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Times
11-06-2025
- Times
Love wild swimming? Wait till you try it in this tiny, beautiful country
I almost wish I didn't have to tell you anything about my swimming trip to Slovenia. Part of me wants to keep it to myself so that nobody else ever discovers it. There was the startling beauty of Ukanc, a pale sandy beach on the bank of Lake Bohinj, a clear blue body of water under the Julian Alps. And the Sum waterfall in Vintgar Gorge that left my skin so soft I couldn't stop stroking it. Then there was the Jezersko Valley near the Austrian border where I swam in a lake that was the shape of a heart. That's just a snapshot of what Slovenia has to offer wild swimmers. With its clean, turquoise waters and dramatic alpine landscape, this eastern European country is a paradise for those who like to take a dip. Hikers and skiers, foodies and spa fans have long been coming, but I can't be the first wild swimmer who has spotted the potential of its 1,200 or so lakes and rivers. In fact, there are dedicated holidays for swimmers here, including those run by SwimTrek, while other tour operators, such as FlashPack and WeRoad, incorporate swimming into their packages. But it's easy enough to arrange a tour yourself, so I booked a rental car and three hotels in different areas that would give me access to several swim spots that appealed most. • Read our full guide to Slovenia Admittedly, I am more of a fairweather swimmer, mainly going to Hampstead Heath ponds in London in the warmer months, so it was with some trepidation that I committed to an entire holiday focused on being submerged. But as anyone who does it regularly can attest, nothing makes you feel more alive or more grounded than swimming in natural waters — especially while surrounded by mountains. Along with me for the ride was my friend Ally, a keen swimmer who'd come with me on a previous trip to Slovenia's coast in 2018. I'd seethed with envy when friends who'd stayed longer told me how incredible it was to swim in Lake Bled, the vast blue lake beneath the Julian Alps with a tear-shaped island in the middle, so I'd sworn to return. Ally came armed with wetsuits, swim hats and safety floats to tow. With just a few bikinis and a towel in my hand luggage, I realised we were approaching this trip from somewhat different experience levels. From Ljubljana, we set off northwest to Bled for our first swim. Grajsko Kopalisce is the lake's dedicated bathing zone on the eastern side, and was pretty crowded when we arrived. But jumping straight in to cool off after our flight felt like the perfect start to the trip. We stayed a few hours before moving on to our far less touristy next stop, 25 minutes' drive west, at Lake Bohinj. This is the largest natural lake in Slovenia, covering 790 acres within the Triglav National Park, which centres around the country's highest peak. • This charming capital is a perfect — and affordable — city break You can swim anywhere in the lake but our favourite spot was the tiny village of Ukanc, for its jaw-dropping view of the mountains. Near the shore was a lovely campsite, Camp Bohinj, that we wished we were staying at, though we could still make use of the toilets, showers and a restaurant serving delicious pizzas for £12 and beers at £3 a pop ( This was at the cusp of the summer season at the start of May, so there weren't many swimmers around. The water was bracing — we estimated it at around 12C — though it creeps up to 20C later in the summer. Ally managed 25 minutes' swimming around the perimeter while I mostly splashed about. Afterwards we strolled into the Triglav park, making our way up through the forest to Savica, a 78m-high waterfall. It isn't swimmable (the water isn't accessible from the viewpoint) but we did manage to dip in the emerald green river, Sava Bohinjka, which ran from the falls into the lake, though this was much colder, a-few-seconds-in-the-water-before-you-start-squealing-like-a-piglet-cold, providing more of a plunge than a swim. We stayed nearby at the eco-friendly Hotel Bohinj, where rooms have balconies overlooking the lake, and there was an impressive spa with an outdoor whirlpool, Turkish and Finnish saunas (naked ones, as is the tradition). Retreating there after a day of hiking and swimming was a real treat. • 33 of the best holidays around the world for your wish list Our next stop was the most remote: the Jezersko Valley, inhabited by just 668 people and surrounded by the snow-topped summits of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps. Signs dotted around the valley encourage good behaviour from visitors — 'On Jezersko: we always greet when we meet someone, we love and appreciate peace and quiet' — and to buy local produce. We also walked through the nearby Mostnica Gorge, full of emerald pools and complex rock formations, and the Vintgar