NordenBladet – How frequently do the Scandinavians actually travel? United Kingdom’s travel site MoveHub.com compiled a list of nations that travel the most, based on World Tourism Organization and World Bank data – top 5 of this list included as many as two Northern countries, Sweden and Finland.
People from Hongkong travel the most, according to surveys its inhabitants undertook 11.4 journeys per year. This extraordinarily high number was due to the matter that the travels of the neighbouring country China were also included in the statistics.
The second place went to Hungary where the inhabitants travelled 1.62 times per year.
In the top 5 there were also the Swedes, the Finns and the Luxembourgians. It was surprising to discover that the Norwegians travel significantly less that the rest of the Northern population, in that respect being beaten even by Estonians. According to the statistics, Estonians undertake 0.93 travel per person per year.
NordenBladet – Despite the fact that I live 15km from the town, in the little Murimäe village, where you can count the houses with both hand fingers, where a view from the window behind and in front of the house is hay land and forest the city is getting closer each year with uproar, vapor and motorways. Traffic and living environment are becoming more and more vibrant every year, and more accurate by the eyes of city planners, but unfortunately it also gets more polluted. However, I am moving both in reality and in the heart away from the city.
At the age of 20 I bought my first apartment – of course in the Old Town, right in the middle of everything – to Town Hall Square. At this age, I absolutely did not understand the people who wanted to live outside the city or hold on for it – in the countryside! Cafe-shopping-bars were supposed to be in the walking distance and in my opinion only a total fool or a poor who could not afford the Old Town/ City Center apartment wanted to live in the countryside. Life boils 24/7 and I am in the middle of it. I enjoyed this life for many years, and neither the noise nor the gray stone houses which surrounded me didn´t bother – on the contrary, I felt that life could not get any better! And at one point it did not get any better. Even in the middle of wealth and riches everyday arrives. At one point shopping doesn´t make you any happier – you have everything, multiple .. what´s next? Instead of 10 euro wine you drink 100 euro wine, instead of the 100 euro purse you wear 2500 euros bags, instead of 15 euros jeans you buy 700 euros jeans – believe me – the wine tastes the same way, the bag holds the same way, and the jeans, no matter how expensive does not make a big ass smaller (Hahaaa) and so on… at one point I discovered that I have everything. There was nothing in the stores that I would like to have, but I wouldn´t have already? But are you happy? Okay, let’s be honest .. Certainly happier than those who have never been there or had anything, but one moment you are tired of all of that and then there will be a setback. You have been struggling to live up to your expectations and suddenly you discover that this is not a life with the meaning. Life is not about to be rich. Even if this is the idea of life, then it will not automatically make you happy. The idea of life is not to be overloaded with things. You realize that the meaning of life is to live and living is nothing else than to acquire things. Living is a breathing in the same rhythm with nature, because only this kind of life will truly last. Such life is sustainable.
Why super rich Chinese business giants do not live in China, where the air is very polluted? Why wealthy Dubai´s citizens who waste millions euros every month are often drug addicts or lost the meaning of life? Because you cannot buy health and happiness! Money is not the key to satisfaction (although without money, there is often now satisfaction as well)! Health is a healthy environment, health is a pure food! Health is good nerves and normal lifestyle, healthy children and ability to love your life. Felicity and satisfaction are born in our heads, and for that you don´t need money. Pure nature and peaceful surroundings are sustainable, and those who appreciate it live, grow and develop with the nature – they live and blossom every spring!
Today, I look at life with a different look. What before was “a must” is now practically “out”. I carefully plan when I go to the city (of course I take the kids to school and back) but malls I visit maybe only once or twice a year. When I was younger, I was satisfied when I shopped a lot, today I am glad if I live almost without spending. The less things the better, the simpler the better, the more self-made, self-grown or re-processed (recycled) the better! Sometimes I look my Louis Vuitton bags in my closet and I laugh with a loud voice.. why people need bags which cost thousands and you can´t even carry them over the sholder? OK, let it be. Sometimes the madness of vanity rises its head and then I´ll use them but.. looking in big plan, my soul wishes more and more simplicity. 15km from the city is still a city – it can no longer be called as a village as years ago, even 30km from big cities ( Tallinn, Tartu) is still a city in Estonia. Why do I find more exciting small wooden farmhouse in “X” place in a deep forest with privacy and clean environment than big villa with stone pillars in the city?
I am so tired of glamor and technique that sometimes I want to cry. I do not know what bothers me more – tech, remote controls and wires or city people? Why a milk pipe in front of the gate, organic lifestyle, a gravel road, a country school with six students in a class, and leaving the house with a letter “Key under the carpet” feel like a dream? I do not want anything that anyone “would like to cherish”, I do not want any over valued material things – while I want clean air, untouched nature, fresh water from the river, wildlife, and peace. It seems to me that it would be a real wealth and a sustainable environment. I wish to drink birch and maple juice and grow my own food – potatoes-carrots-peas, etc. I believe that people who live in that kind of environment do not know what is depression or suicidal thoughts, they do not have panic attacks or the most important – they don´t have that feeling that you have too much of everything but you still don´t know what you really wish.
1. You’ve typically accomplished 25 things before 7:30 AM.
You’ve changed 1-2 diapers, brushed multiple sets of teeth, made multiple meals, gotten multiple people dressed and watched at least one cartoon or episode of Sesame Street. You have no idea what is going on in the world because your child won’t let you watch the news and you’re too busy making milk bottles to check your phone. There’s also a fairly good shot you’ve read a board book, colored, mashed Play-doh together and stepped barefoot on a Lego.
