Why the car camper?

I understand that camping is not for everybody. And a dream of living in a camper van/RV one day may seem completely nuts to some. Something I want might seem awful to you. Something you want might be an anxious nightmare for me. It's actually quite fascinating how different one person is from another. But that's not the point of this post.
Today I wanted to share the main reasons we as a family converted our car into a camper and are aiming at having a van/trailer/RV someday.
 

Small things you can do today to battle climate change

Climate change is a very serious thing that, unfortunately, has to deal with a lot of denial these days. Don't doubt, it's a real issue and the consequences of it are only getting worse each year. Learning about the scope of this problem can be overwhelming and trying to help is a daunting task.
Today I wanted to offer you a few ideas of little things you can do today that'll help reduce your carbon footprint and bring a deeper awareness of products that surround you.
Let's get into that.

The most effective ways to decrease your anxiety

If your anxiety is interfering with your everyday life, making you feel isolated and completely defeated, you need to seek professional help. I'm not going to trick you into believing that there is some miracle cure. There are situations in life when you need the help of another person. Mental illness is a very serious issue and it shouldn't be ignored.
However, if your anxiety is not life-threatening and seems manageable, I do have a few pieces of advice on how you can decrease anxiety not in the moment, but in the long run. I have lived with intense social anxiety for as long as I can remember and for the first time I actually think I'm succeeding at battling it. I really hope this article can help you too.

San Francisco adventure or how we majorly screwed up (crazy traveling edition)

Hello there. Personal kind of post coming up, so if this is not your type of thing and you have zero interest in the life of our family, then maybe checking out other content I have on my blog would be more interesting for you.

Simple, but important things you need to do with your kid

Every parent in the world wants their kid to be loving, smart, kind, successful, polite... just the very best, really. But raising one is no joke, and every parent knows that "making" them into great people is not as straight forward as we wish it was. To help you along, I want to throw around some ideas of simple, but very important things and activities that could really improve your kid's view of the world and him\herself.

How to fly with a 2-year old

About 2 years ago I posted a similar article that listed a few things you need to consider while flying with a baby. It would still be relevant for those of you who has a baby of 1 year and under. However, traveling with a kid who is 2 and a half years old is a whole other thing, therefore today I want to give you some tips about those unpredictable loving-and-hating semi-independent guys and most importantly on how to keep them happy during a flight.

How I deal with my panic attacks

I started having panic attacks in high school (as you do) at the age of around 15. At the time I wasn’t really good ad describing the feeling and wasn’t smart enough to google it immediately, so I just went on with my life, hoping that it would somehow stop on its own. I was anxious most of the time, never even realizing that it’s not a normal state to be in. And all of that I blamed on puberty, insecurity and my introverted personality. Needless to say, my panic attacks lasted very long, frightened me and were truly awful. My anxiety, unnoticed by me, was making me feel uncomfortable in my own skin and my own life.

That until I stumbled upon a video of one of my favorite youtubers – Zoella – where she described what panic attack is, what it feels like and what can you do about it. Suddenly, everything became very clear. Now it had a name that I can type into my browser and find hundreds of people with the exact same problem, sharing tips and asking questions. That moment, I believe, was a big contributor to my happiness, because it made me realize that everything I was feeling wasn’t coming from healthy happy place and was actually seriously damaging my sense of self-worth.

I’m definitely going to talk a lot more about my anxiety in the later posts, but today I would really like to share what helps me with my panic attacks and what I would definitely recommend you to try if you have a panic disorder. These are not tips by any means, because some of those are pretty self-explanatory, but I hope that they still might shed some light onto how to master your anxiety.

Our job as parents

Children are all unique, incredibly curious, fast learning and observant little humans. You’d be surprised how early they start having their own personality completely separate from yours and not necessarily even influenced by it. Even before they learn how to speak, they deserve the right to have control over their life. Yes, they are still inexperienced and cannot get by without help, but it doesn’t mean that their life belongs to their caregivers.

Your job as a parent is to provide them with your protection and offer your wisdom as well as expose them to a variety of situations in order to help them learn, develop and grow. After all, they are not meant to stay with us forever, therefore it’s our job as parents to assure that they are capable of living on their own. And it’s not only our responsibility to make sure they survive in the world, but also that they are happy, because 70-80 years of feeling incapable, useless, unappreciated and unhappy is not living at all.

