It's the Russian in me.

Hello to all of you, lovelies, and welcome back to my blog. I call this country my happy place. I want its name on my tattoo. I am lucky enough to have travelled there five times and I am fully intending to go back about ten billion more. I have lived through some of my most fulfilling, exhilarating, memorable moments while I was there. I have talked people's head off about it. Given all that, it would only make sense that I dedicate an entire blog post to one of my favorite places on this entire planet- Spain. It all started when my family and I first landed in Barcelona. On the bus I saw this gorgeous woman holding her baby. Some people who I think she didn't know said something to her and as she responded with a lingering "Siiii", happiness and positivity radiated through her much like the beautiful sunshine of which Spain gets plenty. Immediately I thought "man, these people are always smiling AND they speak one of the most beautiful languages EVER!...

Aaaand hello again and welcome to my second blog post! :) As I mentioned earlier (in my previous blog post), I am lucky enough to say that I have travelled quite a lot and it has become an integral part of shaping me into who I am today. Traveling can be a pretty stressful experience, though, so I thought I'd share some useful tips that helped me. Some of them might seem pretty obvious or cliché, but I still hope they can help you guys too! 1) It is not at all a must to use a travel company.  My parents, when they initially started traveling and taking my sister and I to see the world, used a travel agent. Eventually, though, they learned to just book and buy everything themselves (accommodation, airfare, and such) because it is cheaper and more convenient that way. Now. It is more work because you have to do a lot more research and know where you're going in a country and how to get places once you're there, be able to navigate different websites where people bo...

Hello, lovely peeps! Yep, I decided to try out blogging and create a space for me to express my thoughts on different topics. (Some examples would be traveling, social justice, self-love, self-care, music, etc.) To start with, I thought I'd introduce myself and tell you all a little bit about my life and who I am. My name is Elina, I am 22. I grew up in a beautiful country of Russia and you will hear a lot of how messed up but still near and dear to my heart my home county is. I was lucky (still am) to have grown up in a beautiful family of 4. My mom and dad are some of the most amazing, hardworking, kindest people you'll ever meet. My sister, Leah, is totally one of the coolest people I know. My grandparents are the reason my fam and I are where we are now, they have supported us and have been there for us when we needed it. Some of my passions include music (which I have been doing since I was very little), traveling (which I have been able to do a lot of growing up th...