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Dec 01
Waiting for Santa Claus

Waiting for Santa Claus in the Arctic

By Lifestyle One Comment

We are warming up for Christmas and exploring the potential destinations to visit. Although winter holidays are all about family, it is nice to step out of the routine every now and then. Waiting for Santa Claus in Scandinavia can be an unforgettable experience. Above all, life in the Arctic is very specific and intriguing.

Lapland, Finland

Positioned in the very Arctic circle, Lapland is the magical place. And a very unique one, being the home of Santa Claus for example. If you ever decide to go on a genuine Christmas adventure, consider visiting the village of Rovaniemi.

Although Rovaniemi seems like a distant place at the end of the world, it is actually quite well connected. In case you are visiting from abroad, the easiest way is to take a plane to Helsinki and then catch a train, another plane or rent-a-car. Finish roads are one of the best in the world, so the ride to the Arctic circle should be joy ride.

Chasing Aurora Borealis

The high season is December to March. Visiting Santa is definitely the most intriguing experience for some. However, if you are more into exploring the nature and like to spend time outdoors, Rovaniemi offers plenty activities to enjoy. Northern Lights tour is by far, the most memorable adventure you can think of.

Rovaniemi is one of the rare places where you can see Aurora Borealis from late August to mid- April. And not just see it, but chase it by car, snowmobile or a reindeer sleigh. If you search the Internet, you will see that there are many tourist agencies organizing this chase. Furthermore, Rovaniemi offers picnics and BBQs on snow, under Northern Lights, a Reindeer safari, private tours, quad bike rides, and even Aurora Arctic ice floating!

Should you decide to visit this place in the Summer, the chances are you would enjoy various activities under the midnight Sun. This phenomenon is visible from June 6th to July 7th  every year. It provides for a whole month of constant daylight. In Lapland, people can enjoy jet skiing, horseback riding, hiking, river cruises, etc.

Aurora Borealis

Aurora Borealis

Reindeer Farms, Santa & Eleanor Roosevelt

Reindeer is everyday thing in Lapland. The farmers are skilled and willing to give any kind of information. They let visitors feed the animals or they organize the sleigh rides.

Once you get to know the reindeer, meeting Santa Claus is the next logical step. The Finns believe that Santa’s original home is in Korvatanturi in Finnish Lapland. This place is under the veil of mystery, as only few people know its exact location. Therefore, the village of Rovaniemi has been set up as Santa’s official home back in 1985.

The most famous place in Rovaniemi is Santa’s official post office. It is located some 8 km from the center of Rovaniemi. The reason this post office is so unique is the fact that you can meet elves who work there and are ready to serve you in several languages. Also, the post features many Christmas products all stamped with Santa’s official stamp mark. This is also the place where you can order the letter from a real Santa Claus to be sent before Christmas.

You may be asking what the connection between Eleanor Roosevelt and the Santa Claus Village is. Well, this place was completely ruined after WWII. Eleanor Roosevelt visited Rovaniemi in 1950 in order to see how works on rebuilding the place are going. She also expressed the wish to visit the very Arctic Circle. In honor of her visit, the locals built the shack that still stands right next to the Santa’s post office. This visit from the 1950ies was the beginning of the idea to rebuild Rovaniemi, as a special place where legends become more vital and real than anywhere else.

Santa Clause in Rovaniemi

Santa Clause in Rovaniemi

Holidays in Scandinavia

In Finland, as well as in all other Scandinavian countries, people focus on gathering and good food during holidays. The Finns are a bit different in a way they have special traditions in festive seasons. It may sound strange to foreigners, but they have the habit of visiting cemeteries at Christmas time. The explanation is quite simple – remembering the loved ones and honoring them in times of family gatherings.

The food they serve in winter is usually pork roast, fish, salads. And when you meet the delights of the Finish cuisine, the next stop should be experiencing their saunas. Or, maybe not in that order? Either way, visiting Finland during holidays and waiting for Santa Claus will provide for an unforgettable experience and a unique adventure. Would you like to visit?

Nov 28
Thanksgiving free spins

Thanksgiving Free Spins Showing Gratitude

By Promotions 21 Comments

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Thanksgiving is a magical time of the year when we rethink the past doings and start making resolutions. Regardless of the way you spend your Thanksgiving, it is essential to find peace and be true to yourself. Think deeply what you can do better in the future, and in what way you can make someone’s life fuller. Only when you give, the universe gives back to you.

