In this edition of Celebrity Travel Addicts, we speak with Alex Waltner, the full-time world traveler and photographer behind the popular travel blog Swedish Nomad. We chat with him about what sparked his curiosity about the world and made him want to travel, his passion for responsible tourism, his favorite things to do in one of his top destinations, and much more! Check out his best travel advice and find out where he’s headed next!
I watched a lot of documentaries as a kid about the Inca and Aztec empires as well as Ancient Egypt. That along with documentaries about animals and dinosaurs sparked my wanderlust and curiosity for the world. 
In the last 4 years I’ve been traveling at least 300 days per year, but this year I slowed things down a bit and found myself a base in Cyprus. I like to visit a mix of places, ranging from capitals to off-the-beaten-path as well as nature experiences.
It’s quite small but has everything from the best beaches in Sweden to old viking sites and charming towns and beautiful castles. The best thing to do is really renting a car and just drive around the countryside and visit small towns and wander the historic castles.
The Canola fields are also very famous and when they’re in bloom, almost all of southern Sweden will be yellow.
My main focus is to help other travelers by sharing my own experience and tips rather than just telling them what I did. A lot of travel blogs are more in the form of a diary, although more bloggers seem to follow the trend of sharing more general information.
One of the key things about my site is the easy-to-read structure without too many personal anecdotes in the text.
It basically means that you’re aware of what your travels does to your surroundings, including the environment and local communities. A responsible traveler will have as little negative impact as possible on all aspects, and have as many positive contributions from the trip as possible.
It includes not taking advantage of minorities, supporting illegal works or harming animals and the local ecosystem. Some easy examples is to just be mindful, don’t leave trash behind, respect local customs and laws, don’t support animal exploitation, such as elephant riding, petting tigers, camel riding, etc.
That it doesn’t have to be hard or expensive to explore our world. And that it isn’t as scary as media likes to portray it. Most people are actually kind and welcoming, and we have a lot more in common with people globally than we might think.
I also want to teach how to travel smarter and be more thoughtful about your choices while traveling because they can have an immense impact on the local communities.
Tokyo, Dolomites, and the Greek islands
Tokyo is one of my favorite places on Earth, simply because it has such a lovely mix of the ancient and modern society. If you’re visiting for the first time, I highly recommend exploring Asakusa 1 hour before sunset and stay until Senso-ji temple gets lit up along with Nakamise dori street.
Akihabara, famous for its Anime shops and arcades as well as maid cafes. Even if you don’t have any interest in anime, this will be a fun place to spend a few hours.
Genki Sushi in Shibuya, my favorite place to get Sushi in Japan. 2 pieces of delicious and freshly made sushi costs just 108 yen here.
Shibuya and Harajuku are also fun areas to explore with plenty of everything, including fun and trendy shops and themed cafes.
At last I would recommend visiting the Robot Restaurant in Shinjuku as well as having some food at Omoido Yokocho.
I’ve visited 59 countries so far, and will likely travel to #60 later this year.
Spanish, Japanese, and Thai in no particular order.
Nessun Dorma in Cinque Terre, it has the most amazing view of the postcard village Manarola and the ocean. Have their Pesto bruschettas and Aperol Spritz, it’s amazing!
I really enjoyed the movie called Wild. But there are many good travel movies!
I really like Copenhagen Airport. Of course I’m a little biased since it has been my home airport to Southern Sweden until I moved abroad. It’s very convenient, has everything you need, lots of seating area, lounges, tax-free shops, and everything just works great, including the security check.
I would say Osaka in Japan.
My girlfriend Christine, which is also a travel blogger. We always travel together and share the same pace and way of thinking while traveling, and then we also share the work aspect of traveling as well.
Sitting down at a local cafe, get yourself something to drink and small talk with a local. It can spark some interesting conversations and time will fly by when that happens.
Hearing the word exotic makes me think of islands in the Philippines or the Maldives, which are both fantastic places my career has taken me.
However, I will say the islands of Okinawa in Japan as well as Jeju Island in South Korea. Mainly because these aren’t your typical destinations as a European. Maldives was a dream place that I never thought I would be able to see with my own eyes, but my travel blogging career made this possible.
Have a safety budget and a loose plan of where, when and why you’re traveling. You don’t need to plan everything, but traveling can be stressful if things don’t go as you had imagined, and then it’s good to have a backup plan.
My Laptop, Camera, Phone, and a travel adapter. However, this is mostly due to my work, if I wasn’t a travel blogger or had a passion for photography I could travel without any of these.
Antarctica or Bolivia.
a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Romania and the Netherlands.
Alex Waltner is a professional travel blogger & photographer from Sweden who’ve been to more than 50 countries in the last 4 years. He travels the world full-time with his girlfriend Christine.
To learn more about Alex Waltner and his travels, check out the Swedish Nomad website and follow him on Instagram and Facebook!
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