This interview with Fe&Edo, is one of the first in the series of texts recording and hopefully following up through the years to come, some of Interationalis Expat People Shining stars, how we like to call people who are internationals, expats who have chosen Slovenia or any other country in the Region but also the World to live and create outside of their comfort zone i.e home country. This is the story about Fe and Edo, an international couple, half Brazilian, half Slovenian, living in Ljubljana.
I am sure you and Edo have been asked this question 100 times or more … but who are Fe and Edo, and how did this local-expat couple decide to become globe trackers and Slovenia tourism promoters? Where do you live in Slovenia, and why there?
We met here in Slovenia after I (Fe) moved here for a job. We live in Ljubljana, and very early in our relationship, we realized that we both love to travel, so that’s something that became a big part of us. During the pandemic, we decided to create a travel blog together, and since there were still a lot of limitations in place, a lot of our trips were here in Slovenia. We realized that there’s not a lot of content about Slovenia in English beyond the “mainstream route” of Bled and Ljubljana. We saw it as an opportunity, and it’s also something we’re passionate about since we really love this country and exploring it. It all kind of fell into place.
Living in Slovenia – what are the benefits and what are the downsides, if there are any?
I always like to point out that this is very personal, and it’s always a matter of comparison to experiences one has had before.
Benefits – We absolutely love the nature and how raw, diverse, and preserved this country is. Another big benefit is safety and quality of life. We love that people seem to have a much better balance between work and personal life, and really value going outside, spending time with friends/family, etc. Another thing that is high on our list of benefits is access to really good, fresh food and water.
Downsides – It’s not that easily accessible (flights, for example, are not so abundant, to go home to Brazil we often need 2 connections, making the journey extra long). The language is also a sort of downside for an expat like me (Fe) because Slovenian is a really hard language to learn. Bureaucracy is also a downside because things seem very slow and complicated for someone moving here from abroad.
Is being a content creator a hard job? How does your typical working day look? How many hours of video and text editing? How much time are you dedicating to promoting your content and answering your followers? Where does the name for the blog/your services come from? What does Mauka mean?
Mauka means “towards the mountains”. It’s a phrase that has always resonated with us and our travels, so we used it as our brand name.
Being a content creator is by default quite a hard job because you’re essentially an entrepreneur, so until you come to the point of recognition that people start coming to you with proposals, you need to be putting yourself out there non-stop, just like anyone starting any company would have to do. But on top of that, being a content creator in Slovenia is even harder than in other countries (like the USA) because Slovenia is a small market, and a lot of businesses here still don’t understand social media and don’t see it as a business. Many times, when we get contact from potential clients, they don’t fully understand what we do and the value we bring.
We believe our work is to give visibility to places and businesses that we experience and love, through our content and videos. It’s a win-win for everyone – businesses get more visibility online (which is hard to get on their own), and travelers get genuine information and recommendations because we only share the things we like and have tried ourselves.
Right now, content creation is not our full-time job. Edo has a full-time job of his own, and Fe (I) is an entrepreneur who spends half of her time as a content creator (including social media and blogging), and the other half as an SEO consultant for clients. Creating content for social media is just a small part of it, even though it’s what people see the most. Actually, most of our income and work time goes towards our travel blogs.
Do you miss Brazil? Has your family visited Slovenia?
My family has visited Slovenia 2x already, and they love it here. Of course, I miss Brazil (Rio specifically), I think every expat would say the same. But it’s a funny feeling, this feeling that I now have two homes. Rio will always be my home because it’s where I grew up, and even though I miss many aspects of it, I don’t see us living there. Slovenia feels like our home right now, and we’re very happy about that.
How often do you guys travel? What is your next blogging destination in Slovenia and abroad – why?
We always make the most of Edo’s vacation to go abroad and do some longer trips. This is when we usually go to Brazil or countries far away, like Malaysia or Indonesia. Most of our Slovenia trips are weekend getaways or extended holidays. We aim to do at least one weekend getaway a month during the winter, and in the summer, we’re usually away for most weekends.
For this, we feel lucky to live in Ljubljana, because with a short car drive, we can get to so many incredible places and even different countries if we need to. You can do a lot on weekend getaways; you’d be impressed by how much of Slovenia we’ve seen in those short trips.
