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?
Our journey to Jasper kicked off with a stormy beginning. If the vast wilderness of Western Canada is what you are looking for, then stormy weather should not bother you at any time of the year: At its highest point, just near the turnoff to iconic Peyto Lake, the road from Lake Louise to Jasper leads […]
There is no way of travelling through the Rocky Mountains in Canada without visiting the world famous places (and landscapes) around Banff & Lake Louise. But what if I tell you: “There’s much more to the Rockies than just Banff and Lake Louise …?”! Especially on your first road trip here, you should also choose […]
Oh, Banff. Somewhere “along the travel lines”, I’ve fallen in love with this place. While it’s my third return to Banff in three years of travelling to Canada, it’s the first time for dear Georg by my side. Exploring the settlement history, soaking in the wonderful local hot springs right off the mountainside and climbing […]
(Almost) Everybody knows about the city of Calgary, also known as the “Gateway to the Rocky Mountains” and because of its annual, word-renowned festival “Calgary Stampede“. This time, however, I approached Calgary in quite a different way: By visiting the so-called “First Nations”, the native people of Calgary, allowing for historical connections and modern life […]
Mashteuiatsh. Can you pronounce it? A small community situated at a huge lake, about three hours drive north of the city of Québec. What is so special about it? Well, I guess it’s the fact that you can truly mix and mingle with the so-called “First Nations” here, native inhabitants of Québec in the east […]
“We no jaha we no jaha .. hinooo … weee no jaha we no jaha hinooo …” Even today, the melody of a Quebec indigenous song still echoes in my ears. A legend, told by the proud tribal members of the “Wolf Clan”, describes the mythical transformation of a superhuman son and his return as thunder […]
“And then, when each and everyone in my group realises the untamed power of the Alpine plants, this ‘medicine’ around us, I thank God for my gift and smile …”, says Christine Sperner, who is our hiking guide for the day and a sort of plant whisperer, too. You could also call her the translator […]
The landscape around me has changed. I can no longer see the “Romantic Road” stretch as far as the horizon, flat as it was before in Nördlingen, around Augsburg or Landsberg. Rugged mountain ranges have given way to straight lines. The gently rising Alpine foothills bring a smile to my face. Mountains always make an […]
Würzburg, Wertheim, Weikersheim. The names of the first towns on the Romantic Road in Southern Germany are catchy. The Tauber Valley, which connects them, deserves to be called the “Lovely Tauber Valley” thanks to its beautiful river meanders. It is also well signposted, the “Romantic Road”: From Würzburg to the Allgäu, it is one of the […]
“Würzburg is sooo beautiful … Enjoy Würzburg and the wines of Franconia”, my travel friends advise about my short stay in Würzburg. As part of the “Romantic Road“, the Franconian town is surrounded by countless romantic vineyards on the Main river. I take to visiting “Vinothek Wohlsein Weine” with their goal to introduce younger, smaller […]