Since I started working on AME, I have been thinking what makes Bulgaria special for this project aside from me being born here? Truly important factor for me but unlikely to be impactful for anyone else out there. I spent some time digging deep during my dedicated solitude time and of course the realisation came rushing in.

Are destinations getting overly crowded?

I have worked in travel since 2008. Yes, I am a millenial, woop woop. Working in this beautiful industry allowed me to see the world, or whichever parts I wanted to see and explore. I have lived in different countries most of my life, so I can genuinely say I am a child of the world without real roots anywhere. Sad and beautiful at the same time. Being able to experience so much, it also allowed me to have the comparison of what it was and what it is now. Places I had visited where you could be the only one admiring a certain spot are now overcrowded by the Instagram generation, looking for the perfect selfie angle, in the hundreds. I started realising that so many places have become completely overhauled by the desire for the perfect shot and much less desire to experience something authentic, admire it and connect to it. Be that a landmark, a coffee shop, a monument or you name it. All of a sudden I realised I struggled to walk on the street in some places due to the amount of people, I felt like I was exiting a Taylor Swift concert not walking on Regent street.

Why is Bulgaria a great retreat location?

In time, I started coming back to Bulgaria more and more because I realised that I could still feel the pieces of peace I craved so deeply. I spoke to a doctor a few years ago about this concept of constantly being surrounded by people in cities like London and New York and what it does to us subconsciously. She had an interesting take on it that I never thought about before. As species we have developed over thousands and thousands of years, yet in the last 30 years technology and busy city life have grown at a pace that has been way too fast compared to our own development as humans. We went from living in rural areas with nature surrounding us, being able to spot another human from a mile away to living under someone’s sweaty armpit on the Jubilee line every morning and night. This way of living triggers a natural ‘danger’ response in our subconscious. As humans, we are built to consider strangers in our personal space (2-3m radius) as potential threats. Although on a conscious level, we understand we are on the tube and sweaty armpit up there is struggling as much as possibly, our subconscious is screaming ‘run’. When we do this day to day it exhausts and triggers the fight or flight response in us, making us live in a constant state of stress.

The point of this story is that going to Santorini or Marbella does not do it for me anymore. All these places that once upon a time used to be magically attractive are now flooded with people and I feel a little bit like I am on the tube again.

Bulgaria, ancient culture, traditions, nature and pure serenity

This is what made Bulgaria special for me. There are still these magical places where you feel you can have solitude yet everything you need to feel cozy and luxurious. I am not the camping type because I am sure if you love tent life you can show me many places that would work for my solitude desires. But I love a good room with amenities, and a chef that makes my food while I am there.

The other aspect of Bulgaria is that we are the only country in Europe that has never changed our name since we were formed 681, and we have also kept our traditions of the people who populated our lands in the early ages A.C. Some of our traditions date back to the Thracians that inhabited these lands. It is beautiful to connect to traditions, food or tales that date back to such ancient times.

I genuinely believe that these experiences help us, as humans, connect to something grander than the latest project at work or the person that upset us, or the pink Chanel bag on our Christmas list.

Why is Bulgaria special from that point of view when you can go to Greece, Rome or Egypt - all great, ancient civilisations with amazing monuments? Because it has all become extremely commercial in these places. Finding authenticity is a challenge, and connecting to the roots of the greatness of these empires is difficult in this Instagram world.

This is why I chose Bulgaria for the retreats. The authenticity that is still available, allowing us to connect to ourselves easier because there are no distractions. Food is still locally grown in small farms, nature is beautiful and untouched, and people in villages keep traditions and tales alive. I hope I can share all this with you in the coming months, and I guarantee you will experience something that you will not get in a destination that is overpopulated.