contest: design your own Samsonite!

FINALLY there is a great new online competition. A contest with which you can win some awesome stuff. Curious yet?

Samsonite has come up with a fun contest in which students can design their own print which will actually go in production on a limited edition Samsonite Curv suitcase.  How amazing is that? The reason why they are doing this contest is the introduction of a new print proces. Very interesting, but what is that great prize you can win?

Travel tattoo ideas

Tattoos: you either love 'em or you hate 'em. I absolutely love (most) tattoos and I like the idea of telling a story with the ink on one's body. I have got one tattoo myself and I got it about 7 years ago after graduating high school. I already knew back then that someday my tattoo would have a little friend.

Since I am a travel addict, a travel tattoo seems like a good plan to me. So I've been surfing around the internet for quite some time now to find a suitable design to match my personal ideas. I came up with the following travel tattoo ideas, but I am not sure yet which one I will turn into a real tattoo....

Food: Carpaccio tortilla

I absolutely love eating a good lunch on a sunny terrace in the city. One of my favourite lunch places of all time has an amazing dish on the menu: The Carpaccio Tortilla. I never would have come up with the idea of putting carpaccio in a tortilla, but it actually makes a very nice lunch dish.

Beef carpaccio tortilla with rocket lettuce. Deliciousness!

So I tried the recipe at home and I would like to share it with you. Well, it's actually not really a recipe because it doesn't involve any cooking or mixing ingredients whatsoever. Anywayz.. 

Today's recipe: Carpaccio tortilla. 

Yum!

Food: Tomato soup with basil

Okay, here it is: my very first recipe on Yellow With a Black Edge. Since I am a huuuuge soup lover, I would like to share my healthy tomato soup recipe with you. It's very easy, it's very cheap and it's very very good. Are you curious?

Today's recipe is....  Homemade tomato soup with basil

Paris Hotel behind the Bellagio fountains

Paris Hotel behind the Bellagio fountains
Destination: Las Vegas, USA
Date: August, 2009

Kids behind the fence

Kids behind the fence
Destination: Lombok, Indonesia
Date: April, 2012

Art is the proper task of life

Art is the proper task of life (Friedrich Nietzsche)
Destination: Lombok, Indonesia
Date: April, 2012

Backpacking Itinerary when travelling through Asia

Let me tell you something before I will present to you my backpacking planning.

I. Am. A. Lousy. Planner.
I truly am. I can't even plan a trip to the grocery store without freaking out, since I am very easily distracted and... hey look, a bird in the backyard.... 

Angkor Wat in Cambodia. So beautiful. 

Anywayz, back to the planning. So it took me a while (and some serious headaches), but I've finally decided upon a planning which makes me happy. The schedule is not too busy, but it still allows me to see a lot of the country. Perfect, you would say. Yes, but sacrifices were made. India is out of the route. No India, no Taj Mahal, no nothing. On one hand I find it a bit sad, since I am going to travel to that side of the planet I could easily make a little stop in India, but on the other hand I want a relaxing trip and that's impossible with India in the planning. Bye bye India. 

But what does the route look like right now? Well... here it is!

Innocent eyes of Lombok

Innocent eyes of Lombok
Location: Lombok, Indonesia
Date: April, 2013

Horseshoe Bend, Arizona, USA

Horseshoe Bend, Arizona, USA
Location: Arizona, USA
Date: July, 2007

Backpacking: The Final Destination

It's been a while, so I think it's time for an update. Travel buddy and bestie G. and I finally decided upon a final destination for our trip. At first we wanted to chill out on the Maledives before going back home. Just doing nothing, laying on the beach, drinking cocktails... I think you will get the picture. Unfortunately the Maledives are relatively expensive and since backpacking is kind of surviving on an ultra low budget, 'expensive' is not in our dictionary. Bye bye Maledives.

Our new travel destination... can you guess where it is?

A couple of days ago, G and I got together over coffee and decided upon a new final destination. It was a brief 'meeting' because we both felt the same way. Are you curious? Well, it's still not a 100% certain yet (Indonesia is still a possibility), but for now we will end our backpacking trip innnn.....