Teach them how to be independent by showing them how to do everything. Let them simply observe, try and make mistakes. Also let them be children. It’s very easy to rush things and just wait for them to go to school, go to bed, grow up, become responsible and etc. But those early years of childhood are the only ones when they are going to feel truly childishly happy. When they can just be silly, depend on you and get dirty in the puddle.

Don’t try to change their personality. They are living their own life and they should be entitled to their preferences. Instead of trying to make them be the way you are, try to bring out the important traits such as love, compassion, responsibility, confidence and the respect for others while letting them keep their own perspective of the world.

They are unique little people. Respect that and don’t try to transfer your own dreams, goals and preferences onto them. Support their decisions even if you don’t understand them. I know it’s tempting to get them involved into something you like, but if they truly don’t enjoy it, you have no right to force it on them. They are your kids, yes, but their choices are not yours to make. Make peace with that. Trust their instincts, let them choose their own path and love them no matter what.

Be honest with them. You are human. You make mistakes sometimes and that’s all right. Don’t be afraid to admit to them. No one is perfect. Apologize to your kids if you’ve done something you regret, even if they are little, even if you feel like they can’t comprehend the importance of the situation. Remember that they feel frustrated and stressed too sometimes. Don’t let miscommunication cause you a conflict.

Respect and trust goes both ways. If you don’t tell them “please” and “thank you”, why should they? If you don’t trust them and question everything they say, why should they trust you with what you are trying to teach them? Finally, if you are judging them for something they’ve done and don’t even try to put yourself in their shoes, they will do the same thing back to you. It’s all teamwork, all right?

And in the end if you accept them for who they are and love them no matter what, you are going to get the best friend of your entire life. The friend that will not be afraid to share his fears with you, the one that you can be insanely proud of and the one that will love you more than anything in the world.

Tips on how to deal with overwhelming situations

I was a quiet shy kid for as long as I can remember. I preferred to be alone and tried to avoid speaking up because it felt safe. I was then and still am pretty insecure about myself, introverted and often anxious. However, I have been quite successful at not letting fear control my life and I want to share a few tips that might be useful if you're experiencing something similar.
Let's talk about dealing with overwhelming situations, not letting insecurity stop you from doing the things you want and enjoying the new scary things that frighten you.

It's ok to not be ok sometimes

I think everyone is familiar with the feeling of not being able to get things done, when the fear or anxiety, or even simple laziness stops you from doing something you want and then it just piles up and the more time passes the harder it gets to start again. It seems easier to give up and make peace with this feeling of uselessness.

My anxiety has stopped me from doing many things. But more importantly, it is stopping me from being the person that I really want to be. Since I’ve lived my whole life being introverted, unsocial and very shy it became so normal that it’s almost comforting. I’m not going to lie, I absolutely hate this part of me. I envy all of those people that can walk into a big crowd and feel comfortable, I envy those, who can speak up in public and not lose it, and, finally, I envy those, who can face their fears instead of running away from them.

They always say: “Don’t fight your anxiety, it will only make it worse”. It makes perfect sense. I know exactly what I need to do to feel better. But how can you possibly embrace something that you resent? How can you let it happen if all you want is for it to pass and never come back? Well, I don’t have the answer to this question yet.

The thing that I wanted to tell you here is: there are some things that you can’t control and it’s ok if they happen. They might make you feel angry, depressed or helpless, but just know that it’s ok to not be ok sometimes. Life is never going to be just ‘good’ or just ‘bad’. And what your life is now can either depend on you or not. Either way, the shitties, worst days in your life are important too. In fact, they are the things that shape you as a person.

Don’t compare yourself to others, you never know what they have to deal with in their life. Measure your days by only your own progress, your productivity, your bravery and your happiness. After all, the only person you should answer to is yourself.

Right now, I’m not having the greatest week, to be honest. I want to do so much and there is absolutely nothing that is stopping me, but yet I can’t do them. Instead of giving up on myself and hate my life I’m going to suck it up and start little by little. I know that I only need to make the tiniest step towards my goal and it will get easier. Writing this is part of this step.

I guess, what I want you to remember after reading this is: you are not alone, there are many people that are facing the same obstacles and are battling same fears as you are. It is ok to feel bad for a little while. Just a little though, because if you let yourself give up, the negativity will swallow you. Coming back from that is much, much harder. But one day of eating chocolate and crying in the bathroom is fine. Just one little break before you get back up on your feet. And if your family or friends, or your loved ones don’t understand what you are going through, it doesn’t mean that they have never had those days themselves. Every one’s struggles are just different.

