Hello and welcome to my page! 🤩

My name is Magdalena Jelec, but my closest friends call me Megi (spelled just like Maggie). Feel free to do the same. 🙂

So you may be wondering who the heck is Megi Vorera and why the name? Well, obviously Megi comes from my nickname; and Vorera means wanderlust in Catalan. And before you ask, no I don’t have any connections with Catalonia apart from Barcelona being my favourite European city. ❤️

So, why then? 

The Story of Magdalena Jelec aka Megi Vorera

It was in the early days of Instagram when I was trying to find a unique, cool name for my Instagram page. At the moment I didn’t have any money to be able to travel around the world. I was a girl in my early 20s from a small town in Croatia but with a big desire to see the world and explore new cultures. And that’s how Megi Vorera was born.

I studied Croatian Language & Literature and History because I was always passionate about the cultural aspect of life. I’m a bookworm (I mainly read classics), a big fan of Lord of The Rings (watching all 3 extended part each Christmas with my husband Slaven), art lover and a Historian who was always fascinated with ancient cultures, breaking points in History and economical and social changes that shaped the world we live in today.

I worked as a Teacher in Croatia for 2 years, but sadly I had to leave my country because I couldn’t find any good work opportunities, especially to fulfil my desire and biggest wish to travel the world (at that point I was so broke that I couldn’t even go to the Croatian seaside because it was too expensive for me). My husband was also very much an underpaid Mechanical Design Engineer with a Master’s Degree, so we knew there’s only one thing we can do to make our dreams come true: move elsewhere.

And so I moved to London where I’ve been living for the past 6 years now. 

The first 18 months were really hard because we lived paycheck by paycheck. But I was so determined to succeed because I knew if I don’t make it in London, I won’t make it anywhere and my dream of travelling the world will just fade away and I couldn’t let it happen! I initially worked as a Teacher for the first 6 months (and hated it!). I then did something so radical: I completely changed my field and became a Technical Recruiter (that’s a story of its own and I won’t be bothering you with it here).

But 18 months have passed and I was finally able to visit another country since my honeymoon in Italy (it was there where the both of us got a travel bug, mine’s probably a bit bigger lol).

Bonjour Paris! 🇫🇷

That was in December 2019. We know what happened in March 2020, but luckily, this apocalyptic episode has ended, so after Paris I have been travelling non-stop pretty much (using my PTO days combined with Bank Holidays).

My wanderlust brought me to India, Thailand, USA, Morocco, Egypt, Spain, Turkey, Norway, Poland and many other countries (total of 23 for now as I keep going back to places and countries I love).

And while I was utilising the most of my free time to see the world, deep inside I was unhappy. Unhappy because I was stuck in a 9-5 job that I hated and was doing it only for the money. I realised I was the happiest when I’m travelling and most miserable when I’m at work. After being laid off from a high tech company (Palantir), I had a revelation.

I paused for a moment and asked myself what I really want from life? What am I the most passionate about? What has been driving me ever since I was a little kid? I finally realised I want to work for myself, document my travel stories, share them with others to help them travel, inspire them and be a free, creative soul.

That’s how the Megi Vorera blog was born. 🥰

I decided to abandon my 9-5 career and fully focus on my travel blog with the support of my husband who is a designer of this page, and who is getting us financially going while I’m working on my dreams. ❤️

What can you expect from this page?

If you’ve come to read this far, thank you first! 🫶

But secondly, you now know that my passion is with Culture Travel. Rarely you will see me swimming in the turquoise waters or hiking mountains (I do love to do this from time to time too, and I’ll probably share some cultural fun facts about the nature place too, like I did for Etna).

Mostly, you will see me exploring cities, towns, historical and cultural places. I’m that person that goes to every museum in the world, every important cultural sight, and I have a special love for the UNESCO World Heritage Sites alongside Seven Wonders of the New World (I’m currently on 2/7: Colosseum in Rome & Taj Mahal in India).

Oh, and I eat all the local food you can give to me. I even tried a scorpion in Bangkok, though I think this might just be a tourist trap I fell for. 🙈

You’ll see me exploring famous filming locations, places that my favourite writers and painters loved. 

So, if you thought you’re the only person on this planet who does all the geeky and boring stuff (not really, but that’s what people think of us, right?), now you know you’re not alone.

This page is for you, my fellow Culture Travel Lover.

Welcome, and I hope you enjoy it! 🥰

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