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Nov 24
Digital times

Staying Sane in Digital Times: A Personal Account

By Lifestyle No Comments

Instagram has started testing the new version of IG experience, based on hiding likes. Good for them! A wise decision, according to some. Without any intention to go deeper into the matter of whether hiding likes is beneficial I agree with one thing. Social media platforms, have provided the means for making posts with one intention only – to collect likes. And if likes are missing, we are all doomed, aren’t we? Staying sane in digital times is a true art.

The Character of Social Media

“We have the means to garner entire knowledge on any possible topic with just a click away, and we choose to stare at photos of cats for hours.” I cannot remember who said it. However, I remember that when I came across this line, it made me think. Not that I have anything against cats, though.

In our digital times, many social media platforms are visual in their essence. Apart from Twitter, which aims to stir debates, majority of other platforms provide for ultimate visual experience. Seemingly, it has become more important to look good than to sound good or have anything clever to say.

In other words, what those platforms are saying is “Come and join us. We will let you see how other people’s lives look like and let you present yours in the best possible manner.” Everyone likes to make impressions. Hence a galore of fake ones.

What Is Your Purpose of Using Social Media?

Digital times have taken its toll on me. I use several social platforms privately and enjoy them heavily. I guess you could say that I am addicted to some. Many times, I caught myself browsing endlessly without any purpose whatsoever and still finding it hard to break loose. This is probably the point where I should realize that things have gone too far. However, living a disconnected life is not on my agenda.

Therefore, I try to find a proper measure and purpose to my bad habits. Finding a purpose is not so easy as it sounds.

Keeping in touch with people dear to me is definitely my number one purpose of using social media. However, this purpose also entails a certain amount of voyeurism. Although, a healthy amount, I hope. On the other hand, it is debatable whether the material we all disclose online is genuine. Not only that there are myriads of tools enabling users to modify and alter the visual material extensively, but the topics and materials many users choose to post are also tendentious.

The other reason I use social media is to be informed. As we all know, many businesses have turned to social platforms for advertising. I like to stay informed, especially since these channels of communication provide many details which a regular user is not able to come across on other media.

Are There Downsides or Not Really?

Not a true downside but, social media platforms can be time consuming. Why I think this does not necessarily has to be a downside is that it depends on what exactly you are looking at. In case you spend your time on a profile that shares important information, your time is well spent.  As far as I am concerned, the same goes for profiles that provide pure fun, as I believe everyone needs it.

For example, finding a person, or a company that share experience on how they completed a challenging task can bring some value to your life. Alternatively, finding an online place where you can be whatever you wish to be can also be liberating and relaxing.

The true downsides could be some of the following. These platforms can consume too much of your time, driving you away from your family and affecting communication. Exposing you to cyber-bullying in case you do not know how to protect yourself is also one of the possible cons. Lastly, social media can affect your self-esteem in case you have the tendency to compare yourself with others. Nevertheless, all of the cons I stated here are conditional. The bottom line appears to be that social platforms are beneficial when a person using them knows the rules of the game.

Have you ever overused social media platforms?

Nov 23
Choose happiness

Do You Choose Happiness?

By Lifestyle No Comments

Has someone recently said to you: “I believe you are strong enough to fight your battles”? More importantly, did that person genuinely listen to your problems and concerns? If so, you are a lucky person. Truly lucky, not “I choose happiness” kind of lucky. It is OK to feel sad and lonely sometimes. It is what makes us all humans.

“I Choose Happiness” Attitude

Popular psychology has entered our lives a long time ago and as much as it helped us, it also made some almost irreversible damage. Apparently, when developing the “assertive thinking” or “visualizing success” methods, no one truly took into consideration one important fact. The fact is that it is in our nature to feel both sides of the emotional spectra. And working against nature can never deliver good results.

The mentioned “choose happiness” attitude appears everywhere. We can find its traces in our school system, at work, even among our family and friends. The trend is widespread.  So, what can go wrong with this type of thinking, you may ask. Apparently, a lot.

The Traps of “Choosing Happiness”

First of all, the trend of choosing to be happy can be quite deceiving. Yes, it is natural to desire happiness. Paradoxically, it is also natural to be down from time to time. There are two traps here.

