Exploring Alicante and traveling consciously

I recently came back from a trip to Spain, a country I’ve been wanting to visit ever since I was young. I studied Spanish for six years and have dreamt of going there conversing with the locals. Finally the opportunity to do so arose and I spent a week exploring Alicante, a city I’ve never even heard of before.

Dan works as a teacher, and for sports break he and his fellow colleagues booked a very spontaneous trip to Spain and they invited me to come along. It turned out I remembered almost nothing of the language…

Well, I understood what they said but found it harder to respond so I left the speaking to Jonathan, one of our friends who’s really good with languages.

≫ All images in this post are shot using the Lumix GX8 + Lumix G VARIO 12-35mm f/2.8

Alicante, SpainOverview of the city with the grand mountains in the background

The trip was wonderful even though my Spanish lingered too far back in my memory, and I enjoyed to get to explore Alicante even though I am not a city girl. But no matter where I go, when I travel, I like to live as much as possible like a local which was really easy here.

We stayed at a lovely apartment booked through Airbnb, it had a bakery next door and the most wonderful shop full of local delicacies  (shout out to Jordie for being beyond awesome!) just across the street.

≫ Register on Airbnb using this link to get a 350SEK travel credit to use on your next booking!

Aperitivos Gisbert, Alicante - Spain

Exploring Alicante

While wandering the streets of Alicante taking in the sounds, smells and sights we made sure to stay away from tourist areas and the big streets. We followed the street art that lead us into the more narrow, winding and colorful backstreets of the city. The art in this town was amazing and really made me enjoy exploring the city even more. It was so vibrant and colorful!

≫ Read more about Alicante on their local turist website

Graffiti in Alicante

Exploring Alicante

Alicante, Spain

Exploring Alicante

Colorful wall in Alicante

Graffiti in Alicante

Colorful stairs in Alicante

Alicante, Spain

Alicante, Spain

Alicante, Spain

Traveling consciously

For some reason people who tend to care less and loose their everyday routines while on vacation but it is just as important to keep this mentality when you are traveling and to care for the environment just as you would at home.

Here are some quick tips on what you can do to travel more consciously:

 We did our best to be conscious about our surroundings and picked up trash we found lying around and we recycled our own garbage as well. The streets outside our apartment had big containers for paper, plastic and glass which really helped.

✧ We brought our own bags and said no to plastic bags when doing grocery shopping.

Use your own water bottle! We all carried bottles that we refilled at the apartment or had cafés and restaurants fill up for us so that we could avoid buying water and unnecessary plastic bottles.

 Since we stayed in an apartment we cooked a lot at home and of course we made sure to support the small, local shops and fruit vendors. We wanted to taste as much of Spain as possible by eating local food and procuring wine from the country, or even the region. Not only will this enrich your journey, but supporting the local stores and craft is a lot better from an environmental standpoint and helps the tourism too.

Note: These things are of course not only valid when abroad, I do all of this at home as well and so should you!

Bonobo Beer Garden, Alicante

Besides local wine, me and Dan set out to find some spanish craft beer which we finally managed to do at a beer craft store called Beer Shooter and we also had some good, local beer at Bonobo Beer Garden, located in a small square in Alicante. 

Beer Shooter, Alicante

spanish craft beer

I saw this fox ↑ (I love foxes) and immediately fell in love with the labels designed by the amazing artist Martutxa Casares, I plan to buy a print or two from her. Of course I had to try the beer too and the pumpkin ale from Althaia Brewery was not only beautiful but also extremely tasty!

Besides exploring Alicante, we found there’s a lot to do if you want a break from walking the streets and browsing stores and restaurants. For example there is a fortification on a hill in the center of the city called Santa Bárbara Castle that we hiked up to one day, to learn more about the history of Alicante and also to enjoy the view.

