Hello, my name is Elena Koleva.
I am an economist by education, but a creative person at heart, and my passions are travel and photography.
I became passionate about traveling when I was just a young child. I was an alert and curious kid. Eager to learn more about the world we live in, I taught myself to read at the age of 4. I voraciously devoured books and encyclopedias, but I spent the longest time among the pages of a miniature Atlas of the World. I voraciously read the names of distant and unknown places, mentally repeated the outlines of continents and countries, and secretly hoped that one day I would see them live.
A real storm broke out in me when I was 8-9 years old. I read Jules Verne’s book “The Children of Captain Grant”. I immersed myself so deeply in the story that I experienced everything together with the characters and to this day Patagonia is still a dream of mine. But I plan to make it come true very soon :). This book also sparked my interest in South America in general. I am happy that I have already had encounters with this continent, but there are more to come in time. I dream of traveling around South America alone with a backpack and a camera. And besides Patagonia, I want to do a trip similar to the route in the book. My dreams are far from modest, but I am confident that one by one they will become reality.
At the age of 12 I crossed the borders of Bulgaria for the first time. The year was 1988 and the trip was to Italy. I participated in a dance ensemble and we were invited to tour in Southern Italy. The place was the area of Calabria on the tip of the boot. The journey in the old rickety bus took two days, but what I saw through the window stayed with me for a long time. I encountered a completely different world and realized that THERE IS NO TURNING BACK.
I don’t remember the exact moment when I became passionate about photography, maybe there isn’t one. I’ve been taking pictures for as long as I can remember. With whatever I have on hand. I have shot with old tape cameras, phones, semi-professional cameras. I already have professional equipment, but it is far from what’s important. It is not important what you shoot with, but to be able to capture the moment and the emotion.
The last year has been extremely exciting for me. I would call it the year of overcoming fears and making dreams come true.
I climbed at 5000m. above sea level, I’ve been at the foot of a volcano, I’ve visited a cave with Mayan ruins that I had to swim through, I’ve flown over the Blue Hole in Belize and over Nazca in Peru, I’ve visited two deserts, two jungles, 4 continents, I’ve snorkeled in the second largest barrier reef in the world, I enjoyed natural and architectural phenomena. I discovered unexpected things about myself.
How did this blog come about?
I created the blog in May 2021. I wanted to have a space on the internet where I could share photos and information about the places I visit. The content initially consisted mainly of photographs. Later I also included articles, starting out timidly and tentatively, but in less than three years the articles became fascinating reads about distant and unknown places and grew into 108 publications and guides, providing the reader with carefully selected and well-presented information, recommendations and useful tips on how to organize your own trips based on valuable experience gained over the years, how to avoid some common mistakes so that the trip does not become a disappointment, and how to make your dreams come true.
My Places to Visit also reaches the pages of National Geographic Bulgaria with its publication about Unknown South India , which became the travelogue of the month of February in the respected media.
I am also working on my first book, in which I tell about my adventures in Guatemala, Belize and Honduras, and in addition to my personal impressions and experiences, I weave in interesting facts about the life and culture of the people there, about the ancient Mayan civilization, about natural phenomena and rare representatives of flora and fauna.
It will be interesting, stay tuned!
- Interview on Bulgarian National Radio – With the soul of a traveler – blogger Elena Koleva
- Blitz interview for ASTOM – Elena from MyPlacesToVisit.net
Individual Travels is the blog’s new project that will soon become a reality.
The target audience will be the people who want to travel, but do not have the time to organize the trip themselves, and do not want to travel with a travel agency, the people who want an individual itinerary prepared for them according to the criteria and specific requirements set by them, the people, who want to travel on a budget but don’t know how.
Travel with me, the adventures are yet to come!
«If you can dream it, you can do it.»