travelographie.

About

Smiling woman in a sleeveless blue top against a white wooden wall
Woman in a red shirt hugging a baby elephant
Carly in a floral blouse inside the baroque Admont Abbey library

Hi there, I'm Carly.

I'm a writer, translator, and world traveler.

I write long-form essays based on my travels to over 50 countries on 6 continents.

I started writing these travel essays as a way to remember the stories I didn't ever want to forget, and as a way of working through the things I couldn't. 

My aim is to capture the best parts of authentic travel: the thrill of making it from Germany to Mt. Ararat on a motorcycle without a map, hallucinatory food poisoning in Turkey, almost getting tipped over by a pod of humpback whales in a glorified rowboat captained by a Panamanian named Jesus, getting trapped in a sweltering elevator in Athens, and following a secret map to a perfect beach in Thailand.

I'm an American based in Germany, my home base for the past six years, where I write, translate, and collect absurdly long German words every day. My German husband and I run a local business and travel the world together, sometimes for work but mostly for pleasure. Many years ago, we fell in love on a two-month motorcycle trip to Armenia, through 14 countries and one self-proclaimed autonomous republic. Today, we live in a picturesque village (pop. 300) in the German countryside and spend about a quarter of the year on the road.

Please leave a comment on the site to let me know what you think. You can always get in touch with me at carly.ottenbreit@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for reading!

Carly Ottenbreit

Carly_Name

Where I've been

I've visited 56 out of 195 countries worldwide

FijiTanzaniaW. SaharaCanadaKazakhstanUzbekistanPapua New GuineaIndonesiaArgentinaChileDem. Rep. CongoSomaliaKenyaSudanChadHaitiDominican Rep.RussiaBahamasFalkland Is.NorwayGreenlandFr. S. Antarctic LandsTimor-LesteSouth AfricaLesothoMexicoUruguayBrazilBoliviaPeruColombiaPanamaCosta RicaNicaraguaHondurasEl SalvadorGuatemalaBelizeVenezuelaGuyanaSurinameFranceEcuadorPuerto RicoJamaicaCubaZimbabweBotswanaNamibiaSenegalMaliMauritaniaBeninNigerNigeriaCameroonTogoGhanaCôte d'IvoireGuineaGuinea-BissauLiberiaSierra LeoneBurkina FasoCentral African Rep.CongoGabonEq. GuineaZambiaMalawiMozambiqueeSwatiniAngolaBurundiIsraelLebanonMadagascarPalestineGambiaTunisiaAlgeriaJordanUnited Arab EmiratesQatarKuwaitIraqOmanVanuatuCambodiaThailandLaosMyanmarVietnamNorth KoreaSouth KoreaMongoliaIndiaBangladeshBhutanNepalPakistanAfghanistanTajikistanKyrgyzstanTurkmenistanIranSyriaArmeniaSwedenBelarusUkrainePolandAustriaHungaryMoldovaRomaniaLithuaniaLatviaEstoniaGermanyBulgariaGreeceTurkeyAlbaniaCroatiaSwitzerlandLuxembourgBelgiumNetherlandsPortugalSpainIrelandNew CaledoniaSolomon Is.New ZealandAustraliaSri LankaChinaTaiwanItalyDenmarkUnited KingdomIcelandAzerbaijanGeorgiaPhilippinesMalaysiaBruneiSloveniaFinlandSlovakiaCzechiaEritreaJapanParaguayYemenSaudi ArabiaN. CyprusCyprusMoroccoEgyptLibyaEthiopiaDjiboutiSomalilandUgandaRwandaBosnia and Herz.MacedoniaSerbiaMontenegroKosovoTrinidad and TobagoS. SudanAlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaHawaiiIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinAmerican SamoaGuamCommonwealth of the Northern Mariana IslandsNebraskaSouth CarolinaPuerto RicoUnited States Virgin IslandsIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandAndorraLiechtensteinMaltaSan MarinoVatican CityHong Kong
Essays & itinerariesVisitedNot yet56 of 195 countries (29%) · 41 of 50 US states

Choose a coloured country to see what’s been written there.

The Fine Print

All reviews and opinions expressed here are my own—there is no paid or sponsored content on this site. I love my day job and don't earn my living as a travel blogger. Not that there's anything wrong with travel blogging as a profession (it seems like a pretty cool job!), but that's just not my goal. I want this to be a free and creative space to develop ideas and work on my writing without having to worry about customer demands, monetizing a brand, or optimizing my content for SEO.

I write on my own terms in the spirit of sharing and spreading information that all good travelers live by, and I hope the information here will help you plan grand adventures of your own!