Roamaniac

26/10/2024

Part Two of my traverse of the Cerna Mountains involved more sheep, strong winds, a super scary ridge, and a grand finale at the hot springs of Baile Herculane! Read about my adventures here, to inspire or deter you - or just browse through the pictures which are hopefully drool-inducing! 🤤 There's a lot of them because I simply could not choose... Enjoy! https://roamaniac.com/2024/10/25/hiking-in-the-cerna-mountains-part-two/

25/10/2024

Part Two of my traverse of the Cerna Mountains - involving more sheep, a super scary ridge, and ending at the hot springs of Baile Herculane.

Part Two of my traverse of the ridge of the Cerna Mountains in Romania. Read all about camping, water sources, sheep, bears and hot springs!

18/10/2024

Hello there! I'm back. I've been off social media for more than two months now to focus on my priorities. It's been a really challenging year so far, and I'm trying to get back on track. The extremely drawn-out process to purchase our house in Romania and supervising the renovations have taken an enormous toll on my mental health - on top of existing health issues. We did manage to buy the house in the end (yay!), except for one tiny patch of garden which is still in someone else's name - and the roof of the house got renovated.

We got far less done than we hoped though, and everything is bloody expensive, and our funds finite. For one thing, the stove has become increasingly dysfunctional and needs replacing - but that's a lot of work and a lot of money, and another project to supervise. Towards the end of summer we simply couldn't face that prospect anymore - so we've postponed that until spring and decided to spend the entire winter in Belgium. Which is where I'm writing from now.

Most importantly, I hardly got to do the things I love most - hiking and writing. But at the start of autumn, I finally managed to go on a long hike! I was very scared to go on it because I wasn't in good shape at all, neither physically or mentally, but as soon as I could muster the courage I decided I should give it a go. I need those mountains. And they did me a lot of good! Here is the first part of my adventurese in the Cerna Mountains - to be continued. And I may just come back to Romania for a bit - autumn is just too glorious to miss!

Read more here: https://roamaniac.com/2024/10/18/hiking-the-cerna-ridge/

31/07/2024

Short day hike in the Fagaras Mountains with fellow mountain maniac Alexandra Pușcașu. Never hiked so slow because I wasn't feeling well, but even so, it did me a lot of good! There's almost always a way. If you can't do big, start small. 'Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.' Rebuilding strength and hope after what's been a very challenging year so far.

10/07/2024

Today our scrapyard was turned into a clean yard again! It was such a discouraging mess, so when our neighbour offered to scrape it out with his excavator I was extremely happy with that - and we threw some more trash out of the house + barn onto the heap. Cristi also removed some weeds in the process - time to sow grass + clover + flower seeds! Actually it was my neighbour on the other side, Vali, who asked Cristi if he could help us and then she told us about it. Cristi and his brother Andrei are actually super busy building a new house + renovating the old one, and it's also very hot, so extra grateful they made time for us! Our neighbours are golden! 🫶🫶🫶

02/07/2024

I spent the weekend hiking in the Cindrel Mountains, to steady my nerves. It looks like we're very close to finally buying the house, after one year and eight months. To get to this point required a lot of my involvement, patience, time and energy - and on top of that, there's the house renovations and the costs that involves and how slowly we're making progress, all the time living in an unfinished house that has lots of flaws and doesn't quite feel like home yet. And then there are some health issues I'm trying to cope with. All of which has caused me to come to the verge of - I don't know what to call it. A breaking point, I guess. Just not being able to cope anymore, or see through it all, and too tired to find solutions. Much of the time I've been alone as well, that didn't help either. But tomorrow my husband is coming back and we're making a plan to release as much stress as possible and take things off my shoulders, so that I can start living and breathing again, and enjoy where I am. Because I do love being here. This country, this village, these mountains. I didn't enjoy hiking to my max capacity this weekend, but it certainly helped regulate my emotions and rebalance my nervous system a little bit. Back home now and not everything can be resolved immediately, but I'll keep taking doses of Nature to get through it all. And I do have the most wonderful friends and neighbours around me - I've started asking for more help because it's clear that this dream of mine to live in Romania is not a one-woman job! To be continued, I think. Oops, did I just write a pretty vulnerable post? I guess so, but you are the most wonderful followers and supporters so I'll trust you with it!