Start doing little things. Maybe if you’ve always wanted to move to another place, start checking other cities or even countries. Just for the purpose of doing something. It is not a big hard thing to do, but it is a step towards something. Worst case scenario it will take your mind off of your sadness, best case it will inspire you to do something awesome!

Little steps towards a big dream. Little wins are all it takes to find a ground underneath your feet.

Stay brave, stay happy. Love y’all.

Climate change. Let's raise the awareness!

My husband and I just watched Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie about climate change and it inspired me beyond describing. 

For a very long time, I was ignorant about a lot of things that are happening in the world. Climate change was one of them. At the time it was called global warming and seemed to be this far away thing that someone else needed to deal with. And then I went to study abroad. I met so many people from countries all over the world. I’ve actually seen the horrible pollution in China. It made me wonder about the consequences of our actions and about the impact that we actually have on Earth.

I’m not going to explain the science of the climate change, overpopulation and pollution even though it is very interesting. I believe that I’m not qualified enough to even try to explain it to you. Instead, I’ll leave you some useful links at the end and I really hope that you’ll check them out because the impact we have on everything around us can no longer be ignored.

It still amazes me how some people can just “not believe” in climate change. The facts are there. You cannot just choose to ignore them. You cannot pretend like it’s not our problem. You cannot deny your responsibility. It’s simple. Really. You don’t shit where you eat. Right now we are shitting all over our beautiful home. We are destroying spectacular forests, leaving thousands of animals homeless and defenceless, we are over-consuming, and exploiting our resources and overpopulating our planet.

People are truly arrogant. All we want is money, and power, and recognition, and fame. We all want to be important. We all want to matter. We were even arrogant enough to start claiming land and fighting for it *ahem (politicians)*, but for some reason, we refuse to take the responsibility that comes with it. The only way we can start addressing this issue is by acknowledging it, being aware of it, taking interest in it.

And if you don’t believe in climate change, I’m not going to argue with you. I’m just asking you to consider the possibility. What if? If it is real, won’t you feel embarrassed in front of your kids and their kids that you didn’t try to stop it? Aren’t you afraid that in 50 years you’ll look back at your life and see that you had an opportunity to contribute, but you chose to ignore it because it was more convenient? And guess what? It’s not going to matter who won the election. It’s not going to matter why Brangelina broke up. It’s not going to matter who won the Super Bowl. If we don’t do something, we are going to pay for our arrogance. And the whole world will pay along with us.

So take even a few minutes and watch a TED conference instead of a cat video. Take a stand and share it. Take an action and change your lifestyle to make the world a better place. We happen to live in the most incredible, fascinating and miraculous place. Let’s not screw it up!

I don’t expect a lot of people to turn their life around, because of this post, because what do I know? I’m just one tiny person. But I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t try. And if even one person takes interest in this serious issue, then it would be totally worth it.

Thank you for your attention.

https://youtu.be/90CkXVF-Q8M - Before The Flood

https://www.open2study.com/ - Open2Study offers many free courses on all kinds of subjects, including climate change. I would highly recommend checking it out

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/global-warming-climate-change/threats-solutions/index.htm - Climate Change Threats and Solutions

http://carbotax.org/ - here you can find out your climate impact

http://climate.nasa.gov/ - Global Climate Change page by NASA

http://www.world.org/weo/climate - Here you can find a list of 100 Top Climate Change sites if you are feeling a bit more curious

How to keep it together and not go insane with a baby.

Being a parent is, hands down, one of the hardest things ever. It requires great patience, self-control, time management, multitasking and a great amount of sacrifice. At first it can be so overwhelming that you can’t help but wonder, how do everyone do it and manages not to lose their mind. Today I wanted to share some little tips on how do I keep it together and try to still stay on top of everything.

How to stay motivated.

I was reading my journal the other day and came across one curious thing – my 2015 resolutions. Well, we all know how it goes: New Year, new page, a chance to change your life. You feel inspired and make a list of all the things the better you would be doing and promise yourself to do them. You actually manage to do them for about 5 days or so and then forget them forever. Sounds familiar?

How to deal with judgment.

Nowadays we all get judged a lot because of our age, race, weight, religion, our life choices and etc. Sometimes even people who know us very well can be extremely judgmental. They do it for a number of reasons: maybe they grew up in a different time (parents or grandparents), maybe they are too close minded to understand, maybe they are stubborn and proud, maybe they are very insecure or simply mean. And it doesn’t really matter why are they judging us, it is just the way they are, there is nothing we can do to change that. What we can change is our reaction to their judgment.

Today I wanted to share my opinion on how you should approach judgment.