Narrow street in Alicante

Exploring Alicante

Aloe Vera in Spain

exploring a fortress

Female adventurer in Alicante

Spanish Mountains - Alicante

To see the mountains everywhere was lovely. I enjoy exploring cities and I love forests but there is something special about mountains… Anyways, another nice thing about Alicante is that the ocean is also very accessible and easy to reach by foot.

It was a bit too cold when we were there but if you want to combine city life with swimming or maybe sailing, as well as have the mountains a few hours away – this is the place for you!

Coast of Alicante

the ocean

Beach in Alicante, Photo © Kimberly Cochrane≫ Photo of me © Kim Cochrane 

Oh how lovely it was to walk barefoot and feel the sand between my toes! There’s nothing I miss more during winter than feeling the earth agains my skin.

I am pleased with how light I was able to travel this time. We spent a a whole week in Spain and I fit everything I needed in my Smith The Roll Pack 25L from Millican ↓ It feels really good not needing to check in any luggage. This was also the perfect pack to use when exploring Alicante since I often brought snacks, water, my tripod, a notebook and extra layers.

Millican The Smith Roll 25l

Couple selfie

Traveling with you and the new friends I’ve made through you was a wonderful experience and you are an amazing adventure partner, exploring Alicante with you was so much fun and I look forward to many more journeys together with you! ♥︎

the oceanBeach in Alicante, Photo © Kimberly CochraneMillican The Smith Roll 25lCouple selfieNarrow street in AlicanteExploring AlicanteSpanish Mountains - AlicanteNarrow street in AlicanteExploring AlicanteSpanish Mountains - AlicanteFemale adventurer in AlicanteExploring Alicanteexploring AlicanteSpanish Mountains - AlicanteFemale adventurer in AlicanteCactusexploring a fortressCoast of AlicanteNarrow street in AlicanteSaveSave

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15 Comments

  1. Vilka underbara bilder! Alicante ser väldigt mysigt ut. Och jag känner så igen mig i spanskan, haha. Har aldrig läst spanska men har släkt i Spanien, så lärt mig via dem och resor. Ändå kommer det som en chock varje gång man igen ska öppna munnen på det vackra språket och bara känner, nää-ä, det här gåååår ju inte! ;)

    1. Tack Malin! Det var en härlig stad tycker jag :) haha men eller hur? Spanska är ett underbart språk och det finns ju lagrat långt där inne i mig men att öppna munnen och få ut något vettigt gick inte så bra som jag hade hoppats haha. Härligt med släkt i Spanien, är du där ofta?

  2. Åh vilka fantastiska bilder Rania! Inte för att jag förvånas, men man kan ju inte säga det för många gånger ;) SÅ imponerad av att du fick plats med all packning i ryggsäcken, med dina kameror också liksom. Själv funderar jag på min packning för min påskresa nu norrut, ska också vara i Stockholm innan och i Umeå/Vasa efter, så behöver liksom massor av olika typer av kläder… Ska försöka behålla inspirationen och packa lätt, hehe!

    1. Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. Yeah we do that a lot, especially here at home – Swedes are messy and it’s so sad to see. And yeah, starting with oneself is important – how else can we expect others to do the same? :) We always carry bags in our packs that we can use to put trash in!

  3. Hi Rania!!
    I’m really surprised because I was shipping on the internet with the tags ‘sweden aperitivos gisbert’ thinking about you and your colleagues tonight and I have just found you. Thanks a lot for your comments about my shop and me. It was a wonderfull experience for both, I promise.
    Nice to meet you, I hope you a succesfully career as a photographer.
    The best wishes for you and your friends,
    yours
    Jordi

    Remember: To be Olive and the best wine of the world: from Alicante!!

    1. Oh hello Jordi, how fun that you found my blogpost when searching the internet – I am so glad you did! We really enjoyed our stay in Alicante and that’s definitely hugely thanks to you, you made our trip so special, thank you so so much for that. I am glad to hear you enjoyed meeting us too. And trust me, we really miss your food, olives and wine!!

      Many warm hugs from me and my friends here in Sweden.