I’m Marijs and this is my blog Rooftop Antics. My blog is about showing you how much fun traveling out-of-the-box is and sharing all my best travel hacks. I left the fashion industry with a 1-way ticket to India and haven't looked back since.
It is time for a first on the blog as I have never written about a hotspot that I haven’t actually discovered and tested myself. When I came across photos Rocket Coffee Bar I thought it was going to be in San Francisco, Sydney, New York or Melbourne. To my surprise this new breakfast and brunch spot is situated in the Sathorn area, Bangkok.
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My personal favorite souvenir is a piece of jewelry but bags, shoes, shirts can also be original and good reminders of your trip. While I was traveling through Thailand I was overwelmed by the thousand of tourist focused stores selling the exact same dusty touristy things. Think cheap copied t-shirts, inexpensive Thai memorabilia and things like funny hats or glowing sticks. It is this kind of stores that make me think twice about the tourist industry. Do your best to look beyond these store and go hunting for the geniune and orgininal pieces. Be on the look-out for the sellers that are selling something authentic, making their own products or are collecting several small local brands.
This trip to Londen differed a little bit from my previous trips to the UK capital as I had plans to discover the Britsh countryside as well. So the little time I had in London I wanted to spend wisely, Shoreditch it was. The area has been one of the hippest areas in town for some time now but is rumered that it has passed its peak. Dalton, Hackney Wick, Haggerston and other areas starting with H are tipped as op-and-coming and let’s not forget King’s Cross. In Shoreditch on Saturday I focused on a nice lunch in Albion, cocktails in The Boundary (who are conveniently located in the same builing), shopping in Boxpark (where Alex from Fashercise now has a pop-up!) and a walk in Hoxton.
As you all know I love living in Antwerp. If there is one thing that I feel Antwerp is a bit short on, it is greenery. The urban life is a pretty amazing one but I do need some nature once and a while. If you’re looking for that in Antwerp, you can head out to Park Spoor Noord or Middelheim Park, both a bike ride away from the center. Greenery in the city itself, like you can find in cities such as Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris and New York, is missing. I usually head out to watch the Schelde if I need a hit of nature. Sitting on the concrete banks of the river you sometimes wish that the concrete would make way for more green. I’m happy not to be alone in this search for green and love the summer options in green Antwerp getaways. These three getaways in particular are worth a visit.
Traveling with gadgets can be a bit of a headache. We all know that travel and gadgets often don’t mix since our technological helpers can be very fragile. Everyone has their stories. I once sat in a little wooden boat frantically protecting my Ipad from the waves. I broke my camera while falling and injuring my foot in Thailand and my phone later that year while celebrating New Years. I also get a little bit paranoid about walking around with expensive equipment and prefer to have a safe everywhere I stay. Consequently I’m always on the look-out to best protect my gadget so I get them home safely. I haven’t found the holy grail against water, breaking and theft just yet but in the meantime I refuse to leave them home enjoying my travels. Talking pictures and documenting my travels is just part of the whole experience.
I just arrived back in Belgium and wanted to share the first part of my -almost- three week long France journey. I have to admit that I loved it so much it made it kind of hard to come back. My trip started out in Bonnieux with my gorgeous girlfriends, I fitted in a weekend in Paris and ended up more in the Indre province of France with my family, dogs and some fun airplanes. The highlights definitely were way too many wines with my girls, unexpected new friends along the way and 2 flight. A big thank you to Gert and Guillaume for taking me up in the air!