06/06/2024

I'm at Dolina Village, busy preparing the Yoga & Hiking Retreat that's about to kick off! Went on a glorious first walk yesterday. Dolina Village itself is pretty awesome too. I'm writing this from my glamping tent, surrounded by a bird and cricket choir. I even have my own little stove!

29/05/2024

I promised more pictures of my hike in the Trascau Mountains two weeks ago - here they are! On Friday afternoon I took the train to Alba Iulia, then the rickety bus to Modolesti - where I got off at 17:00, right at the trailhead - then hiked up for a few hours. After finding a super pretty camping spot I still hiked on because the trail looked so easy so I thought I'd chuck in a few more km, but then there were no more good camping spots and I got too close to the village + its dogs to my taste... So I backtracked 2 km to that perfect spot again and pitched my bivvy bag. Only days later I found out this was the night of the Northern Lights - it was pretty cloudy but I certainly would have kept an eye out had I known! The next day I walked to the mountain village of Tecsesti to admire the daffodil meadows, but I ended up spending hours walking around the scattered village and meeting people & animals! There were lots of people about, all hunting for the daffodils. After conquering Piatra Cetii I lost most of them except for one other hiker, and calmly ambled towards Cetea. I saved the best for the last: I ended up at a glorious waterfall (took a bath!) and camped underneath some super imposing rocks. Highly recommend this trail! Judging by the signpost in the first photo you could tackle it in a day, and I think you could, but I wouldn't recommend it... Pretty bushy trail and so much to explore!

19/05/2024

A Sunday in Sibiu. Fairly confident this city will never cease to delight me!

12/05/2024

There is a time for everything - and right now it's the time for daffodils! I also very much needed a break from pretty much everything (except daffodils). So on Friday I took several buses and arrived in Modolesti at 5 pm, from where I hiked up to the cliffs of the Intregalde Gorge. When I saw the first gorgeous meadow full of daffodils I decided that would make an excellent camping spot, but still I hiked on... Because I was curious; because I'd only gotten a few kilometres under my belt; because who knows what lies around the corner... I regretted it, because I got too close to the village of Tecsesti to camp wild properly (and I heard dogs). So I walked the 2 km back to the perfect spot I saw earlier (so 4 km for nothing). It felt a little stupid but life's too short for sub par camping spots, and after all it was just a bit of extra exercise. 😄 Here are some photos of the narcise and some views - more later if I get around to it! So many stories to tell again. Have a good week everyone!

07/05/2024

Hello people, looong shot but I have a question! Do I know anyone who regularly drives from Sibiu to Suncuius? I'm looking for someone who'd be willing to drive 10 yoga mats over to Dolina Village - Zece Hotare on 10 June and back on the 16th of June. Probably can't make it work out but one can always ask! Let's see what happens!

20/04/2024

If you want to watch something beautiful this weekend, watch this film about the making of the Via Transilvanica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w00EgP6ehNc

It focuses on the creation of the southernmost section of this beautiful long-distance path. Such an incredible amount of labour and planning and vision and faith went into this project - and now we can walk this path that at first only existed in Alin Useriu's dreams. Step by step, it will transform many people's lives - the people walking it, the people living on it. Congratulations and thank you, Alin Useriu, Anna Székely and the entire Tasuleasa Social team for creating this beautiful road that unites! 🧡

ROVia Transilvanica este un traseu de lungă distanță, destinat drumețiilor pe jos, cu bicicleta sau călare. Are 1.400 de kilometri și străbate țara dintr-un ...

18/04/2024

Attention yoga & hiking lovers: I HAVE TWO SPOTS LEFT for my
Yoga & Hiking Retreat in Romania ✨ 10 - 16 June 2024 ✨! If you've hesitated for a long time and missed the deadline but regretted it, this is your chance! Let me know ASAP if you're interested - doors to this retreat definitively close on the 30th of April. If you're not 100% sure yet but want to consider it, do drop me a line too. You'll be joining nine other beautiful people at Dolina Village - Zece Hotare, where we'll get pampered by beautiful scenery, amazing accommodation, mouthwatering local food. And of course daily nourishing yoga sessions guided by Andrea Noghiu and four beginner-friendly hikes guided by yours truly. You can book extras such as a massage, via ferrata, rafting & more! Also you can milk cows, hug dogs, lounge in a hammock... This will be so glorious. Will you join me? Sharing = Loving: who knows you have a friend who needs just this! 💚💝💚 PM for details!

More info here:
https://roamaniac.com/retreat-romania/