Gorge, like something from a fairytale with its crystal clear water rushing between mossy rocks. At the end was Sum waterfall, where we took a freezing cold dip that had our hearts beating and endorphins flowing. Our hotel in this area was Vila Planinka, a 22-room boutique hotel with a sauna that guests can hire privately (no awkward nude interactions here) and wood-clad rooms reminiscent of a luxury ski lodge. One afternoon we hired mountain bikes and cycled through the valley, eventually cooling off in the man-made heart-shaped lake in the middle of the valley, which was created by locals in the 1950s in homage to a larger glacial lake that had long ago drained away. Afterwards, we pushed on to Ank's waterfalls for another extremely cold dip in some small plunge pools, and visited a famous mineral water spring, Jezerska Slatina, in a rural spot nearby, which is said to have the highest magnesium content of all mineral waters in Slovenia and which can be drunk from a tap pouring into a wooden trough. Dubbed 'healing water', it tasted a little like flat San Pellegrino and we gulped it down for our health. • 24 of Europe's best adventure holidays for all types of thrillseeker The food was special too. At Vila Planinka, guests are served four-course menus designed daily by the chef with everything sourced locally. We loved the beef broth with Slovenian pasta and a pickled quail egg, as well as a delicious strawberry soup served with sour-cream ice cream. Our final stop was Piran, a picturesque seaside town in the style of nearby Venice and once part of the Venetian empire. The weather had turned for this portion of the trip, so we spent much of it in the indoor pool (and the obligatory naked saunas) at our hotel, the Kempinski Palace Portoroz, a much grander and more opulent residence than our previous hotels. Eventually, one last sliver of sunshine appeared and we made it to Moon Bay, a pebble beach with crystal-clear water, encircled by cliffs within the Strunjan Nature Reserve, which Ally and I had swum from together in 2018. Sitting on a rock with our toes dangling in the sea, we reflected on all the ways our lives had changed since then, how lucky we felt to have returned, more dedicated to swimming than ever, and how peaceful we'd felt for the past few days. Then we dived in together and enjoyed one last swim. This time, the water was Petter was a guest of Vila Planinka, which has B&B doubles from £258 ( Kempinski Palace Portoroz, which has B&B doubles from £219 ( and Hotel Bohinj, which has B&B doubles from £219 ( Fly to Ljubljana
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'I'm a mother, female and Asian - but I've built a travel company that can't be ignored'
Radha Vyas, CEO and co-founder of Flash Pack, says it's every company's dream to crack the US market — despite "scary" advice the travel operator received as it aims to create 1 million friendships across the globe. The British-founded company specialises in adventure trips which match solo travellers in their 30s and 40s and, since 2019, the US has represented Flash Pack's biggest opportunity 'because our model works really well there.' 'Most of the advice we received when we first started was that America is where travel companies go to die but we've managed to crack it so that was a huge relief," reveals Vyas, who founded Flash Pack in 2014 with now-husband Lee Thompson. Read More: 'The secrets of success as a CEO? Be honest and transparent' Vyas says that US consumers are less price-sensitive and well-travelled but happy to hand over their money to a company who can promise an optimised experience. Conversely, the pain point for UK customers, Flash Pack's second-biggest market, is travelling with strangers. The founders are no strangers to resilience if their rollercoaster company history is anything to go by. Having bootstrapped the firm from 2016 with £250,000 investment, Flash Pack was one of the fastest-growing startups in 2018. The duo quit their jobs and by 2020 had scaled to £20m in revenue, with a £50m valuation before COVID hit. 'We weren't big or small enough to survive,' recalls Vyas. 'We had no VC funding or VCs to turn to, so it was absolutely terrible. 'All I knew was growth and we were just making hay while the sun was shining. COVID taught me how to be like a wartime CEO where all I knew was how to be a peacetime CEO.' Inspired by the birth of their daughter, the husband-and-wife team revived the business when the tour operator was brought out of administration in a pre-pack deal by its founders, funded by remortgaging their home. Vyas says that she gained a positive work-life balance as a CEO from the experience, as they dealt with retrieving customer refunds and coping with a young daughter. Relaunching in late 2021, within two years Flash Pack had surpassed pre-COVID revenues and secured £5m in funding. 