I N S P I R E . @christinabammbinaa - Tumblr Blog

NEW BEGINNINGS

Hey everyone!!! I know it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me last! Life has been CRAZY!! Camden is still undergoing treatment while waiting a transplant. It’s been an extremely hard adjustment, one we haven’t dealt with as easily as we thought we were going to…. I’m back at home, with an incredible job and boss, So I’m very thankful for that! I have decided to create an online…

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Stark white buildings, bright blue tops. The sun above my, warming my skin, and the the bright blue ocean beneath me. This was the image I’ve held close to my heart for as long as I can remember.

I’m not sure exactly where this dream came from, but it was burned into my heart and soul. I was determined to make it there. And on May 21 I did!

Camden and I woke up super early to catch the 7:25 ferry from Piraeus to Santorini. I say I was pretty comical. Thinking back now, I had a HUGE smile on my face basically the entire time I was packing, catching a taxi to the port and boarding at 6am with all the other travelers. Ecstatic for our “mini cruise” I chose our seats and settled in for the eight hour journey ahead of us.

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the busy port of Santorini. And we were on our way to our first stop, Perissa Beach, also known as home of the black beach.

We spent three days on this part of the island. Our days we filled with ATV rides around the island, laying out on the beach, eating gyros, playing with puppies and wandering around the southern part of the island.

One day we explored a volcano, jumped off an old wooden boat into the Agean sea, swam to some “hot springs”, rode donkeys up to the caldera and explored the city of Oía with new friends!

Safe to say our first three days were filled with adventure, new friends and pebble beaches.

It was fantastic but I couldn’t wait to get to our next destination on the island… my super huge dream finally coming true.

We were about to stay in a traditional cave house in the famous caldera of Oía. YESS!!!

We arrived at the house and I could be have been happier!! It was EVERYTHING I HAVE EVER DREAMED OF!!

The view was to die for, the place was secluded and we were finally in our dream spot!

These days were spent relaxing. And enjoying where we are, as well as each other.

Fresh bread was delivered each morning for breakfast, there was a pool perched on top of a cliff to our disposal, and the sun was out and shining for us to enjoy. LIFE WAS GOOD!!

Our nights were spent watching the “worlds most prolific sunset”, eating Greek cuisine and of course we Netflixed and Chilled.

The day we were to checkout of our house of paradise, Camden woke me up at 4am to watch the sunrise; something I talked about doing everyday but never actually got up to do it. He finally got me up, and to my surprise a makeshift bed was waiting for me (since he knew I would be freezing and protesting the sunrise in exchange for sleep). To my surprise I was pretty awake for the most part. We talked about our time there and how awesome it had been to just relax with each other, especially after four months of non stop travel. As the sun was just coming up, he left to “go to the bathroom”. When Camden came back he looked all out of sorts. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him, he looked like he was going to be sick. Hahah. I asked if he was okay, and with his trembling hand, he took my hand and kneeled down.

YES YOU KNOW WHATS COMING….

“Christina, will you marry me..?” It’s all he had to say. Of course I said yes and we hugged and teared up a bit. It was perfect & I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

After almost five years of dating, engagement seemed inevitable. But we were both catapulted back into the puppy love stage of our relationship, excited about the future, both jumping headfirst into the next step of our relationship.

The next days aren’t as exciting as what just happened…but they were necessary. We moved into our new hostel, and lounged by the pool for two days. Planned out our next moves for the journey to Spain and enjoyed life.

I couldn’t have asked for a better time here on Santorini! It was everything I dreamed of and more…

As I sit here at the airport waiting for our flight to Spain, I can not think of one thing I would have changed. Not one. And to me, that is incredibly special. Everything was perfect and dreams really do come true.

Life is good 💙

To follow our journey in even more depth please check out our other social media outlets!

Instagram:

@christinabammbina @marlon_cramdo

#boygirlandtheworld

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/thewanderingwayfarers/

YouTube:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCC9qwNoy9QSRXLHKgoKLHtw

A dream come true Stark white buildings, bright blue tops. The sun above my, warming my skin, and the the bright blue ocean beneath me.

Balkan adventure Pt. 3: Albania

We arrived in Tirana (the capital of Albania), again, on a whim. It seems to be “our thing” as of late to just pick a city and go. It’s been working out quite nicely so I was not too worried about what greatness and uniqueness we would find here. The view outside of our hostel From the moment I stepped foot on Albanian soil, I had a feeling this country would be different from all the rest. My…

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Balkan adventure Pt. 2: Montenegro

I have to admit, I had no idea where I was going. I’ve never even heard of the country. But, from popular demand and raving reviews from fellow travelers we hopped on a bus to Kotor, Montenegro. As we approached, I could already tell we made a fantastic decision. The lush mountains and the aqua colored water was enough to make me squeal with excitement! I felt like I was on an episode of Lost. IT…

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Balkan Adventure Pt. 1: Croatia

After realizing we would be getting into serious trouble for staying in the Schengen region for too long, we decided to head towards the Balkan region of Europe. Croatia was always on our minds, and we constantly went back and forth between going and saving it for another trip. But, with our newfound knowledge we figured this was the obvious starting point! We began in the capital of Crotia,…

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When in Rome....

