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.
 

What should you do if someone is having a panic attack

I've had a fair share of my panic attacks in public places and have seen all kinds of reactions. I know seeing a person in such a distressed state is not pleasant. It can be scary, it's most definitely awkward and can feel pretty bad if you don't know what to do. Today I wanted to tell you what are the best most appropriate reactions that I've gotten from people and what I would generally advise you to do if you face such a situation.
Every panic attack is a unique experience and it's very different for someone who knows what they are and have had them before and someone who has never experienced anything like this before. We'll talk about them both.

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.

Teach your kid how to properly interact with animals

Spending quality time with animals can do wonders for kid's development. I've seen the impact it made on my daughter and I will continue to seek opportunities for these interactions.
However, children are still learning right from wrong, and I've seen so many situations when adults don't provide any guidelines when it comes to playing with pets. This can jeopardise the integrity of the animal and the child.
Here I've compiled a few things you should keep in mind when you allow your kid to interact with animals.

Let me start by clarifying exactly where my experience comes from. We have two dogs at home, so we had to teach our daughter from very early on how to have a safe and healthy relationship with them. My mom grows chickens in her house in Russia, so Sofia had the opportunity to observe and care for them when we visited my family about a year ago. She has also interacted with cats, goats, horses, pigs and camels either on our camping trips or in Mexican/American zoos. All of my advice comes from observing my daughter and mistakes she sometimes makes and trying to correct them so that both my daughter and the animal are safe and comfortable.

So, there you go. I'm no expert, I'm just a mom. You've been warned. If you feel like I'm doing something wrong, please feel free to point that out in the comments. I appreciate any feedback.

Things I didn't know about panic disorders

I've been battling anxiety and panic attacks for more than half of my conscious life and yet I still manage to discover some new things that are related to my panic disorder.
Learning more about my anxiety has significantly improved my mental health. If you are reading this because you struggle with similar issues, I hope this article will be of some help. If you are reading this in the hope of understanding someone else that might be going through this, thank you for your effort, you are making an impact even by being aware of those issues.

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.

Flying with anxiety

Flying triggers anxiety for many people. Airports and airplanes are stressful environments where you have to rely on others, be cautious and organized, follow a set of strict, but not always clear rules and trust others with your life and safety. Even the most resilient of us might feel nervous in places like this.

 

A big part of my anxiety is triggered by transport. Cars, subway, buses, boats, planes – you name it. I’ve had panic attacks in them all. However, I am a wandering soul, I love to travel, see the diversity of our world and the richness of different cultures. Avoiding transport is simply not an option. In fact, I strongly recommend you to face your triggers as much as possible and not let them influence the choices you make.

I can’t cure your anxiety or rid you of your fears but I hope the information I’ll share with you today will make flying easier for you.

How to pack for a camping trip

There are a lot of things to consider when preparing for a camping trip. It can feel overwhelming and stressful. That's the reason so many of us leave it to the last minute and then end up making all kinds of mistakes. In this post, I've compiled a list of things that'll help you pack more efficiently and hopefully make it less stressful.

First Aid Kit

Here is a short list of things we have in our first aid kit. Hopefully, it'll help you make yours more complete. If we forgot something that you consider a 'must', please let us know.

Camping hacks and ideas that worked wonders for us

The thing I love the most about people's diversity is their endless number of ways of doing things. Many people go camping, but everyone does it in their own unique way. You might not even realize that your "obvious" ideas might be mindblowing and incredibly useful for others.
I want this blog to be the beginning of a conversation, a way of learning from each other. Today I'm sharing a few hacks and must-haves that have worked for us on our camping adventures. I really hope some of them will be useful to you or give you an idea for something entirely different. I would also love to hear what tricks do you have up your sleeve, so feel free to share them in the comments if you feel like it.

5 eye-catching, but simple braided hairstyles

I think my love for braids is pretty evident. They look amazing and also secure your (or your little one's) hair for a long time. And the best part is - you can get super creative and make them as complex as you want.
Today I wanted to give you some ideas of little twists on hairstyles that are very simple but have this little extra to catch the eye.
Of course, knowing how to do a simple braid is essential. Knowing the Dutch one is highly encouraged as it would give you more options. Also, being able to 'guide' the braid in a curved manner will be needed for some of those, but getting a hang of it is a 5-minute thing. Other than that you'll only need your creativity and enthusiasm.

Potty training on the go

I think we can all agree that potty training is a stressful time in any family's life. It's time and energy consuming, not to mention all the pee and poop and laundry that comes with it. Therefore, it may seem daunting to travel or even go out at this delicate but crucial time.
Today I intend to convince you that you most definitely can road trip and fly and explore while potty training. Even though accidents will happen, they won't be nearly as dreadful as we expect them to be.

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.

Tips on how to study more efficiently

Last week I needed to urgently write a paper for my university on a subject that is rather hard and that I’m not that familiar with. I did a tremendous amount of work in just 4 days and got a total 100 for it. I only studied when my daughter was at school and later in the evening and still managed to write it with no problems. Today I wanted to share some of my tips about how to study efficiently, successfully and still have some time for family, fun or simply for yourself.

Genetic (and anatomical) ultrasound: pros and cons

 

Today I wanted to touch on a quite sensitive and rather controversial subject of anatomic and genetic ultrasounds. I am going to cover them both for the sake of saving your time, because, honestly, they are essentially the same thing to me.

In the nutshell, genetic ultrasound is done to find out if a baby is at an increased risk for Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities and anatomic ultrasound is meant to determine fetal abnormalities and size as well as see if everything is developing at a proper rate. Some people claim that it’s dangerous for the baby because the procedure lasts for way longer than a normal ultrasound and is meant to help your doctor see everything in great detail, therefore it is a bit stronger.

Before I jump into discussing pros and cons of this topic, I wanted to give a few warnings: I am not a doctor, so definitely don’t take my word for it and do your research. This is based on purely my opinion and is meant to help and guide someone who is not sure about it, not to force my point of view on anyone by any means.

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.

10 tips that I picked up from Montessori

It has occurred to me that lately I haven’t been able to stimulate my daughter enough. She was so eager to learn everything and I really wanted to teach her about our amazing world, but it clearly wasn’t enough. Therefore, we decided to send her to Montessori school so that trained teachers can teach her everything with proper materials and knowledge.

 

It was the best decision we have ever taken. I can not stress this enough: Montessori method is amazing! It is gentle, it considers the needs of every child individually, it is very effective and it teaches kids to be kind and polite to people around them as well as encourages them to clean after themselves and be organized.

Since for two weeks I went to school with her, I have picked up a few interesting and simple tips that actually make a huge difference in a long run. I try to mimic teacher’s behavior at home and now that I know it actually works I want to share those tips with you so that you too can have a content responsible child and eliminate both yours and your child’s stress.

7 reasons why I chose a natural delivery

Honestly, this article was the hardest one to write so far. You know how sometimes you just can’t think of the right words and you hate every sentence and begin to think that maybe it’s not such a good idea? This was the case for me, so I decided to film a video. I highly recommend you to go watch it.

A little disclaimer: I am not in any way against C-sections or epidural anesthesia. Every woman should be able to choose what she is most comfortable with and not be judged for it. This article is purely for those who are considering natural childbirth or simply curious about it and want to know why someone might choose to have an unmedicated delivery and is it actually possible to go through with it.