Hi! I'm Elena! Welcome to my travel blog Creativelena.com.
For me, it is all about “life-seeing instead of sightseeing”: Join me as I create, eat & live my way around the world. Curious?
*Check out my book, “The Creative Traveler’s Handbook”, for learning more about what we mean by creative travel. Travelling means the world to me, makes me fit for everday life and sometimes, I trust, also calmer on the inside. Read this blog with a smile, share what you love and remember to check back regularly: After all, when was the last time you did something for the first time?
Table of Contents
During the past five years, I have not only published hundreds of travel stories on my bilingual travel blog, but also three actual books. (Hoping there’ll be even more in the future!). One of them is written in my native German language, the other two in English – mostly in order to be recognised worldwide, as they both talk about the international trend of creative travel in cultural travel around the globe.
In 2019, I have published the last of my books called “Sprachen Lernen, Sprachen Leben” (Learning Languages, Living Languages) supported by the Austrian branch of the language travel company EF Education First. It contains many tips & tricks for successful language acquisition, as well as entertaining stories from my life as a multilingual globetrotter: How come I now speak so many languages fluently (a total of seven: Besides my native language German, there’s English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and Italian)? What is the best way to learn (and keep up) languages in general? How to maintain an adequate level for business trips, personal holidays, and other language projects?
Check out the EF Education First website for a free download of my eBook about languages.
There are even more inspiring language & culture travel stories shared on my blog:
In 2015, I have written and published the first-ever guide book on creative travel worldwide, called “The Creative Traveler’s Handbook“. Chock full of inspiratinal stories, travel tips and advice, it offers everything you need for planning and managing your next creative escape, addressing beginners and experienced travelers alike. It has appeared as the ninth in a series of books called “The Traveler’s Handbooks” and provides you with:
“Traveling for us means delving deeply into a culture and a different way of life. We always try to look beyond widespread clichés about a country and its people when traveling. Creative traveling provides us with exactly this. There is no better way to travel than by actively participating in the life and culture of the people you visit. Elena impressively explains this in The Creative Traveler”s Handbook. Her book is a great guide on how to plan your own creative travels.” (Monika Fuchs, Reisebloggerin & Reisejournalistin bei TravelWorldOnline.de)
“The Creative Traveler’s Handbook is just as passionately written as Elena is about creative travel on her blog creativelena.com. The Handbook gives you a unique angle of traveling around the world and being creative and should be added as a travel necessity when you go abroad and you are looking for something new, inspiring and creative.” (Erik van Erp, AroundTheGlobe.nl)
“Even though I have only recently got to know Elena, I can vouch for her commitment to the ‘creative travel cause’. She is a larger than life persona and this passion is translated into the way she writes her book. I hope you can enjoy it as much as I did.” (Nelson Carvalheiro, NelsonCarvalheiro.com)
In addition, the following reviews have already been shared:
To further trace all the emotions, inspiration & feedback I have received from YOU, my dear readers, I have started curating a new series of blog posts called the #StoriesOfMyReaders. Read more about what each and everyone of you have to say about “The Creative Traveler’s Handbook” here:
I wish you happy reading & lots more creative travels!
As a travel writer, I am naturally on the move. Watch out for when & where you will see me next: I always carry at least some copies of the book myself, ready to be personally signed & handed over to you!
Besides, “The Creative Traveler’s Handbook” is available for sale through the following (online) retailers:
Following the successful publication of my first book on #CreativeTravel, I have subsequently worked with the Catalan tourism authority Costa Brava Pirineu Girona in 2017 in order to publish yet another book on creative cultural travel: #CreativeTravel #inCostaBrava. Since both # hashtags are used extensively around the globe, it made sense to use them for the ebook’s actual title. In it, you will find a lot of creative travel tips on the whole Costa Brava region north of Barcelona, in the hinterland of the coast as well as in the capital city Girona. My travel guide is supplemented by numerous tips for (creative) overnight stays and restaurants, so that you can plan your next trip in all comfort and style.
Click here for a free download: https://ebooks.costabrava.org/ebook/creative-travel-incostabrava.
Olá Querida Elena,
Gostava muito de ter o teu livro com uma dedicatória mas andamos sempre com os caminhos cruzados.
Alguma hipótese de me enviares um pelo correio? Eu pago os portes. Só tens de me dizer o IBAN e o Swift code da tua conta. E o valor claro !
Até lá… FELIZ NATAL…..
Beijinhos.
Paulo
Bom dia Paulo,
Muito obrigada por contactares comigo aqui !! E claro que sim, tenho todo o gosto de lhe enviar o meu livro pelo correio, e ainda antes de Natal.! Por favor, manda-me um email a ‘reachme@creativelena.com’ com o seu endereço e depois trocamos mais informações !
Até lá, obrigada
Elena
wow! what a love letter to the Costa Brava! I am completely with you on that ! Hope to see you soon here again!
big hug
Nicole
Dear Nicole,
It is a message straight from the heart, as with literally all things #inCostaBrava. Glad you picked it all up, and for sure, understand how much this part of the world has a capacity to make you fall in love with it. Times and times over !!!
Fins molt aviat i una abraçada,
Elena 😀
Hello Mrs. Elena, my name is Eduardo Camino.
I’m a spanish guy studying Tourism in Porto (ISCET University) and I attended the Conference about Creative Tourism in Esposende in March, 2017.
After being there I was thinking to make my final project about the Creative Tourism in the North of Portugal and I would love to know what is your opinion about this. Does the Creative Tourism generate issues or all are advantages for the local community?
I can assure you that your point of view will be index in my project.
Thanks you so much for your attention, best regards.
Dear Eduardo,
Hola y gracias por tu mensaje en mi blog ! You should definitely network, and link up with Nelson Azevedo: https://www.facebook.com/moncaonasmaos/, as well as Rita Branco in Porto directly: http://www.oportoencanta.com. Both are experts in local area, creative cultural tourism and definitely helpful for your research and work. I would love to also meet and support you in your final project; let me know if you need help on the formulation of a research question, an expert interview, or anything else. Always love helping students !
Best wishes from Austria,
Elena
Thanks you so much for your help dear Elena, it was nice to listen you in the Congress.
I really appreciate your help and i will contact you among the process.
Best regards, from Portugal 😉