Albena Durcheva
After graduating in Culture Studies, I decided to combine my passions - hiking, performance and cultural discovery, and found my devotion to alternative tourism. I worked for different travel companies as a tour developer and guide before founding an adventure travel company together with two friends. Every time when I am out there with some curious guests it feels like heaven!
What places and activities do you specialize in?
"Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula
Hiking, Biking, Kayaking, Horseback riding, Cultural tours, Wine tours, Biodiversity tours"
How did you get involved in travel?
"As a child, my parents took me with them on numerous mountain trails. In my student years, I came up with a plan to combine my love for nature and exciting experiences with my academic and cultural competence. This led me to the office of one of the best adventure travel companies in our country where my journey into travel started. "
Please share a unique travel experience you will never forget.
"Once I was researching a trail which was on the map but hasn't been used for a long time. So I hired a local guide to show me the way. It was a wonderful storytelling day. First, the guide told me his personal story. Then we met woodworkers, who invited us to share their lunch and told us the news of the day and how life is going. Then I met mushroom pickers who told me how the mushroom trade is now and what their worries and hopes are. Then we met goat keepers who shared some forgotten songs with us. We have been walking all day to find ourselves lost in the forest. For good luck, two motorbike riders came along and offered us a ride to the closest village, where an old lady took us home shared her dinner with us and offered us warm beds. In exchange, we told her all the stories we have heard during the day. It was a travel among the tales of the people, living in this mountain. I didn't find the trail, but I found the people walking on it."