“From isolated ruins to pristine natural landscapes, the Baltics are a paradise on its own. Boasting impressive UNESCO Heritage across Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, the Baltic States have a distinctive, timeless vibe that has to be experienced”.

1. Introduction

It’s a pleasure to start this blog where I will be sharing my thoughts and experiences about traveling in the Baltic States, as well as suggestions and tips about the exciting world of vacation photography.

Therefore, my aim is to share interesting articles about less known, off the beaten places in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: from hidden city spots to the most striking heritage.

Overall, alternative ideas and tips to get the best out of your travel around the Baltic Countries and their UNESCO capitals of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.

The Northern Path

Now that you know what this blog will be about, let me introduce myself:

I am Oriol Bernad, a vacation photographer happily settled in the Latvian capital of Riga.

Originally from Barcelona, I have always felt a mix of passion and intrigue for the cold Scandinavian countries, as opposed to the chilled Mediterranean vibes I was so used to.

Wait, what…?

I know that changing the warm sunny days of the Iberic Peninsula for the cool Baltic breeze might sound rather strange to some people.

But the truth is, once in Latvia, I discovered a world of natural beauty, impressive heritage and magical sunsets that captivated me from the very beginning.

Based in Riga for over 3 years, I provide vacation photoshoots for travelers in the Baltics looking to capture their holidays in a fun and creative way.

You can learn more about my photoshoots in Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius by visiting this site.

1.3. Let’s put the Baltics “on the map”

From isolated ruins to pristine natural landscapes; charming villages to breath-taking sunsets… the Baltics are a paradise on its own.

Boasting impressive UNESCO Heritage across the capitals of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, the Baltic Countries have a distinctive, timeless vibe that deserves to be experienced.

This will be one of the main topics of this travel blog:

Sharing well-researched articles on topics related to the Baltic States, encouraging travelers to learn about this amazing European region that delights every visitor.

2. Stories from around the globe

The importance of vacation photography

As a professional travel photographer, this is a topic I feel very much related to.

Not only to share my own vision, but to talk about the controversy that vacation photography experiences have brought into the travelling community:

Today, booking a holiday photoshoot to capture the highlights of your trip is still regarded as something cool and trendy, almost like a luxury treat.

In that sense, I want to discuss some of the ideas and pre-conceptions about the job of a local photographer, as well as the process that brings together a successful vacation photoshoot.

I will also share tips and ideas on the best practices to keep in mind when hiring a private photographer to capture your holidays abroad, so you can get the best out of this travel experience.

Meaningful stories

I don’t think there’s much sense in writing about travel if you can’t write about your own experiences.

Learning about the experiences and challenges other people had to face when being abroad helps us to broaden our minds when it comes to travel.

However, travel stories shouldn’t be only about the situations we go through in our entire trip or how we like to spend our days in a certain place.

In the end, no one cares what you ate for breakfast, how tasty the coffee you had was and how amazing the views from that terrace overlooking the city were.

The responsibility of a travel blogger

Writing about travel shouldn’t be about contemplating objective situations and facts, but the way we feel by experiencing them. And that includes the good, the bad and the ugly of any given situation.

But why is that so important?

Well because, believe it or not, bloggers have a great influence in the travel community, especially those who’ve been around for a while.

Sometimes travel articles have the gift to influence people’s mind about the places they might travel to.

In other words: the stories from those articles could be (and usually are) the defining source of information people tend to use to learn about a travel destination.

And that is something, in my opinion, that shouldn’t be overlooked when writing about travel.

3. final words

If you made it this far you already know that I’m not a travel blogger, but a vacation photographer who writes about his passion for travelling the world.

However, as a holiday photographer who writes about travel, I don’t think anybody should feel entitled to tell anybody how to travel.

Not even bloggers!

I strongly believe travelling is something too personal and unique everyone should experience in their own way.

That’s why, in my opinion, travel blogs shouldn’t be about providing step-by-step guides on how-to visit places, but to share honest and relevant experiences for other travelers to learn about.

In that sense, you won’t find the likes of 10 top places to visit, 15 essential facts or 25 coolest things to do type of posts in this blog. There are thousands of bloggers out there providing such information and they will surely do the job better than me.

And last but not least:

I hope you enjoyed this article and found it interesting in some way.

My aim is to publish on a regular basis about topics related to Baltics travel, vacation photography, and personal travel stories. If there’s any related topic you’d like me to talk about in this blog, please feel free to let me know. I’ll be my pleasure to do it.

Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!

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Welcome to the Baltics!