Her life is like a movie… or like some kind of Bulgarian version of Eat Pray Love. And the moral is – believe in yourself and embrace freedom because fortune favours the bold. “Maybe what I have learnt all of these years is that you have to say YES to whatever life has in store for you,” says Elena Krapcheva, traveler, vlogger, financier, film director and dreamer.

She has a YouTube channel in which she runs a travelogue of her travels from the most incredible corners of the planet, in Bulgarian and in English.

In an interview with Radio Bulgaria she talks about the most vivid memories she has of her travels:

“In Sri Lanka I found myself in the company of the son of the interior ministry during the problems with the Tamil Tigers. So, I got to know the country from the inside of a bulletproof car. I have lived in Thailand, with monks at a monastery, and I learnt to live a monastic life. In Argentina I have danced the tango in the most interesting clubs, where I got to know their incredible writers, poets and singers.”

Elena’s life has been a colourful one. She was born in Sofia but grew up in France where she graduated international relations and diplomacy, then she specialized in Australia. But her life took a different turn and she started in finance in Singapore. At one point she set up her own company in USA, which was connected with finance, but… it went bankrupt. Then, one more time, Elena’s life took a different turn on board a ship bound for… Antarctica:

Watch Elena Krapcheva’s video from her Antarctica series:

In 2020 Elena and Mike traveled to Thailand, but then the pandemic broke out. So they were stuck there for 18 months.

“There was 70%-80% off all hotels, we were all by ourselves everywhere we went, we were the only tourists, people were even taking our pictures. We visited more than 25 Thai islands, spending up to one month on some of them. And we were able to see the country as never before.”

That was how the idea came about to create a 91-minute documentary “Shelter in Thailand – stuck in paradise”. At the premiere at Lumiere cinema in Sofia it was given a warm reception by the Bulgarian audience. “It always matters where your roots are,” Elena says and adds:

“I have been to more than 100 countries, and I always compare things there and here, in Bulgaria. Bulgaria’s nature is incredible. We have a sea, we have mountains, rivers, lakes. We have wonderful people, intelligent people. Not to mention the potential, which we unfortunately, are not making use of. Bulgaria has a lot to give to the world, but we are not doing it. Things need to change,” Elena Krapcheva says in conclusion.

Photos: personal archive