About myself
I am an outdoor enthusiast, photographer and passionate about lifestyle implementations and health. I have studied Nutrition, Sports, Health and Business, and I currently work for a Packaging firm in London. I live with my family in a Garden City just outside London.
My mission is to find the perfect balance between the fast paced work life and practical changes one can implement into his own lifestyle.
My life so far has been split between Romania and Britain. I hold citizenship from both countries and very often it seems like these are two separate worlds, completely different in so many ways. I grew up in Romania and I have spent most of my childhood summers in the Carpathian Mountains. I’ve moved to London more than ten years ago, in 2010, and although it seems like it happened yesterday, there is so much about Romania I feel the world doesn’t even know.
Why Go Carpathians?
Britain has great mountain landscapes in the Lake District, Wales and Scotland, but almost nowhere in Romania the number of tourists is comparable to the crowded hiking paths in the UK.
The Carpathian Mountains are still very wild, with more than just beautiful landscapes. A walking holiday or a weekend adventure here will offer the chance to come upon European scenes not so easily accessible in the West. With a number of mountain peaks rising over 2,000 meters in altitude (8,000 ft), a good system of mountain huts and low costs for food and accommodation, you will soon find out that Romania is a great country for mountain walking enthusiasts, probably one of the best in Europe.
Be part of my journey
In the last couple of years I have been through a lot of Hill & Mountain courses, ranging from NNAS Silver Navigation to Wild Camping and Mountain Skills.
I have recently registered with a School of Mountain Guides and Leaders in Bucharest. To strengthen my mountains skillset and become a better Mountain Leader, but to also know more about my home country.
In the next 12 months I will be involved in all their adventures, I will be part of this mountain lovers community in Romania, and will get to familiarise myself with the Carpathians once again.
As part of the training program, every month I will be undertaking a weekend trip with the rest of the group in the mountains, to enhance skills such as Planning, Climbing, Camping, Navigation and Hazards procedures. The climate in the Carpathian Mountains has four seasons, and these practical applications will be spread throughout all the weather conditions possible. I will experience the cold winters and winds, the rainy springs and the lovely Alps-like summers. There will be tough weather conditions, night hikes and challenging climbing, but also some relaxing visits to key tourist attractions, major cities in Transylvania, castles, caves and old Monasteries and Churches.
My aim for the course is to become accustomed to my mountains once again so I can show them to the world. Being a touristic-type-course, I can bring a number of tourists with me in some of the applications. These trips will be available for registration on the website, in the Trips section. As a tourist joining me in these journeys, one can experience something the travel agencies can’t offer. Access to direct mountain knowledge through the same experience a Mountain Leader has in its own training. Plus, the entire adventure of these wild mountains.
My role for the tourists
For the next 12 months, I will often find myself in a new territory. I am not sure of what to expect from the entire experience and the people joining my in the trips will share the same feeling of excitement and adventure. The great part is that we will be surrounded by other students and Mountain Instructors.
About half of the population in Romania speaks very decent English. In the cities, the figure can rise. Part of my role is to make sure everything is understood for the entire journey, and to answer any questions about the local surroundings, wherever we would find ourselves. The group we will be part of, is largely formed of young people training for a profession in tourism and are usually multilingual.
Although it has been a long time since I have moved from Romania, I have travelled back quite regularly. The country has changed in the last 12 years, and the access to the West when it joined the European Union, combined to the advancement of technology and access to information, helped the country to reshape the mentality of the new generations. Despite all the changes, I am still able to retain a vast knowledge about all the preparation necessary for the trips. Booking the transfer, accommodation, planning the night outs, will all be part of the responsibility I will hold to make sure that whoever joins me will be able to have all the details of their trip will be taken out of their mind.
Long term vision for Go Carpathians
I am at the stage of my life where I became a parent. Having growing up in a world which seems alien to the life I have in England, I feel it is my duty to bring this part of the world back into the life of the community I am now part of. I would like my 2 year old daughter and other children growing up with her to have the opportunity to experience a world which is going to open their eyes in a different way. I consider myself lucky for having had the chance to grow up in these two different environments of Romania and England. Many of my achievements so far have found their way in my life because I have had two completely different lifestyles and it has felt like I have lived two different lives, although I am only 32.
In the next year to come, Go Carpathians will change its shape into something both the outdoor enthusiasts and hikers in the UK will be needing, and the way I will identify Romania and its Carpathian Mountains can offer.
There will be many lessons to be taken. In the next 12 months Go Carpathians will only be available to a restricted number of people, ready to take a mountain challenge and have great fun. Depending on the outcome and the learnings, Go Carpathians can become something unique. A platform where people of all ages can rely on for gaining mountain experience, extra knowledge, and new skills (learn more).
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