When in Rome….

As the saying goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do..”. After five days in Rome, I’m still not sure if I Roman-ed right. hahaha. but I sure did learn ALOT! I decided to switch things up a but with this blog, some may hate me for it, and some may love me for it (the ones who aren’t in love with reading..) This will be my first “photoblog” if that is even a thing…we are all about to see how it…

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It happened half by chance and half by luck. Camden and I were in search of an affordable place to settle down while in Rome. We searched everywhere. AirB&B, couch surfing, hostels. Nothing was surfacing for us. It wasn’t until the night before we were leaving Venice, when I was looking one last time before we had to catch our train. Lone and behold, Wiki Green Hostel and Village popped out of no where. It was like a gift sent from above. They had outrageous ratings and everyone who reviewed them said “think no further, just book the place”. So that’s what I did!

From the minute we arrived at the train station and hopped in our first Wiki shuttle we fell in love. We knew this spot would become more like a home to us, rather than a base camp, over the next week.

The hostel was nestled into the lush greenery of a town named Zagarolo. At first, we were a bit weary about the location, seeing that it is a thirty minute train ride from the center of Rome. But we figured two cities for the price of one was definitely worth it!

Our hostel was like a glorified treehouse. Haha but better. The property was pretty expansive with a variety of places to hangout and enjoy the company of the staff and other travelers. There was a small bar adjoining the main area of the hostel to the beautiful outdoors, which is where i needed up spending a looooooot of time.

Now for those of you who know me, I love wine. LOVE WINE. And to my surprise, we were in the best place for Italian wine!! The hostel sold local wines and ohhhhhh were they good…

During our time at Wiki, we were fortunate enough to participate in both of the infamous pasta and pizza parties!

Monday night was the pasta party, where the staff, locals and guests came together and made a big pasta dinner. Mateo (the best Italian chef in the world) handed out different ingredients to everyone and taught each person how to properly cut and prepare their item for our homemade sauce. Camden had onions and I had celery…I took forever hahah. After everyone was done chopping and slicing, we all gathered around to mix it all together and taste test the sauce. Hands down the best sauce I have had. After the sauce and pasta were done cooking, we of course had our pasta party! Everyone gathered at huge tables and had a pasta dinner together. That night was incredible.

The night that followed, did not involve “food parties” but they were fantastic nonetheless. Each night were accompanied by fantastic conversations, good food, great wine and amazing memories.

On our final day at Wiki (Friday), we decided to stay at the hostel and check out the local life in Zagarolo!!

The city of Zagarolo has so much character and Italian charm, I can see why the people of Zagarolo love their city. I can see how it gets dismissed living in the shadow of Rome, but I can’t urge you enough to travel to this city and see it for yourself. It’s beautiful and unlike anywhere else in Italy! (At least the places I have been to). The calm streets made it a lovely day for Camden and I to relax and take it all in.

After a while of wandering the city, we came back to the hostel to organize ourselves for the following travel day…which means I fell asleep for five hours until it was time for the PIZZA PARTY!!!

From the moment we arrived we heard about this infamous party and how amazing it would be. And I am soooooo glad we decided to stay an extra night for it! Just like the pasta party, staff, locals and guests came together to learn how to make traditional Italian pizzas and then enjoy them!!

Mateo was there again teaching everyone how to knead and roll the dough, the proper way to spread the toppings and lastly, how to get the pizza from the counter to the oven. (Harder than you think…).

I made a Zagarolo pizza (mozzarella, chicory and bacon) and Camden made a margarita pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil). There were other pizzas as well, such as veggie pizzas, anchovy pizza and Nutella pizza for dessert! This night was one I will remember and cherish forever. Not only was it full of pizza, but laughs, dancing, and friends.

Typically, I don’t write about my stays at hostels because they never affect me as much as Wiki did. But Wiki has come thing special. The minute you set foot on the property you are family. The staff genuinely cares about each and every person and puts their best effort into making your experience one you will never forget. By the second day, we felt as if the staff were more our friends than just people to help us out and make our breakfast. The people who stay at Wiki are phenomenal (or at least the people I met there).

We made many friendships while staying here. The bonds that were formed in such a small amount of time, I believe, can stretch to all corners of the world in which we live.

