About me

Hi, I’m Rachel. Rachel’s Ruminations is a long-established travel blog focused on independent travel with an emphasis on historical sites/sights, but also including reviews of hotels, resorts, cruises, tours, etc. I also occasionally write about life as an expatriate.

My newer website, started during the pandemic, is about travel to UNESCO World Heritage sites. I don’t write all of the posts, though; lots of bloggers have helped. (And if you’re interested in contributing, contact me!)

My email is rachel (at) rachelsruminations (dot) com.

I live in Groningen, in the northeast of the Netherlands. I’m Dutch, but grew up in Connecticut in the US, so English is my first language. My husband, Albert, is also Dutch. We have two kids, though neither one is a kid anymore. After a long career as a teacher and teacher-trainer, I have “retired” early to focus on building these two websites and on travel. I love the combination of writing and traveling. Now that Albert has retired, we’re traveling together more, and on longer trips.

My kids say my superpower is my sense of smell. I refuse to go camping ever again (except maybe glamping). I love chocolate. I have a love-hate relationship with our neighbor’s cat. I’m scared of flying but I still do it. I’ve been in 74 countries so far and seen 230 UNESCO sites (not including parts of serial sites I’ve visited).

So that’s me in a nutshell. I hope you enjoy what I post here; feel free to leave comments!

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Copyright notice: Except for occasional guest posts as indicated, all text on this website is copyright Rachel Heller. The photos are copyright Rachel Heller unless otherwise indicated. Please contact me at rachel (at) rachelsruminations (dot) com to request permission to use any photos or text, specifying which one you are interested in.

DO NOT email me if you’re asking me to publish a guest post for any commercial entity. I do NOT sell do-follow links, no matter how much money you offer.