'I'm a much stronger CEO now and it gave me real confidence,' she admits. 'Now I'm just sort of unflappable because anything that happens, it's not thousands of customers stranded across the world and to be grateful for what life throws at you.' Read More: AI will replace humans in translation within five years - Unbabel CEO As an Asian woman and female founder, Vyas has experienced first-hand the barriers (a Raconteur report in 2023 showed only 5.4% of UK CEOs are women from ethnic minorities) that still exist in areas such as VC funding, while she has also been criticised for not being 'aggressive' enough. 'There are just some founders like Oxford graduates who could just raise money off s**t businesses and I'm asked to prove myself again and again, so what we've achieved is so much more amazing,' admits Vyas. 'I have a triple disadvantage. I'm a mother, I'm female and Asian and so there aren't many [CEOs] who look like me.' However, Vyas says that Flash Pack hasn't been totally constrained by fundraising. 'But that's only because I have built a business that can't be ignored,' she says. 'Our biggest failure became our biggest success because VCs were like 'Bloody hell, first of all you've got amazing resilience, you're a married couple' which VCs hate but 'well, if you're going to get divorced you would have done so by now with everything you've been through, so clearly you both love the business, you're strong founders.' 'It gave VCs so much conviction and if someone told me when we were going into administration that our biggest failure was going to become our biggest asset, I would never have believed them.' Before Flash Pack, Vyas worked in charity fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support. She was single, in her thirties, when a friend asked if she would consider going on a group tour. 'As a super independent woman, I remember feeling offended,' recalls Vyas. 'But then something resonated with me and I realised there was a massive gap in the market for this super cool, aspirational brand that rehabilitated this notion of travelling with strangers. There's nothing like travel that can create friendship.' On a dating site, she was then matched up with photo journalist Thompson. Both were living in Brixton and had a passion for business, travel and wine. On their first date, Vyas revealed her travel idea and their next few dates were spent at travel shows and market research. She says: 'We basically started our relationship and the business at the same time, which I would not recommend. It was a super intense journey and we also bought a flat in London that same year.' Read More: How Jeff Dewing went from bankruptcy to £70m fortune With 90 staff, Flash Pack works fully remotely, while its C-suite is now of equal diversity as it strives for brand leadership in the US. On the consumer side, Vyas says that 85% of its customers make friends and stay in touch while its group dynamic score is 8.9 across thousands of departures. 'We're the only company who actually reject bookings, we reject revenue to protect the group dynamic,' admits Vyas. 'We don't allow big groups of friends or loads of couples as 95% of people come solo. "Even if you've met on a Flash Pack trip and you want to book together. We don't allow you to book with loads of other customers because it can form cliques and disrupt the group dynamic.' After years of manual data, it now embeds AI into its tech, which allows information on a customer's personality or sleeping preferences to be automated so group tours can be matched. As if to underline their misssion to connect 1 million travellers, Vyas says: 'I know for certain we are the only company that does that because we care so deeply that people feel connected and they make friends."When we had our reflection time during COVID one of the things I wasn't happy about the way I led then was hiding our salaries. When you applied for a job, we would say the salary was competitive on the job spec, people would apply and we would try and get the best deal. The best person for the cheapest price inevitably creates pay gaps. Even if you're negotiating five or 10% extra on top of your salary it still creates an unequal footing because you're just starting from a lower base than a male counterpart. As soon as we relaunched, we started pay transparency and now all our job specs have clear salary banding and we don't put employees in that awkward position where we can say 'what are your salary expectations?' and somebody who's desperate for a job feels super vulnerable. Read more: 'I went to a board meeting days after nearly dying but I soon saw my purpose' Meet the CEO responsible for selling London to the world 'Want to grow an iconic brand? CEOs have to value CMOs as servant leaders'Sign in to access your portfolio
USA Today
06-02-2025
- USA Today
Solo but not alone. Connecting through travel on Valentine's Day, beyond.