Saying goodbye to our new friends was difficult but we knew it would not be the end!!

Katharina, Charles, Amelia, Gabriella, Mitch, Siena, and the ENTIRE STAFF, We Love and miss you!!

We thank you so incredibly much. You made our time at Wiki so much more and we are so grateful for your kindness and friendship! We love and miss you all already! But like I’ve said before, we will be back!! And we will see you soon!

As we were leaving the hostel, shared a saying with us that I completely resonate with…”you’re always ready to go, but never ready to leave.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself!

To follow our journey in even more depth please check out our other social media outlets!

Instagram:

@christinabammbina @marlon_cramdo

#boygirlandtheworld

YouTube:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCC9qwNoy9QSRXLHKgoKLHtw

A hidden gem : Zagarolo, Italy & Wiki Hostel It happened half by chance and half by luck. Camden and I were in search of an affordable place to settle down while in Rome.

Venice, Italy

You know that universal stereotype of Venice and what it would be like, well it’s basically right on the money… This city is gorgeous. I say it’s a photographers dreamland. We spent three days in this lovely city and the beauty never faded. We spent the first day wandering around the city, stumbling upon “points of interest” such as the Rialto bridge and St. Mark’s Square. It was lovely to just…

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Our first Italian city...Florence!

Our first Italian city…Florence!

Eurail pass in hand, Camden and I were back on our own after our lovely stay with Alexis and Claude. Our first international train ride was ahead of us and we knew it would be a doozy, the total journey was 15 hours! The train rides weren’t so bad, considering the amazing view of the French coast and the lovely company we met along the way! Camden and I love traveling together but sometimes it’s…

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#blogging #florence #italy

Can I be French now?! Living local.

After living like a local in France for sixteen days, I’m obsessed. The first night we got here, I was already in love. I knew I was going to be absolutely head over heels for this place. The sound of the language hypnotized me immediately. We met Alexis, our host, who was nothing short of awesome! He warmly welcomed us into his home and immediately showed us the local life. He took us to the…

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À tout à l’heure, Paris

Paris is one of those destinations most people dream of going to at least one in their life. Whether it be for the fantastic french cuisine, the eiffel tower or the art history, this city has something to offer for everyone. I grew up listening to my mother’s stories of her month-long adventure in Europe. She told my sister and I about the Arc de Triumph, Champs Eylsses, and the Palace of…

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#blogging #france #paris

Short and Sweet: an hour in Belgium

Our original plan was to visit the beautiful country of Belgium, but as life would have it, she had other plans. We had enough time while our bus to Paris picked up more passengers to stop off at Antwerp, Belgium. We walked to the center of town where we found overflowing love for the people of Belgium during these hard times. Love seeing all the love💘 We also found some Belgian chocolate. No…

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There's no place like it...

There’s no place like it…

Amsterdam is a city, I feel like I’ll never fully figure out. Maybe it’s because of the “crazy” freedom they are given as citizens? Like coffee shops and the red light district. We all know what the main attractions are in Amsterdam…but until you’re there, it doesn’t really hit you that this is in fact legal and okay in the eyes of the law and most citizens. Could it be the never ending series of…

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The quaint and lovely: Bremen & Celle

The next morning we headed to a town named Bremen. We ended up here thanks to our friend Gerrit, a man we met while in Peru and we bacame friends while on the road. He offered Camden and I a place to stay while he was away visiting family during Easter! I recognized the name Bremen and wondered why. My grandpa and grandma had written me a letter before I left on this journey. I pulled out the…

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Berlin and Munich: Germany's infamous cities

Berlin and Munich: Germany’s infamous cities

Germany. Such a HUGE place. It would take months to fully travel and understand this country to its entirety. So, with that being said, this blog is separated into two. One for the big cities and one for the smaller towns. They focus solely about the cities I visited, what I thought, what I felt and what I did while I was there. I wish I had more months to fully see the cities I visited, and…

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A Bohemian in Bohemia

Bohemia: a region of the Czech Republic, which includes the lovely city I will be writing about. Bohemian: One who practices an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic, or literary pursuits; considered to be wanderers, adventurers, or vagabonds. OR someone who lives in the region of Czech Republic. Prague! What a…

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What's the one thing you can get anywhere in the world?....

What’s the one thing you can get anywhere in the world?….

SICK. Sucks huh? Yes. It Certainly does. There are many blogs and sites on the internet that have tips and “what to do’s”. This isn’t one of them. I’m just here to personally rant Hahaha. And say… 1. It happens. 2. It will cost you back some extra cash, but bite the bullet you need it. 3. It hinders my ability to blog! So sorry for the delay of super cool and interesting stories Hahahah. I’m…

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