Enforcing positive attitude on someone who has real problems can be counterproductive. A person may end up feeling even worse than before. He or she may receive the message that the struggle that person is going through means that a person is not trying hard enough. Now, I am not an expert, but it is logical to assume that support is important.  Helping your loved one to go through the healing process and find his or her own way is essential. Not introducing the tyranny of being obliged to choose happiness.

Furthermore, the trap of “choosing happiness” attitude can lead to sweeping things under the carpet. In order to heal, an individual should confront the problems and solve them. Choosing happiness is leading to denial and can alienate someone from reality. Although it may seem seductive to create your own world where nothing can harm you, reality is a realm we cannot escape from. Eventually, we need to wake up. Therefore, let’s not make things even harder for ourselves.

Benefits of Choosing Your Own Way

If you choose happiness, we are all for it. If this attitude works for you, go ahead.  The purpose of this text is not to shame someone for his or her choices. The aim is to draw attention to possible downsides of “positive thinking” trends.

Sometimes, we forget that there is rarely advancement without clearing up the mess. Clearing up, not ignoring the mess. Get it? Or, as Alexis Conason, Psy. D., has elegantly put it:

“….expressing negative emotions is adaptive”. If we consider this thought further, we can also conclude that there is no evolution without adapting to circumstances. When we are adapting, we need to assess those circumstances and act accordingly. Alternatively, we would be wearing a blind fold and hope for the best.

To sum things up, we choose happiness as well. Only, we would prefer that happiness to be woven out of the both best and worst experiences in our lives that eventually make us what we are.

What is your choice?

Nov 17
Good night’s sleep

How Was Your Sleep?

By Lifestyle No Comments

Until recently I did not know that there is a thing called National Sleep Foundation. This opened the door to a big topic – the sleep. Science still does not have complete answers to what happens when we sleep and what actually our brains are doing. However, one thing is for sure: without good night’s sleep we cannot function properly. Therefore, maybe we should ask “How was your sleep?” more frequently.

The Research

According to the above-mentioned National Sleep Foundation, almost 20% of Americans experience sleepiness during the day. This means that those 20% of people in the US are not sleeping enough during nighttime.

The problem with not catching enough sleep is potentially serious. Although we may not be paying a lot of attention, but exhaustion in terms of sleep deprivation is one of the main causes of strokes and diabetes, for example. Not to mention everyday stress.

The minimum of eight hours sleep is what can sustain us during a day. It regenerates our cells and keep us alert and ready to perform tasks. The question that inevitably lingers is: what is it that we can do to make our sleep better? Researchers have compiled the list of things to avoid in order to secure a healthy, good night’s sleep.

Food & Alcohol

With holidays approaching, we know that there is no better feeling than getting cozy in your better with stacks of sweets. However, be smart. The experts advise not to take food three hours before going to bed. Our organisms need some time to process the food. As long as our cells are busy doing what they usually do when we invade them with various amounts of fats, sugar, carbs or protein, we cannot rest properly.

The interesting thing about alcohol is that it can “help” you fall asleep. Nevertheless, alcohol has other effects as well. It can cause sweating, discomfort, headaches. All these symptoms can make your night a real nightmare.

Bedroom Mess

Have you ever gone to bed and could not fall asleep because you felt stranded in clutter? I know I did. Interestingly, there is a scientific explanation for that.

Namely, a study at New York’s St. Lawrence University shows that regardless of our habits, our brains aim for organization. In case the bedroom where we sleep is not organized and neat, our brains register that information as an uncompleted task. The result shows in a form of cognitive dysfunction, depression, stress. Moreover, these states of mind can lead to even worse sleep quality.

Electronics

This is no news. We have heard about the unhealthy effects of having a mobile phone, for example, right next to your bed. However, a detailed explanation was missing.

Old Dominion University in Virginia has conducted a research and concluded that all devices that are emitting blue light. Why? Namely, blue light can influence the human “circadian rhythm”. If this happens, our bodies do not have internal clock to tell them when to sleep and when to wake up. In other words, we lose connection with our inner, biologically set alarms.

The so-called “circadian rhythm” is basically part of our biological schedule. Our brains control this rhythm. Other examples of the results of the circadian rhythm are the cycles of body temperature, or the menstrual cycle in women.

Therefore, the wise people suggest getting all of the electronic devices out of the bedroom. This should provide good conditions for a good night’s sleep.

So, how was your sleep? Any special requirements to have a good rest?