Hear this story AI-assisted summary Solo travel is increasing, with many individuals planning multiple trips this year. Group trips designed for solo travelers offer opportunities to connect with others while exploring new destinations. Solo travelers can also meet people by joining group tours, attending local events, or striking up conversations with fellow travelers. Shakeemah Smith isn't staying at home on Valentine's Day just because she's single. "I'm going to treat myself to a weekend in Dubai,' said the solo travel expert known as The Passport Abuser on social media. 'I'm going to be living my best life.' In a survey of 2,000 Americans last year, travel search engine Skyscanner found that more than 60% said they plan to take between two to five solo trips this year. Like Smith, they aren't waiting on companions to explore the world. She has visited 84 countries on her own and taught 12,000 others how to successfully solo travel through her Travel Like a Bawse courses. 'My Valentine's Day gift to myself every year is looking at myself and smiling in the mirror and saying, you know what? I had the courage to do something for myself that no one else could give to me,' she said. Enjoy your worry-free vacation: Best travel insurance policies Nevertheless, solo doesn't have to mean alone. Here's how solo travelers can connect with others this Valentine's Day and beyond. Group trips for solo travelers There are group trips specifically designed for solo travelers by companies like Flash Pack, Intrepid and Group G. Skyscanner's survey found that Millennials and Gen Z take the most solo trips, while Millennials and Gen X are most likely to take part in group travel as solo travelers. Flash Pack co-founder Lee Thompson said the average age of their customers is 39 years old and many have prioritized their careers over relationships, but they're now ready to travel and build new connections. 'Our mission's all-around friendship, because (travel is) a great way to meet like-minded solos and make friends. It fast-forwards the friendship-making process when you share dinner, share experiences together,' he said. 'Rather than Valentine's Day, you can be kind of taking amazing pictures of yourself in the reflections of the salt water with your new friends.' So far, this year, Flash Pack is seeing Chile, Finland, Greece, Japan, Morocco, Tanzania, Thailand, and Bali, Indonesia among its most popular destinations. Last year's top 10 included Portugal, Japan, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Morocco, Costa Rica, Belize, Argentina and South Africa, which Thompson called a mix of bucket list destinations and places that may be perceived as hard to visit alone. "It's like the trips that perhaps in the past, like Tanzania, maybe you would have waited until you had like a partner and gone on that trip, maybe you would have done your honeymoon to those types of places, but it's those destinations that win within our demographic,' he said. 'They're like, listen, I'm just going all out here.' Solo travel basics:Expert advice for your first trip Where to meet people traveling Solo travelers can also make connections on their own. 'I always make this joke that's like, did I find my next ex-husband in the city?' said Ravi Roth, an award-winning LGBTQIA+ travel content creator known for Ravi Round the World online. 'I've met so many incredible friends.' The outgoing extrovert can make friends even on a rideshare, but they enjoy finding dive bars in new cities and chatting with locals. 'I'm not saying that you have to go to a bar to make new friends,' Roth said. 'There are so many community elements that are engulfed in so many destinations, especially around the United States. For example, I went to Columbia, South Carolina – major red state … And they have cafes that are queer owned. They have an LGBT center. They have events throughout the year that are not alcohol related, so there's a great way to find community there.' Roth and Smith also suggest joining group tours and experiences through companies like Airbnb and Viator, to meet people with shared interests. 'I booked a perfume class workshop in Paris, which was amazing. When I went to South Africa, I did a Zulu head wrapping class, and I got to meet other solo travelers who were also visiting Cape Town,' Smith said. 'If you're going on a museum tour, and you just so happen to strike up a conversation with another solo traveler who wants to do the same museum tour too, you guys can say, you know what, why don't we, link up for coffee after this?' Galentine's Day getaways:6 safe destinations abroad for women Best places to travel solo Roth, who's been solo traveling for 12 years, recommended Puerto Rico, Dallas, Palm Springs and New Orleans among the best places to visit solo. 'New Orleans is an amazing place, because immediately you find community,' they said. 'It is a place where you can authentically be yourself.' Smith recommended Paris, Bali, and Antigua and Barbuda, where she lives currently, for solo travel. 'We are 11 miles long, 18 miles across, and we have 365 beaches,' she said, describing the Caribbean destination as beautiful, safe and a few hours' flight from the East Coast. 'If you are anxious about taking your first solo trip, try somewhere that's close to home. Make sure that they're English speaking or they receive so much tourism that you know that communication with them would not be a problem.' By occupancy rate, Orlando, the Florida Keys and Austin, Texas are among the most popular destinations for solo travelers this Valentine's weekend, according to vacation rental revenue management platform Beyond. Allianz Partners USA's 2025 Top Valentine's Day Destinations report shows travel bookings are up 42% overall compared to last year's Valentine's Day timeframe. Roth is planning to visit Quebec and Montreal shortly after Valentine's Day. No matter the destination, they said, 'Just take the leap. Get out of your comfort zone. It's going to be a little intimidating. It's going to be a little scary, but it is invigorating ...You learn so much about yourself when you travel. You learn so much about your patience, your appetite, your drive, and you kind of can navigate it however you want to do it.'
