Welcome to Urlaubsreif-Travel!
My name is Ines.
Since I started my blog, my vision has been to inspire people to explore new places, near and far. Ever since I can remember, I’ve had a constant yearning to discover new places and cultures. I’ve always believed that each day is an opportunity to broaden horizons and create lasting memories.
My goal through this blog is to help travelers make the most of their trips without breaking the bank. I try to provide helpful tips and insights on how to best spend your time in a destination depending on any type of budget. From budget-friendly accommodations to the best attractions and activities to try, I’ve got you covered.
This is the place where you can get all the information you need to plan your next adventure. I am passionate about travel and I want to share that passion with you. Join me on my journey and let's explore the world together!
About me...
I was born in a small town called Jos in Nigeria and lived there until I was 15. My parents had immigrated to Nigeria from Austria many years before, and spent most of their adult lives here.
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In this small town there was one international school called Hillcrest, which was run and founded by missionaries from the USA. It was here where a came in contact with many different cultures from all over the world. Hillcrest school held annual food fairs and costume parades to highlight all the different nationalities that were attending this school. I had classmates from Lebanon, the UK, Germany, France, India, Sudan, South Africa, the USA, Australia, South Korea, China, Egypt and, of course, Nigeria. I was fascinated and excited to maybe visit all my friends in their home countries one day.
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The first 13 years of my life were quiet, close to nature and easy going, with many road trips across Nigeria with my parents and occasional flights to Austria to visit relatives.
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Then one day the civil unrest started and school was closed for a while, and we were all in lockdown. Many people were killed, Muslims and Christians. Poverty became worse than it already was, and people started kidnapping and killing for just a few hundred USD.
This was when my parents decided to send me to boarding school in Austria.
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I had just turned 15. I knew how to speak German, but I had not learned to read and write in German, so the first 6 months of boarding school were very intense. My parents had to stay behind in Nigeria for a while because of work, so my father thought it would be best to send me to a military boarding school.
The next 3 years were the hardest of my life. I was far away from my family and friends, but I was lucky to gain people into my life here that are still a big part of my life, 20 years and counting.
After this, I moved to Carinthia in the south of Austria, where my parents are from, to finish my A-Level exams. It took a while for me to decide what to do with my life till I applied to nursing school in Vienna.
After a grueling 3 years of study and many 12-hour shifts on different wards in the hospital, I was able to start working in the intensive care unit/ critical care unit. The first year was hell! My teachers in the ICU were very hard with me, which I understood, because one mistake could cost a person's life.
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After a few years, I was able to apply for the ICU training Diploma, which took another year to complete.
Wanting to experience something new again, a new city or country, my fiancé and I moved to Carinthia for a while and then to Zurich, Switzerland.
Over the last 7 years since then, we have been traveling the world whenever we find the time and our budget allows it.
Since the whole Covid Pandemic, the wish to travel and escape it all has been getting bigger.
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Because we both work full time, we have a limited amount of vacation time. This is why I decided to start writing travel blogs about the places we have visited and will visit, so that people that also have to work a lot can see how much time they will need to see as much as possible of a destination without it being too stressful.
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I hope I will be able to help you with my blogs, and please do not hesitate to contact me via email if you have any questions!
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We paid for the vacations on this website out of our own pocket. All tips given are our own. Some links are advertising links. This means that, if you book something through these links, we receive a small commission. Every month we donate 20% of our earnings to an animal shelter, animal sanctuary or animal welfare organization around the world.
Thank you for your support!