Ohno Traveller

Back to writing with Zurich Spirit

February 17, 2017

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It has been a while since I wrote something on my blog page! Well I am back and it is time to catch up with all my travelling stories. Will try to not to forget my writing cause I feel I need to start sharing stories with others and maybe inspire someone to start travelling more often. I know there are plenty of blogs and Instagram accounts sharing passion for traveling. But it won’t hurt anyone if I will spread a word too? I will write about how I travelled and lived in different countries while pursuing scientist career.

Let’s start with my 6 months in Switzerland… Where should I start? Emm… Let me tell you that I was dreaming to live in Switzerland since 2010. 20160703_132907 Last year (2016) it happened by getting an internship in Zurich and moving out from London. You know they say be careful with dreams cause one day your dreams might come true? Well the funny story, me and my best friends did a road trip around Switzerland in 2015. At some point we where in Zurich standing in Lindenhof and watch all those lighted houses. Made a joke that one day we will live all together in Zurich. At that time it was unrealistic as all of us lived in different countries: Germany, UK and Lithuania. After a year me and a friend (a guy with a balloon!) stood at the same place in Lindenhof and remembered the joke we made about living in Zurich. I just needed to be pinched cause could not believe that a small joke/dream came true especially we did not plan it at all!

Let me share with you my beloved places in Zurich.

Lindenhof, I believe this place where you have to say what you wish out loud and it will come true. Tried. Worked for me. Heheh you would say no it is not for me. Try it, it won’t hurt you!
Grossmunster church is great place to climb up to one of the towers and view Zurich lake and the rest of the city. Definitely stairs will be your enemy after going up, so get ready!
Thermalbad & spa, well have you dreamed to be in hot water on top of the roof? Well it is perfect place to see the whole city day and night. I just love this place even it was so expensive, but well worth it!
Zurich lake and old town! You know what I loved the most about Zurich it is having two different lives in one city. First was lake and nature. The best treat was to swim in chilly lake after long working day. The most clean and clear water I have ever seen
in the city. Then you don’t need to go far to get second part of the city which is old town with partying places. You just need to squeeze yourself into narrow streets with full of music, bars, festivals and different people. Then you get a feeling that you are ready to party. Definitely one of the best cities to live while young or old.

Tailand for 4 days. Worth it?

June 25, 2016

This time

I’m going

to Thailand for 4 days. I know sounds crazy but who cares? Tickets cost me around £350 (booked through secretflying.com), in Thailand is very cheap and I just love travelling.

However I will spend a full day at 4 different airports London-Amsterdam-Kiev-Bangkok. And the route itself sounds a bit dangerous. Hopefully everything will be fine!

My plan is to stay in Bangkok for two days. Meet people and explore Bangkok together!
Day 3
Ayutthaya which is not far away from Bangkok around an hour drive. Spend all day there and then take a night train to Phanom Rung.

Day 4
Phanom Rung

Right it’s boarding time! Next stop Kiev, Ukraine.

2nd day in NY

September 20, 2015

My every morning starts very early and this time was for very good reason. It’s to see beautiful Statue of Liberty.

I decided to go in the morning as it’s less people and quicker to get to the island. I paid $18 for the ferry which takes you to two islands and back to Manhattan. The route is Manhattan-Statue of Liberty – Ellis island – Manhattan. It’s worth it as you can see NY from different angles.

From the statue of liberty island you can see NY and George Washington bridge. If you want to climb to the Liberty crown you have to book a ticket in advance. I couldn’t do it as there wasn’t any tickets till December.
My next stop was Grimaldi’s pizza restaurant (located in 1 Front Street, Brooklyn). Where I met 4 other solo travellers. It was actually the best pizza I have ever tried! So far Americans food is great.

After the lunch we head down to Brooklyn bridge. It has pedestrian path which gives you to see Brooklyn and Manhattan at the same time.

We meet in NY from different parts of the world. Germany – Belgium – Philippines – Lithuania – USA. It’s great to meet people who are crazy about travelling too.

I was over excited!
This day for me was more about different people and their culture and making new connections.
Not far away there is Wall Street which doesn’t really look different from other streets. I still wanted to take a picture of the sign saying Wall Street. We attracted so many tourists in two minutes that local people couldn’t pass through.
On the way we found National September 11 Memorial. Everyone knows what happened 14 years ago.

Coming to this place you feel emotional and just don’t know you got that strange feeling inside that people who died are still here. The concept of the memorial is very clever. The water just runs down to the hole and you can’t see the end.
After that we divided in two groups. Me and Josefine went to China town, little Italy and just random streets. It nice to so many different cultures in one place. And final destination was Washington Square Park, where you can find famous fountain and arch. It’s place where ‘Friends’ has been filmed.

Oh and I promised to tell you how much I spend. I would say it’s quite expensive city. So I used AirBnB for two nights and I paid $70 or £45.
Everything else including food, transport and attractions, cost me $145 or £94 per two days.
So I hope I gave you a rough idea about the prices.

My time in NY is over… I am very sad to leave this incredible city. I believe everone should visit NY once in their life.
My next stop is Philadelphia.

1st day in New York!

