Bulgarian life
Come to Bulgaria for a week of food photography and food writing
25th September to 2nd October 2025 7 nights, €2,850 (€2,650 early bird price) Maximum 6–8 people (Minimum 4 people) With Tim Clinch and Claire Ruston Join us for a creative week of food photography and food writing in Bulgaria, with award-winning food and travel...
New beginnings (an announcement)
If you’re wondering where I’ve been for the last month, I’ve been working on something very exciting. *Fanfare* *Pauses for dramatic effect* I’ve launched an Auntie Bulgaria newsletter over on Substack. What the hell is Substack? It’s a newsletter platform,...
Glittery snow, annual existential crisis, smoothie tip
Greetings from a very cold Bulgaria. We’ve not got much snow, but what we have got is sparkly-sparkly, like a dusting of glitter on a 1990s movie star’s chestal region. Well, what a mashup this week’s post is. To start, let’s discuss my usual post-Christmas...
They’re not resolutions
Crikey, it’s the end of another year. Just as I was getting used to the idea that it was 2023, here comes 2024. I can see it now, boogieing over the horizon, waving its long, gangly arms in the air and saying, woo-hoo, welcome to your mid-forties, Claire. Which,...
Myths, questions and misconceptions about moving abroad
Something a little different this week. I asked my Instagram friends (follow me here) what they really wanted to know about moving abroad (in our case, to Bulgaria). And these are the questions they sent. Let’s get into it… Did you consider other countries? Not...
One of those ‘whoa’ moments
You may not expect this of me, sweary, dungaree-devotee that I am, but I’m surprisingly into visualisation and manifestation. No, really. Woo woo me up, baby. I draw the line at crystals and horoscopes (with apologies to crystal- and astrology-lovers – you do you),...
Why does this summer hate me?
I don’t want to be one of *those* Brits. Those Brits who complain about the weather all the time (it’s either too cold, too hot, too dry or too wet for those people). But I have to get it off my chest, guys. I just have to. I’m going to explode all over my office...
Ah, so THIS is why we moved to Bulgaria
We’ve recently been rewatching The Good Life, the 1970s BBC sitcom about a suburban couple who turn their back garden into a self-sufficiency paradise. And oh lord, my life choices make so much sense now. Because I forgot how much I LOVED The Good Life when I was a...
How to survive January
How’s January treating you so far? I was livid – actually livid – to see that other parts of Bulgaria had a lovely sprinkling of snow in the past week, while our area is still a sea of brown. Brown trees, brown fields, brown roofs. So although we always ease into...
Worried about winter
Early January. Even though 95% of your body is under the duvet, you can tell it’s going to be cold when you get out. Cold wooden floors, maybe a thin film of ice on the single-pane windows. What little you can see through the window is bleached, the grey and white...
It snowed without me
Greetings from the UK where I have been mostly screeching about the price of everything and wondering why there are so many people everywhere. So, you know, my standard UK experience. It doesn’t even feel that Christmassy here, and that’s my main reason for coming...
Putting on a show
How splendid has this autumn been in Bulgaria? The colour of the leaves has been stunning, and because the days are so warm (verging on hot, really), they’ve stayed glued to the trees for much longer than usual. A few years ago, we had a really hard frost pretty...