So, who’s the Roamaniac?

My name is Janneke (or Ioana, for Romanians). I am a self-declared Roamaniac: I am utterly and completely in love with Romania, and I suffer from what the dictionary describes as ‘a strong desire for freedom’ (aptly called eleutheromania).

From 2016-2018 I roamed through virtually all the mountains of Romania with the aim to put together a guidebook for Cicerone Press. And I succeeded: in 2020 ‘The Mountains of Romania‘ got published! It includes 27 multi-stage treks and 10 day hikes in the Carpathians.

On this blog you can find stories about my adventures over the years. You will find hiking itineraries, stories, musings, info about accommodation and ravings about the countryside, tales of pretty cities, and much more. Since I’m far from done with this enchanting country I will continue to post about it. In fact, I’m even living there now! In 2022, me and my husband found a house in Romania, near the Retezat and Trascau Mountains. At the moment we are splitting our time between Belgium and Romania, but I’m spending as much time in my favourite country as I can!

If you have any questions about Romania, please do get in touch. I also offer self-guided tour packages and organize yoga & hiking retreats and permaculture & hiking weekends. If you would like me to organize a custom-made trip, do get in touch as well and we’ll discuss our options.

Why Romania? 

I fell in love Romania when I first visited it in 2005, and have been returning ever since. When I am not there, I experience Fernweh. Romania makes me come alive. Romania is the perfect place to roam wild and free, as you will hopefully discover soon for yourself. Romania has so much to offer: the Transylvanian countryside which takes you 100 years back in time; where people still scythe the grass and build haystacks; medieval towns that tell tales of Saxons and Hungarians, Romans and Dacians; the dense forests that give Transylvania its name; and above all, the rugged Carpathians with many peaks over 2000 metres, that are home to bears, wolves, lynx, chamois, marmots and eagles. All this makes Romania well worth exploring; perhaps more so than any other country in Europe.

What to expect?

This isn’t just a travel blog. Yes, you will find travel reports here (mostly about hikes in the wonderful Romanian mountains). But for me, this is about more than travelling alone – I am trying to find the best way to live. I believe life is for living and not for just working my socks off until I die. At the same time, I realize that most of us need a source of income to survive, and that we all want to make a contribution to life one way or another. I believe those aspects of life can be reconciled and that we don’t need to turn ourselves into little machines in the service of the god that is called Economic Growth. I think presence is much more important than productivity.

So I will write about those things too. Which means that you will also occasionally find philosophical musings, reading reports and interviews with locals – as well as practical advice on travelling in Romania, of course.

I hope you will enjoy following me on my quest for freedom, wisdom and beauty in Romania – and that perhaps you will turn into a Roamaniac too!