Writer Spotlight Stories — Natacha Cryer

Summary

Natacha Cryer, a French-born, Greek-raised, UK-based computer games engineer, shares her passion for travel, her experiences in places like Norway and New Zealand, and her preference for off-peak travel to fully enjoy destinations.

Abstract

Natacha Cryer, featured in the Globetrotters Writer Spotlight, is a multicultural individual with a deep love for exploring new cultures and natural landscapes. Despite the constraints of a full-time job, she maximizes her 21 days of annual leave to travel, balancing visits to family with adventurous trips. Her honeymoon in Norway and a dream holiday in New Zealand are among her recent travels, with aspirations to visit Iceland and Peru next. Cryer, who designs t-shirts in her spare time, advocates for off-season travel to avoid overcrowding and truly appreciate the essence of a place. She finds New Zealand particularly captivating and would choose to live there, despite the allure of Norway, due to the challenging winter daylight conditions. Her preferred mode of travel is by plane for efficiency, though she enjoys the leisurely exploration that comes with renting a car. Cryer's travel philosophy is encapsulated in lessons learned: the importance of making the most of limited time, the benefits of off-peak travel, and the joy of trying new experiences.

Opinions

Natacha believes that travel is a way to discover new places and cultures, with a particular fondness for nature.
She values quality travel experiences over the quantity of destinations visited, emphasizing the importance of fully immersing oneself in a place.
Natacha prefers to travel during off-peak seasons to avoid crowds and enhance the enjoyment of her travels.
She considers New Zealand the best place she has visited, finding it more appealing than Norway, which she notes is overwhelmed with tourists.
Natacha enjoys writing, reading, and hiking in her spare time and has started designing t-shirts to fund more vacations.
Her top travel tip is to travel off-season, which allows for a more authentic and enjoyable experience of a destination.
She is captivated by New Zealand and would choose to live there, despite the harsh winter daylight conditions in Norway.

Globetrotters Writer Spotlight— Natacha Cryer

Photo was taken during our travel in Norway (Photo property of author)

Hi Globetrotters. My name is Natacha I’m French on paper but born and raised in Greece, now living in the UK.

I love to travel because I love discovering new places and cultures. I adore nature and there are so many mesmerizing places to see on Earth.

My number one travel activity is less than I would like. I have a full-time job that allows me 21 days off. And those days need to be split between visiting family and actually travelling to new places. But when I travel I go all our. My latest is 2 weeks in Norway for my honeymoon. And before the pandemic, I got to realise my dream holiday… 3 weeks (well 2 since COVID ruined the last week) in New Zealand.

Other places I’ve been are Japan, France, and Switzerland. Our next trip will probably be to Iceland although Peru is also high on the list.

I work as a Computer Games engineer in a small games company.

The best place I’ve been in New Zealand hands down. Norway is also beautiful but way too many visitors.

In my spare time, I like to write, read and hike around London. I also started designing t-shirts the in hope to make some side income to be able to afford more vacations.

My top travel tip is to travel off-season. Most places are overcrowded which, I found, takes away from properly enjoying a place. Travel off-peak and you might not be able to do all activities but you’ll be able to enjoy the place you visit way more.

If I could live somewhere else, I’d live in New Zealand hands down (can you tell I’m obsessed me this country?) Norway is also a great country to live but the 5 hours of daylight in winter sounds a bit harsh.

My favourite way to travel is by plane because I usually have limited time however I love renting a car and taking my time to discover the place.

Three lessons I’ve learned from travelling are 1. So many places but so little time 2. Travel off-peak 3. Try new things