Today's inspiration of the day: Actionforhappiness.org

When people ask me, what do you want in life, my answer is always, "Happiness". Regardless of my faith, values or beliefs, in the end I want to live my life knowing I made the most out of the time I had on earth.

To me that means loving with all my heart and finding that love given to me in return. It also means helping the world and having a career that sparks my soul and burns my passion. I have recognized already that a stable job and a fancy apartment will not satisfy that need. I want to empower women around the world to be happy and proud and to truly believe they deserve success and love regardless of how you look, the size of your breasts or what society tells you you should be.

http://www.actionforhappiness.org/ is a movement for positive social change. They bring together people from all walks of life who want to play a part in creating a happier society for everyone. With happiness facts, news and resources, you have a great platform to be truly happy.

My crazy Hot-tub experience

During my amazing year long internship in Colombia in 2010 (I still can’t believe it’s over), I met a great bunch of people and together we travelled around Colombia together. I lived in a city called Medellin, not the capital of Colombia, but mind you, one of the BEST cities in Colombia. I fell in love with Medellin more than Colombia. Medellin really became home sweet home. But this story takes place in Manizales.

Oh Manizales! How can I even describe it? A city for students and youth, a party city, a city of amazing culture and art. You’re surrounded by beautiful colorful sculptures, trees, young people, cafes and just a trippy feeling in the air. The only city during my travels in Colombia that I thought was right on top there with Medellin. Since Colombia is one of the countries that has the MOST public holidays (Yayy!) one puente or 3 day weekend we took a 5 hour bus ride to Manizales. We stayed at a great hostel called Pit Stop with a crazy Irish owner and fun international bartenders. The best part was that they had a HOT TUB in the back. Omg, I never did find any other hostel that had one since!

So after 2 days of coffee tours, exploring Manizales, doing the sky walk, which is walking on a little wobbly steel platform thing outside the top of a tower

and swinging on this giant swing like thing which is crazy fun, we went back to our hostel with its hot tub, TV lounge and bar in the basement. Sadly Monday morning arrived and while everyone was packing to leave, Nicole (A Scottish friend of mine) and I got into the hot tub and were coerced into having shots of Aguardiente, most popular alcohol in Colombia made of anise. Still recovering from the party the night before,

we, more me really, grudgingly took the shots from the above mentioned Irish owner, an Australian dude staying at the hostel too, who was surely high on something, a Colombian and American bartender who were in the hot tub with us. Now comes the crazy part.

An hour into the hot tub adventure, our friends were packed and ready to head back to Medellin. Tis a pity I think but it’s time to leave. That’s when my friend Nicole, a Scottish lass says “how about we stay another day?”. Living the life of an intern in Colombia, it should come to no surprise that at this point I was very broke and let her in on this fact too. At which point the Irish owner pipes in with “Go on, stay another day, free of charge.”

Now I’m one to slightly panic in these situations, but having cool and calm Nicole by my side, egging me on,

I decide, Oh what the heck, you gotta be reckless sometimes and so we both decide to stay at the hostel without our friends for another night with free lodging and free alcohol. What an unexpected turn of events!

We must’ve all stayed in that hot tub for atleast 6 hours. I know I did atleast. As the night wore on, the American bartender and I became quite chatty and upon realizing that night had come and we were the only ones left in the hot tub, well let’s just say romance flourished. It’s an experience I’ll never forget. No regrets, sometimes you just gotta live. And that’s why I’ll always love Manizales and hot tubs.

You can also read my Manizales experience on my guest post on lifeoutofasuitcase. com as well as lots of other stories by young women travelers.

Celebrating Cinco De Mayo

It's great to randomly meet Spanish speakers though I suppose meeting Mexicans at a Cinco De Mayo festival in Dubai isn't really a coincidence. In any case, the sun blazed at the Cinco De Mayo weekend celebration in Dubai. Yes, the summer horrors are almost upon us Dubaians but meanwhile who better to learn, tips for showing the Sun who's boss, than those crazy Mexicanos. With a couple of Margaritas, a Burrito and a Sombrero to help you fiesta in that scorching heat, it's time to take those afternoon siestas you keep meaning to take. You gotta love those vibrant colours and them drunken misbehaving Mexicans :)

A game made for the Turks

"Tavla" as it's known in Turkish or Backgammon as we know it, is best played on the streets of Taksim in Istanbul, which is where I learnt it from my Turkish friends. A rather simple game but faster than Chess (Thank goodness!) it is best played smoking "Nargile" or Shisha and drinking a nice cup of Turkish tea.

A tip however if I may, Be cautious about allowing Turkish men to teach you the game. My male Turkish friends loved teaching me the game or rather persistently telling me what moves I should make until I was forced to yell at them to stop so I could stop being their Tavla puppet. Oh how I miss Istanbul. Chok chok guzel.

How to feel beautiful in 5 simple steps

Step 1: Stand in front of your mirror every once in a while and instead of noticing the things you don’t like about your body, don’t! Instead make an effort to appreciate the things you do like. Some examples include; the color of your skin, the shape of your eyes, your fingers etc.

Step 2: Start complimenting your girlfriends on their hairstyle or that new dress she’s wearing. Wouldn't you appreciate a friend saying how hot you looked in those jeans? Well then there’s no reason why we can’t share the love. Women need to stand up for themselves and each other, it’s not a competition.

Step 3: Surround yourself with people and messages that make you feel good. There’s no reason to allow your “friends” to talk down to you or believe beauty commercials. Hundreds of women in India use fairness creams to have lighter skin and a lot of others in Colombia get butt implants. Neither are necessary. If the men in your life only appreciate butts 3 times their size or skin like snow white, then it’s safe to assume you are not the problem.

Step 4: Do it for your number 1 fan. In case you were wondering who that fan was, it’s you! If you want to lose weight, get a nice ass or wear your crazy high heels, then do it for yourself. Don’t do it for anyone else. We all like to look good sometimes, so go for it and love your body.

Step 5: Every time you take a shower, make sure you sing Cristina Aguilera’s “I’m beautiful” as loud as you can, just in case the neighbors weren’t convinced already. For non Cristina fans, you may substitute the song for Bruno Mars “Just the way you are” or similar themed popular music.

The bridge that leads to nowhere

My second photo taken at the Corniche in Sharjah, I love the blurry blues and oranges, gives it such a warm feeling. There's something very symbolic about bridges too, don't you think? Maybe that's why it's used in so many expressions, Don't burn your bridges, We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Water under the bridge. Know any others? I suppose my 2 cents would be, Bridge the gap between you and the people who love you for you, those are the ones you want to keep.

Smells that spice up the night

My first photo of the day with my brand spanking new Nikon D3000. This photograph was taken at the Bastakiya, which is the name for old style buildings of Dubai near the creek in Dubai. Though I don't know much about how to use them, spices really do add so much delicious flavour to most Asian cuisines.

Did you know that spicy food like curries releases endorphins that create a natural high?