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I Am A Polar Bear

Travel, adventure & wellness with plenty of snow

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Greek vs Swiss chocolate | iamapolarbear.com

Chocolate Wars: Greek vs Swiss chocolate

April 25, 2024

It’s been ages since I last did a Chocolate Wars! I wanted to do Cypriot chocolate vs Georgian chocolate but it turns out neither have a particularly noticeable national brand. I got some Greek Lacta in Larnaca but my options in Tbilisi were Milka or Russian Alpen and so today, obviously, I’m going Swiss. Yes, … More Chocolate Wars: Greek vs Swiss chocolate

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What I wore in Georgia | iamapolarbear.com

What I wore in Georgia in February

March 25, 2024

What do you wear when you go to Georgia in winter? What’s the weather like and what do you need to take? Well, I think I got it kind of completely wrong but that’s ok because now you’ll know. I started with finding out the weather in February. January too – I titled this Georgia … More What I wore in Georgia in February

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A reintroduction to me! | iamapolarbear.com

A reintroduction to me!

February 8, 2024

This was going to be the first blog post about Georgia & Traverse but it’s going to be a reintroduction instead. I don’t know how many people went off with my Instagram and my blog but in case there are any new people coming this way, I thought I’d start by telling you who I … More A reintroduction to me!

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How to manage school trips with ARFID | iamapolarbear.com

How to manage school trips with ARFID

January 8, 2024

I got an email from a reader back in September. That’s not a common thing for me. It was about coping with ARFID on a school trip and I thought that might be a useful thing to pop up on the blog. Apart from the fact that it’s my blog and I can talk about what … More How to manage school trips with ARFID

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Christmas Adventure at West Bay | iamapolarbear.com

Christmas Adventure at West Bay

January 4, 2024

I have many Christmas traditions (these three decorations must go here, here and here on the Christmas tree, making mince pies with Dad, putting out the boots, eating my body weight in After Eights) and one of them is that on the day after Boxing Day (or the day after that, depending on whether there’s a … More Christmas Adventure at West Bay

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A reintroduction for 2024 | iamapolarbear.com

A reintroduction for 2024

January 1, 2024

Well, 2024 on the blog started well! In everything else that was going on, I forgot to finish today’s post and I let Thursday’s sneak out early (and when it was still only a paragraph long too!). Idiot. That’s because I’ve not been properly at my desk recently. I’m back now! Going to get everything … More A reintroduction for 2024

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What I carry on a day hike on Dartmoor | iamapolarbear.com

What I carry on a day hike on Dartmoor

November 23, 2023

As I was walking on Dartmoor yesterday (two months ago in real time!), I began to think about my bag, which meant I began to think about what I carry on a day hike on Dartmoor and I thought that might be quite a good subject for a blog post. Note it’s “what I carry” … More What I carry on a day hike on Dartmoor

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you should pack this: my charging kit | iamapolarbear.com

My charging kit | you should pack this

August 3, 2023

The oldest series on this blog is Useful Travel Items but I’ve decided it needs a bit of an overhaul so among other things, it’s now called you should pack this and the first thing to pack in the new format is my charging kit. Packing electronics has always been a thorny issue. Have you … More My charging kit | you should pack this

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I'm walking the Laugavegur Trail again next year | iamapolarbear.com

I’m walking the Laugavegur Trail again next year

July 6, 2023

Yep, it really is just what it says on the tin. I’m walking the Laugavegur Trail again next year. I meant to do it in 2020 but we know what happened. 21 wasn’t much better. 22 was all about the volcano. 23… well, life got busy. By the time you see this, I’ll have done … More I’m walking the Laugavegur Trail again next year

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Travelling with ARFID | iamapolarbear.com

Travelling with ARFID

May 25, 2023

Well, here we go, I guess. Time to talk about the one weirdness I try to keep quiet. I have ARFID, Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. It’s an eating disorder, not one of the famous ones and it does impact my life, although mostly not in the way you might expect. What is ARFID? It … More Travelling with ARFID

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Who am I?
I'm Julie, a travel, adventure and wellness blogger. I love Iceland, I love jumping into hot water and I do love a bit of snow.

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Most popular posts

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  • A day in Blandford Forum
📌 Charles Bridge, Prague 📌 St Vitus Cathedral, Prague Well, this is the most terrifying book update I’ve ever done! I didn’t take pictures of all the springs in Karlovy Vary but here’s a sample - the really hot ones, the fun ones, the ones thick with orange mineral deposits and my personal favourite, the one you can bathe in. I didn’t enjoy sampling the hot mineral springs of Karlovy Vary but here are a few things from around the town that I did enjoy. Join me on a little tour of some of the statues around Františkovy Lázně, from the emperors who shaped the town and the region to the dubious fertility symbols. And who does the angry face on the side of the hotel remind me of? Let me take you on a really short tour of some of the mineral springs in the spa park of Františkovy Lázně. This is what spa means here, taking (drinking) the spring water and enjoying the curative properties of spending time in the gardens, out in the fresh air. I thought today I’d take you on a little tour of Mariánské Lázně, which is a smallish pleasant town with a Neo-Renaissance Neo-Classical Neo-Everything spa town bolted onto the side. It’s had its fair share of celebrity visitors over the last 150 years, it’s got an abundance of very mineral-rich fizzy springs which you have to sample and it’s dotted with weird artworks. I think I like Mariánské Lázně but I don’t think I need more than about two days there. This is the ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hotel Nové Lázně in Mariánské Lázně, the most prestigious hotel I’ve ever stayed in (although not for quite such an outrageous price as I might have expected).

About Julie

I'm a blogger, adventurer, lover of hot water, amateur paddler and polar bear who wilts in hot weather. Time (by day, I'm a researcher) and funds keep me within Europe and I make regular trips up to the north, especially to Iceland. I like the occasional adventure across Europe by train and I'm starting to make use of my weekends for 48-hour adventures. This isn't my only creative outlet - I've written two travelogues (one on a winter adventure across the Arctic Circle and one on exploring volcanoes during a warm summer road trip around Iceland) plus a little book of Icelandic pools and I have a fourth book in progress right now.

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