The Alps in the winter time

The Alps in the winter time
Destination: Austria, Gerlos
Date: January, 2013

Tanah Lot temple

Tanah Lot Temple
Destination: Indonesia, Bali
Date: March, 2012

Camera found after drifting 6 years in the Pacific Ocean

If you ask me, losing your camera on vacation is one of the worst things that can happen, apart from dying or getting seriously hurt. I truly believe that my pictures are the most valuable assets I have with me on a trip. You can imagine how Lindsay Crumbley Scallan must have felt when her diving camera disappeared into the depths of the ocean 6 years ago when diving in Maui.

Well, you wouldn't believe it, but the camera was found a month ago... in Taiwan. The camera drifted almost 10.000km through the ocean and was found last month on a beach in Taitung.

Backpacking budget: don't forget!

Money. It is always an issue. It's the one single thing that has the most influence on my backpacking trip. According to the first planning, I want to travel 5,5 months and I would like to visit India, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and maybe Indonesia to finish. I'm currently busy setting a backpacking budget for this trip, but there are some things I kind of forgot about.

So here are some very important budget related matters which you absolutely cannot forget when planning a trip like this:

Rafting through the Grand Canyon

Rafting through the Grand Canyon
Destination: USA, Arizona, Grand Canyon
Date: July, 2007

Bellagio

Bellagio
Destination: Italy, Lako Como
Date: August, 2012

Bridge with locks

Bridge with locks
Destination: Spain, Malaga
Date: June, 2011

Monkey on a statue

Monkey on a statue
Destination: Indonesia, Bali
Date: March, 2012

Backpacking: The ultimate backpackers guide

I truly have the best boyfriend in the entire world. Not only is he okay with me going on a 5,5 month backpacking trip, he also wants me to be well prepared so he bought me an amazing book as a gift. May I present to you the ultimate backpacking bible: Southeast Asia on a shoestring from Lonely Planet. As a backpacker you cannot live without a Lonely Planet book. It's known to be the most complete and updated backpackers guide out there.

Here it is, the only backpacking book you'll be needing while travelling through Southeast Asia. First some things you might want to know when taking this book on a trip: it's 19.7 x 12.8 x 3.9 cm and it weighs 743 grams. Not really a pocket book to put in a backpack, but I will take it with me anyway. The book covers eleven countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. You could say this is the perfect backpackers book for me, since I'll be visiting eight of these countries (according to the planning thusfar).

So what kind of information can be found in this backpack book?

Flowering boulevard

Flowering boulevard
Destination: Italy, Lake Como
Date: August 2012

The best job in the world

Remember when Australia gave away the best job in the world a couple of years ago? The job in which the employee had to take care of a deserted island, which included an enormous paycheck and the opportunity to live on a deserted island? Remember that? It was a huge success, and that's why Tourism Australia is repeating it by giving away six dream jobs all over the continent of Australia. You like?



This time they are looking for six different people with different skills, but they will all get the same $50.000,- paycheck and in addition to that $50,000,- worth of housing, technology and other items. I bet you are interested? The job descriptions are as followed:

Sunset at the Batu Bolong Temple

Sunset at the Batu Bolong Temple
Destination: Indonesia, Bali
Date: March, 2012

Backpacking: planning the main route

So I have decided to go backpacking. It has always been a dream of me to travel the world and now I finally get the opportunity to do it. Next year (July 2014) I will start my trip and I thought it would be fun if I would update you about all the preparations. Of course it depends on the duration and destination of the trip whether you need to follow all the steps I am going take, but it might give you an idea of what planning a backpacking trip like this actually entails.

Picture via here

Well, the first item on the agenda is: where the heck am I going? Planning a backpacking route sounds more simple than it actually is. There are many places to travel and there is only limited time to do so, in my case probably 5,5 months. I already decided that I really would like to visit South-East Asia. How to create a route? Like so:

Vulcanic island

Vulcanic island
Destination: Spain, Lanzarote
Date: July, 2009

A well deserved drink after snowboarding

A well deserved drink after some serious snowboarding.
Destination: Austria, Gerlos
Date: January, 2013