Recently, we went on a road trip to Austria and then to Bosnia afterwards. We did a road trip to Austria last summer as well, and it was one of our favorite trips of 2024, so we were excited to explore a different region this year. This is also a destination that fits very well with our business, since it’s very close, so people can easily combine it with holidays in Slovenia. Also, our community is a fan of road trips.
Is living abroad a way of living that you would recommend to other people, and why? Where have you lived before Slovenia, and is this your “final stop”
I (Fe) have lived abroad a few times before coming here to Slovenia. I’ve lived for a few months in Canada, then for a year in the UK, and a year in the Netherlands. They have each been incredible experiences, unique in their own way. I came to Slovenia around 1 year after I returned from the Netherlands, and I think it’s part of the reason why I loved Slovenia so much – the place I’ve lived in the Netherlands was very quiet and people were quite cold and distant. Coming here, specifically to Ljubljana, I felt more welcome because people seemed warmer. I personally love living abroad, and it’s something that has helped shape who I am. I have learned so much from other cultures that I wouldn’t have learned if I had simply stayed in my hometown all this time. I encourage everyone to have at least one experience abroad so they can have this same feeling. Going outside of your comfort zone expedites your learning (in every area of life) in a way that even years at home won’t accomplish. Even if you decide you don’t like it and want to move back home, that’s ok. I think your learnings stay with you.
How well do you speak Slovenian? Is it a complex language? Did you take the integration course for foreigners? What was the language experience? Can you recommend any good books for learning Slovenian, or a good teacher?
Slovenian is a really hard language to learn, especially for someone with experience in mostly Latin languages like me. I did not qualify for the free foreigner courses from the government because I am half Italian (it was not available for EU citizens), so I hired a private teacher when I moved here to help me with the basics. That was very useful, but I am still learning because the vocabulary is very hard to really grasp. Also, living in Ljubljana, I feel that I’m able to perfectly live my life with the basics of Slovenian and English because it’s such an international city. I really want to learn and will continue to study, but I’m also happy that the environment is welcoming, even if my learning cycle takes a bit longer.
For the sake of all newcomers to Slovenia, please describe your first six months or the first year living in Slovenia when it comes to expat challenges; administration, how long did it take to “land properly”, having all “survival tools and registration necessities in place?
I don’t think my first 6 months were relatable to most expats coming to Slovenia because my timing was really something special – I moved right before the pandemic hit. So, very quickly, we went into isolation and everything changed.
Moving here was fairly easy at the start. I got the job via online application. I hadn’t ever been to Ljubljana, so I had no idea which neighborhoods were nice places to live in, so I booked a random apartment online for my first month, packed my bags and flight, and came. The move was very quick; within 2 weeks, I was here.
The worst experience I had was that the apartment I had booked turned out to be a scam. It was very frustrating since I had no place to stay, so I booked an Airbnb for the first month, and then took the time to get myself an apartment. I guess I was lucky because I got a flat pretty quickly within that month.
Bureaucracy, as I said, is one of the hardest parts as an expat because the processes are just very slow and confusing. Dealing with the foreigner part in Upravna Enota was very confusing, but it wasn’t too bad because I was used to this “dance” since I’ve lived abroad a few times before. Meeting Edo really helped, though, since he’s able to deal in Slovenian with them and act as my official translator. I wouldn’t be able to start a business here without him.
Adapting to life here was very easy because, as I said, safety and quality of life are amazing. I also think I’m not a typical expat because these things get easier when it’s your 3rd time living abroad. Making friends was a slow process, though.
Where can our readers find you on the internet? Which social media platform proves to be the most efficient? Why is that?
You can find us at:
Our blog: www.maukatravels.com
Instagram (where we’re most active): @mauka.travels
But we’re also on TikTok, YouTube (we’re investing in it lately, a lot of Slovenia guides coming), and Facebook. Our goal is to be everywhere so that people can find us wherever they are.
Four short questions in the last one: Your favorite:
A car or a bike? Bike.
Coffee or tea? Tea.
Potica or a Blejska kremsnita? Kremsnita 100%.
The Slovenian coast or the mountains? The last one is hard, but I’d say the mountains
