This blog

Ipanema travels is about travelling, as the name already suggests it. I will take you to all the places I go or I have already been to. If you wonder what to do this weekend or you have no idea how to spend your holidays, I hope you can find here your ultimate travel inspiration for your next short trip, weekend escape, city trip or summer holiday.

In this blog I put in the spotlight those quirky little towns that nobody has heard of, or those charming little places away of the mass tourism.

Ipanema travels was created in October 2016 when I wrote the first post, but I consider as its birthday 15 February 2017, when the blog went self-hosted.

The author

My name is Daniela and I am the author behind the scenes of Ipanema travels. I have started my first personal blog in 2008 when I left my home country and began my life of an expat in several countries. I have lived since then in France, USA and currently I am calling the Netherlands my home.

I am a linguist by education and have a master’s degree in Translation & Interpreting, and Pedagogy. When I started this blog, I still had a corporate job – a management position in a relatively big international company. However, after working there for 7 years, I decided it is time to quit and go back to freelancing. After a year and a half of freelancing I landed a gig as Technical Writer, which became my full-time job. So, yep, I am a professional writer.

I love to travel to less-known destinations, to visit off-the-beaten track places, to get close to local culture, to capture the spirit of the place.

Follow me on my attempt to explore the world with everything it offers us: nature, culture, heritage, colorfulness and mindfulness!

The name

Why Ipanema travels? In my early 20’s I was fascinated by the bossa nova and Jobim’s The Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema). Then there was the mIRC and the ICQ (yes… I am that old) – the dawn of the digital communication, and I had to choose a nickname, so I was like The Girl of Ipanema is too long, let’s make it short, so my digital name became Ipanema. Fast forward 10 years later and I was starting my first blog, so it was quite logical to name it Ipanema’s Blog. It was a personal blog for my family and friends to follow my adventures when I left my home country and started travelling. Fast forward another 10 years and there’s the Girl from Ipanema travelling to various destinations and writing about them in her second blog Ipanema travels

Stay connected

Click on on the icons below to follow me on social media:

Fun facts about me

In no particular order:

  • I used to be a professional dancer, now still dancing as a hobby;
  • I spent 5 years studying Arabic at the University, got a degree, and now can barely say a word in Arabic;
  • I am an ex-coffee addict, ended up with 20+ espressos a day, still detoxing;
  • I once thought that if I can dig a hole deep enough in our garden, I would come out at the other side of the world;
  • My favourite book character – the Moomins.

Legal stuff

Here you can read my website’s Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Wherever I use affiliate links on my website, this is clearly stated. If I have received compensation for writing a review on this site, this is also mentioned clearly. Free hotel stays, tours, or any other products are disclosed, as well. Although I accept compensation for products and services, the opinions I express and the recommendations I give are genuine. I will never recommend a product or a service I haven’t tried or have bad experience with. In case of any negative experiences with a product or service, this will be clearly indicated, as well.