Category: Lifestyle

Where Should You Travel Next?

It’s always fun and interesting to see where other people are traveling. Airbnb recently put out its list of the top 20 trending destinations for 2020. This is based on their year-on-year growth that they see in their bookings. Here are places that they say are up and coming and going to be hot.

1. Milwaukee, Wisconsin – up 729 per cent (year-on-year)

2. Bilbao, Spain – up 402 per cent 

3. Buriram, Thailand – up 383 per cent

4. Sunbury, Australia – up 356 per cent 

5. Romania – up 298 per cent

6. Xi’an, China – up 255 per cent 

7. Eugene, Oregon – up 213 per cent 

8. Luxembourg – up 167 per cent

9. Guadalajara, Mexico – up 158 per cent

10. Vanuatu – up 140 per cent 

11. Cali, Colombia – up 137 per cent

12. Cape Canaveral, Florida – up 136 per cent 

13. Aberdeen, Scotland – up 119 per cent

14. Courtenay, Canada – up 114 per cent 

15. Ubatuba, Brazil – up 108 per cent

16. Les Contamines-Montjoie, France – up 108 per cent 

17. Tokyo, Japan – up 103 per cent 

18. Kerala, India – up 95 per cent

19. Malindi, Kenya – up 88 per cent

20. Maastricht, Netherlands – up 55 per cent

The Gross National Happiness Index

Can you imagine living in a country that emphasized your happiness as a national priority? Bhutan has done just this. They actually have a Gross National Happiness Index – but it’s not necessary focused on happiness as some might define it. As Bhutan Prime Minister Dr. Lotay Tshering explains,

“We in Bhutan are very unique; our democracy is very, very unique … in the sense we all are grounded very strongly by our national values. We do not put personal interest ahead of national interest.

“When we say Gross National Happiness, it is not the celebrative ‘Ha ha — Ho ho’ kind of happiness that we look for in life. It only means contentment, control of your mind, control of wants in your life. Don’t be jealous with others, be happy with what you have, be compassionate, be a society where you can be more than happy to share.”


They have a Centre for Bhutan and GNH Studies that administers their Gross National Happiness surveys. They ask people frequently about how happy they felt yesterday, how often they meditate and other parameters. Every five years they measure nine key areas of happiness and have done so in 210 and 2015 so far. The nine key areas include: psychological well-being, health, education, good governance, ecology, time use, community vitality, culture and living standards.

Their approach is a fascinating one and certainly one that other countries can learn a great deal from emulating, even in little ways.

The Most Amazing Vacation

Should you be able to afford it, here is a get-away not to be missed. The Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi just opened and it’s a site to behold. It spans three islands and has 122 villas with the most incredible accommodations and views. Every suite comes with an affinity pool and the views and amenities here are incredible.

You simply must read about this place and dream ahead to your next vacation. Or just enjoy your dreams. We all deserve that, don’t we?

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants

Anyone who loves to dine out probably knows about the 50 Best Restaurants in the World award. The most recent decisions were just made, and it’s worthwhile to check out the list. Most of us, of course, can’t spend the kind of money that you have to fork out to enjoy these dining experiences. But if you can afford it – it’s definitely worthwhile to enjoy this unique and amazing opportunity.

On the top of the list are:

  1. Mirazur in Menton, France
  2. Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark
  3. Asador Etxebarri in Axpe, Spain
  4. Gaggan in Bangkok, Thailand
  5. Geranium in Copenhagen, Denmark
  6. Central in Lima, Peru
  7. Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain
  8. Arpege in Paris, France
  9. Disfrutar in Barcelona, Spain
  10. Maido in Lima, Peru

Eat and enjoy!

The Sense of Taste

A new study reveals that taste and pain share the same neural circuitry.

This surprising finding was discovered by neuroscientists at the University of Oklahoma.

“We originally aimed to look at how sense of taste works with thermal sensation in this study to better understand how taste is connected to food preferences, health and well-being. Taste is also closely tied to emotion and understanding how the brain processes different tastes is significant on several levels,” said Christian Lemon, associate professor in the Oklahoma University Department of Biology. “What we found was a surprise because temperature signals were converging with taste near the mid-brain, but so were neural messages for taste and pain.”

The mechanics of taste are still being explored. Behaviors such as food aversions and food preferences are not fully understood.

This study demonstrates the possibility that taste messages could change how pain signals are transmitted in the brain. This has potential repercussions for pain management and may help combat obesity.

Avoiding Anger

Is anger contagious?

According to sociologists, moods can be transferred through brief interactions. A quick interaction can often reveal if someone is in a good or a bad mood. These small exchanges can have a cumulative effect, shifting both your own mood and the moods of those around you.

Recent research by sociologist Nicholas Christakis demonstrated this. “We were able to show that as one person became happy or sad, it rippled through the network,” Christakis says.

Interestingly, digital interactions can have the same effect.

A study that tracked the news feeds of Facebook users confirmed this. “We found that when good things were happening in your news feed — to your friends and your family — you also tended to write more positively and less negatively,” says Jeff Hancock, a communications researcher at Stanford University.

The takeaway? Digital communication is a tool that can spread negativity or positivity, depending on what you choose to focus on and share.