Hi, my name is Vanja, and welcome to Marshmallow Travels!
I’m a travel enthusiast, PR professional, and mum to one little traveller, living in Slovenia. Since November 2016, I’ve also proudly called myself a travel blogger. As the name of the blog suggests, I love marshmallows and travelling, but not necessarily in that order. I also love writing, exploring, laughing, reading, collecting countries, airports, and passport stamps.
I blame my parents for my endless wanderlust, which eventually led to this travel blog. It all started in February 1998, when they took me on my first big trip to Sri Lanka and Maldives. I was in my first year of primary school, and to make sure I didn’t fall behind, my parents encouraged me to practise writing by keeping a travel diary. I’ve continued that tradition ever since.
Travelling also inspired me to write travel stories for my high school newspaper. Later, I became its editor and completely fell in love with journalism, so naturally, I decided to study it. During my Bachelor’s Degree, I also spent a year living in Madrid, which proved that besides travelling, I also enjoy living abroad.
Today, I’m in my thirties and have travelled to more than 50 countries. Along the way, I’ve experienced travel in many different forms — with family, friends, solo, for work and conferences, with travel agencies, on a tight budget and with a little more comfort. I’ve stayed in hostels, hotels, Airbnb apartments, casas particulares, tents, motels, and campers, and tried countless means of transportation. I’ve visited every continent except Antarctica, which, considering I’m always cold, isn’t exactly at the top of my bucket list. But every other country in the world definitely is.
A lot has changed throughout nearly 30 years of frequent travelling. Technology, for example, has evolved tremendously, and around 10 years ago I decided it was time to move my travel diary from paper to the internet. Here, I share stories from my travels, family adventures, useful tips, and everything I’ve learned along the way.
Thanks for stopping by, and don’t hesitate to stick around for a while! You can also follow me on Instagram and TikTok.