2. Every time you walk out the door, someone’s got a heartache. You say your goodbyes to the kid, who either screams and cries like it’s the end of the world or, worse yet, completely ignores you and pushes you away when you attempt to kiss her good-bye. You spend the commute to work worrying about whether the crying kid is still crying, if you should just quit your job now or if you can perhaps come home early to spend more time with the crying kid, who most definitely stopped crying 30 seconds after you left.
3. Every moment of peace is quickly followed by torturous worry and/or guilt.
The morning flies by and for about 15 minutes, you indulge in a quiet cup of coffee at your desk followed by an uninterrupted trip to the office bathroom. This is, without question, the most relaxing part of your day because a small person will not barge in on your bathroom time or scream, “Mama!” repeatedly until you acknowledge her or let her watch you do your thing. Then as soon as you actually feel yourself relax, you worry about the 10 things you have to get done at work that morning so you can eventually get home on time. That’s when the guilt circles back.
4. You learn a lot of things about your kid from a secondhand source.
You hear about what your kid is doing from your nanny, your spouse or a friend who saw your kid at a music class or play date and sends you a text or a photo of your kid. Your heart immediately jumps into that text or photo and wants to be there, reassuring your kid that you love them to itsy bitsy pieces and just want to scoop her up and hug her to infinity. You spend the next hour worrying that you’re not spending enough quality time with your kid and that she’ll grow up to resent you being away so much.
5. It’s a serious challenge to spend quality time with your kid during the week.
On days where there are doctor appointments, the rare music class that you can attend or the opportunity to have dinner together, you race out of work, paranoid that even though you’re leaving a mere 30 minutes early, everyone is judging you for lack of dedication. Then you’re cursing the hurdles that are making your commute longer than normal. You can feel your pulse jump out of your neck with anxiety. How much longer until you can get there? Will you make it in time? When you finally arrive, you’re usually sweating, starving (because you skipped lunch so you could finish your work) and exhausted.
6. You’re a walking collage of kid excrement.
During one of your sacred office bathroom trips, you go to wash your hands only realize while looking at yourself in the mirror that you have milk, oatmeal or snot wiped across your blouse and it’s been there the entire morning while you’ve had multiple meetings with senior executives. You’re grateful that it’s not poop and regularly travel with hand wipes and miniature organic laundry spray to get stains out. Discovering that the arm of your black blazer is covered in dried glue is not that surprising considering you were wearing that blazer when trying to drop in on your toddler’s playgroup’s holiday art project during your lunch hour.
7. You’re a walking pharmacy.
Your oversized, bowling ball heavy work bag contains most of the following: a pacifier, organic pureed ready-to-eat pouches, hand sanitizer, wipes, children’s Tylenol with syringe applicator, a disposable bib, a hair bow if you have a daughter, your wallet which is open and been sifted through by tiny fingers, a few loose credit cards, a Lego or two, a board book, a diaper (hopefully a clean one, but a pee soaked one might make an occasional appearance) and two cell phones (one you use, and an old one you let your kid play with).
8. You always leave work feeling as if you’re not quite finished.
You’re consumed by the projects that you’re working on, but there’s always something tugging at your heartstrings like curiosity over what your baby is eating for lunch. How is she spending her day? Is she happy? Sad? Is she wondering where you are? Does she ask for you? Does she understand why mommy isn’t there? When you finally make the decision to pack up for the day and head home, you feel unaccomplished and stressed about everything that’s left to do. Then you get home and your second job starts. You don’t want to take a break because you haven’t seen your kid all day, but you’re exhausted.
9. You’re the worst date in the world the night before.
The day before an actual date night with your spouse, you go from being extremely excited for some quality time to worried about how much the babysitter and a dinner out will cost and whether leaving your kid at home so you can have a peaceful evening as a couple is even worth it. You finally learn to enjoy yourself with a glass of wine at dinner and realize that you need to do this more often. You’ll get lost in conversation with your husband, and if you can stop thinking and talking about your children for 5 minutes, you’ll find that you’re actually having a great time. It will seem like you just got there when you realize that it’s been 3 hours and your little night out with your husband that used to be free now costs over $100.
10. Your to-do list is literally neverending.
By the time you get home at night, you’ve been going strong since the early morning hours but there are a hundred other things to do in addition to spending time with the people you’ve been thinking about all day. You want to chase your kid around and read to her and stack wooden blocks and boxes and watch Bubble Guppies, but there’s laundry to do and bills to pay and dinner and mail and grocery shopping and the complete mess of a home you left that morning. You are very aware of the limited free time you have and have enough experience to realize that you’ll only accomplish a small fraction of your to-do list no matter how many hours there are in the day.
11. The kid(s) are finally asleep and you can barely keep your eyes open. You consider it a victory if you make it through an entire episode of Homeland without falling asleep. You tell your husband that you’re, “just resting your eyes,” but he’s on to you and makes you go to bed. You don’t argue because you feel like a cross between a zombie, a mental patient, a great-grandmother and a master of all trades for having balanced another day as a working parent.
Featured image: (PantherMedia/ Wavebreakmedia ltd/Scanpix) Source: ThoughtCatalog/Stacey Becker
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