September 19, 2015

Right I don’t know where to start from…
It was the first time I have ever visited New York. And I loved it. It is definitely one of my favourite cities in the world from now on. From the first day I felt that I belong in this city. It was like living for two days in new city and feeling like at home. I know it is strange and I have never had this feeling in any other cities.
Usually people say you have to stay in New York for at least 3-5 days to see main objects. But I did like in one in a half day. It is crazy and my muscles can say ‘we need massage so badly’. But I can say that every single second I enjoyed myself. And in every day life it’s tough to do it.
Let me tell you what I did…
In the first day I visited Grand central station. It is incredible place to start off. It’s very old and still im very good state train station. When I entered the station I could not believe it. This station reminded me of so many movies. One of them was ‘Friends with benefits’ then they did a flash mob.

Oh did I tell you it is extremely hot in NY. So I was like yeee summer is back! Cause in Europe now it’s too cold and rainy.
I continued my journey to Empire State Building. It’s so high and I’m so little!

I have been recommended to have a walk in a high line. It is like a garden on the platform in which you can meet a lot of artists who just chill and kind of ran away from busy city.

By this time my bag was heavier than before and energy battery was even lower. I think that excitement made me to continue to go and see stuff.
Next stop was Central Park which is located in uptown. Took the subway in which it’s quite hard to orentate for the first time. I paid $1 for a card and then just top up as you go.
Central Park is massive abd here I had a chance to get lost very quickly.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis Reservoir

A lot of newyorkers are coming here for a run.
So I had a little walk and thought let’s go back. It didn’t work like that.. I lost myself in a park 😀
By accident I found Bethesda Fountain. And I was delightful to see it. Next to the fountain there is a pond in which you can get a little boat and row yourself.

The architecture is very pretty.. heading back to subway one of the girl from a bunch of people said ‘ look she is solo traveller’, you could see it from my massive backpack. All of us had a small chat and decided to meet tomorrow and see things together. It was great to see them and made me feel myself better cause I knew that I’m not the only one who travel alone. Generally people were super friendly and helpful to me. I felt that a lot of them empathised me what I am doing by their smile and look.
And my last stop for the day was Times square. It showed me that this city never sleeps. The amount of lights and people…

My first day in NY was over.
I will write another post soon about my second day! I will tell you how much I spend in total and what I saw in a second day!
P.s so far I am glad that I backpacking! I’m planning to make a video for every single day, so you could see yourself a little bit more!

10 Tips how to plan cheap trip to USA!

September 8, 2015

This time I want to share with you how to spend less money while booking trip. Mainly I used all these 10 tips while I was booking my trip to USA.

Get a Visa first. It was easy and quick. Took me 20 min to fill out the form online and get a confirmation letter. Most of EU countries can apply for Waiver Program. It is for free and I am able to travel up to 90 days as a tourist. I advice to get visa first and then buy flight tickets or book hotels. More information http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/visit/visa-waiver-program.html
Booked my trip two month before the flight. I managed to get a cheap tickets. Paid for my return flight tickets around £300-400.
Did not go to the travel agency. I would spend more money. I believe that it is cheaper and easier to plan yourself your trip.
http://www.holidaypirates.com for search I always find cheap tickets. Trust me it is safe website to book your holidays.
http://www.secretflying.com/ is another great website for great deals, which always work, so don’t be afraid to book tickets.
My flight tickets London-New York-London booked through http://www.skyscanner.net/ I think everyone used it at least once. But I found that you always have to play around the dates to find the cheapest deal. Sometimes you have to buy the tickets straight away as the price will go up next day. But the last time I waited for 3 days and the price went down by $12. When you plan a big trip every penny counts!
As I am doing a trip around US, I will be using local coaches. http://us.megabus.com/ViewBasket.aspx?msg=seatsupdated For megabus tickets I paid from $1 to $25 per ticket and plus $0.50 service fee.
https://greyhound.com/ For greyhound tickets I paid from $10 to $18 per ticket plus $2 service charge.
Also I will have one internal flight Washington-Chicago. Sometimes you have to use internal flights, cause travelling by car or bus will take a lot of time. For me time is important so I can’t waste it. For this flight I paid $36. This airlines provide very cheap flights, but you have to pay for bags from $21 to $100. Spirit airline is similar to Ryanair. https://www.spirit.com/Default.aspx
Lovely planet book. It cost me around £15-25. It is worth it, cause there is all the information what you need. It gives you great ideas and basic information how to travel cheaper.

Continue reading “10 Tips how to plan cheap trip to USA!”

How I was chasing fishes under the water in Cyprus!

August 31, 2015

A second time I had a chance to dive in Mediterranean Sea. This time in Cyprus. You would expect a lot of colourful fishes and corals, but unfortunately no. Dynamite fishing has destroyed marine life. In Cyprus fishes are in a big danger. It is kind of sad that people don’t safe their own environment.This is the reason why I was chasing fishes as crazy!

Overall, it is a great place to dive if you like wreck or drift dives. Visibility usually great up to 20 m. Water temperature goes up to 30 oC. Price for one dive is around €40-60 depends if you have your own kit.

Achileas Wreck

It is a massive Greek vessel, which mysteriously exploded and sank in 1975. The max depth 11-12 m. Water temperature 24 oC. Great visibility up to 15 m.

Bronze propeller on the upturned stern

Continue reading “How I was chasing fishes under the water in Cyprus!”

North America!

August 16, 2015

Hey,

I have decided to start my travelling blog. Very soon I am going to North America on my own. I have never tried backpacking, so it is a new experience for me. I will write all the trip details. If you are around 17-28th of September 2015 in US, please give me a shout!

So this is my trip plan:

London-NY-Philadelphia-Washington-Chicago-Cleveland-Buffalo-Niagara Falls-Boston-NY-London

Student who travels the world