What to expect
As you might have guessed already this is a blog about travelling. I will wirte about personal travel experiences, but history and (popular) culture will be an essential part of this blog too. There are many blogs out there who do exactly that! So why start a new one? Right? Well… .
This blog is going to combine travel experiences and historical and cultural background info. I will try to provide a unique perspective on the places we explored. I am a bit of a history nerd and really interested in literature and (popular) culture. That´s why I usually do a lot of research before and after travelling. In doing so I always learn a lot about the places we visit and history in general. This blog is meant to share and to record that knowledge. Exploring and learning are the reasons why I like travelling so much. It is not just about the best picture for my insta feed or spending two weeks in a pricy resort without ever leaving that bubble. I like to explore at my own pace and individually. That inlcudes a bit of chaos once in a while and getting lost. It means accepting that some things do not go as planned but in the end it usually makes it much more interesting and fun 🙂
Blog entries will be structured based on travel routes and historical and cultural aspects I came across while travelling. I plan to do at least two posts per month, which are related to each other. One post(s) on the places, my own impressions and things to consider and keep in mind. It will focus on how to organize your stay at a certain place and some helpful suggestions. The second will focus on a historical or socio-cultural aspect of the same place.
Sometimes blog entries will cover larger areas or parts of the longer trips we have taken. Sometimes it will be about a hike or museum/exhibition. For the second category I will mostly stick to areas where I am qualified. I am aware of the fact that this is not going to appeal to everybody but I wanted to try anyway and hope that at least some of you are interested in that combined perspective.
What does the blog name stand for?
The title s-trek stands for two things 🙂 It is an acronym consisting of my name and four words that are related to the blogs content. S stands for Sabrina. T stands for travel, which is and was my inspiration to start writing. R stands for research. As I have told you in the introduction, this blog is meant to inform and record the research I do too. E stands for exploring, which is what we do on our journeys, hikes or when visiting a place. K stands for knowledge. Knowledge is what you gain by doing the three things mentioned before. At least that is what I hope to gain at the end of the day and what I usually take with me long after a journey ends.
The second reference is a bit more personal and kind of nerdy 🙂 s-trek was inspired by the franchise Star Trek. For me Star Trek is much more than a piece of pop culture. I kind of grew up with it. My mum was a fan and we used to watch recorded episodes like all the time. Star Trek was our thing and I kept watching it and still am. I got hooked from an early age and I still like to rewatch it once in while. I think that the earlier versions of it like the original series and (I know this will piss some trekkies of) Star Trek Voyager really embody the idea of exploring for the sake of learning, cultural exchange and gaining knowledge. In a way Star Trek inspired me to seek out new civilizations as best I can with the ressources at my disposal. Another great thing about Star Trek is the idea of having humans united as a part of a Federation of Planets. Wouldn’t it be great if we overcame war and conflict on earth and built a society without money, based on common values and human rights, clean and sustainable energy and dedicated to exploration instead of exploitation? The one thing Star Trek does better than any other franchise is to address problems that are sometimes way ahead of its time. Like did you know that the first interracial kiss on TV was part of Star Trek TOS? the episode first aired in November 1968.
Personal background
My name is Sabrina. As you might have guessed I actually have a university degree in history. I studied at the university of Vienna. I did not start out as a historian though. After my Matura (similar to high school degree) I could not decide what to do and so I enrolled in two unversity programs. History has always been interesting and compelling for me so I really wanted to study it. In addition, I am a law graduate and I worked in that area for almost three years. So I acutally managed to do both. At some point I decided to change careers and used my maternity leave to attend the teacher’s program for history and English. So in a way I studied history twice 🙂 Usually I do not travel alone. My husband and I have two wonderful kids. So in some blog entries you might find activities suitable for kids or things our kids really enjoyed. They were born in 2014 and 2016.
s-trek 