Perfect vacation = beautiful destination + good planning + great company

I am a little explorer! 
I love traveling, discovering new places and other cultures, eat good food and meet new different people. If you are like me you might want to read this.
 

I’ve had some great vacations so far thanks to a series of factors. I’ve also had some bad experiences as well. There might be people that might suggest you different places to visit because they liked it there, but if your gut says no, I can tell you from experience that you should follow your instinct. It knows you and your preferences. People have different tastes, different expectations and different understanding of a good vacation.  So here are a few things you need to consider when planning the perfect vacation for your own taste and without an agency’s help.

1. Choose your destination. Make sure you have a clear view on what you want to do there. Do you want to visit museums? Do you want shopping? Do you want to eat great food? Do you want to go clubbing? Do you want to sit, relax and enjoy the view? Do you want adventure? …
2. After you decide on a place for your vacation, pick people that are similar to you and that want from that vacation the same things that you want. Like in a relationship here as well you need to be compatible so it goes smooth. You don’t want to argue in a vacation that was meant to be relaxing. Make sure you don’t have too many people in the group. It is difficult to please everyone and you don’t want to babysit a bunch of grown-ups, hoping that they are grown-ups.
3.  Set a vacation budget.
4. Choose your traveling dates and check the weather in the corresponding period in the place of your destination.
5. Decide unanimously on the daily activities. Check websites on the activities you can have there and gather information on the culture and history of the area you are visiting (for example: TripAdvisor, tourism agencies recommendations, information websites and GOOGLE!).
6.  Choose your hotel according to your needs and expected comfort. Make sure it is also placed strategically so you save time and transport money. If you also want a great view then it is OK to pay a little more from my experience. It will make your vacation brighter. Check the reviews and pay attention to details, like comfort, cleanliness, location, transport and more important the food served. I used Booking.com so often that I have now a Genius account.
7. Buy plane tickets after investigating the price at various airline companies. Make sure you buy it at least 1-2 months before your holiday.
8.  Before the due date if you feel it is needed contact the hotel to give you more information on what you can do during your stay and if they can help you with the transfer from the airport to the hotel and back.
9.  A few more advices: don’t be a cheapskate or you won’t enjoy your vacation, follow your instinct, don’t be afraid to try new things, listen to the other people in your group because you are not alone and not always right, don’t be lazy, stick to the plan but spare yourself enough time to relax and enjoy. 

I hope I was able to help with my recommendations and I wish you have a great holiday!!

P.S.: Here are some pictures from two of my best vacations so far and a funny video of me paragliding (my face turned from smiley face to white face during the turns in the air):

Ölüdeniz (Blue Lagoon) - Fethiye, Turkey

Göreme - Kapadokya, Turkey

Beautiful soul

 

The most beautiful landscapes were born out of the influence of great forces. 

So is the human soul. The light shining over a broken soul can show you wonders you can't imagine. 

Inspired by the work of art of Yılmaz Erdoğan - A Butterfly's Dream

Watching this movie felt like someone poured honey over my "third-degree burns".

Trailer:

Have a Snickers?

Have a snickers?

You are an honorable person that respects the people around you, merciful but with a bad temper? Sometimes getting so angry that your voice starts to tremble from fury? Terribly courageous and won't stand injustice? Yet you know that is illegal to choke the life out of someone? Congrats you were born in the wrong century...

I respect the Japanese people and their culture. In fact I respect anyone that lives by a code of honor. If there is something like reincarnation I must have been a general or that is what I'd like to believe at least.

Expecting a lot from yourself sometimes leads to expecting the same thing from others. This and expecting to be treated as you treat others is a straight road leading to disappointment.

People do make mistakes. I sure have my share, but I try to learn from them. Should that not be the normal way? Make a mistake, learn from it and don't do it again. My greatest mistakes came from trusting some wrong people. I don't usually repeat my mistakes, but as I have learned I have a soft side that keeps telling me that people can change and can be better. Trying to shut that voice seems to not be working. Add to that equation some emotional involvement and here you have a drastic loss in objectivity. I am proud to say that I have a fair attitude towards the people around me, but I can also admit that I might not be always objective in my judgement.

Ask, investigate and then construct your opinion! This is my way of doing things. Learning as much as you can about a situation and from various sources is the only way to reach a conclusion that is closer to the truth. Sometimes the final picture that you are left with might not be of your liking, but turning your back on it because of that is not a good idea. They say that forgiveness is the attribute of the strong, but dear friends is it really a safe thing to do?

Forgiveness can be given even when the other person did not ask for it they say. My opinion is that this might not come from our strong characters, but from our own selfishness and fear of action. We lack the power to face the person that was wrong so we lie to ourselves that we are the better person. I believe that this is wrong, hypocritical and that is just another side of our own cowardliness.

So dear friends when faced with a wrong doing if you don't stand for your principles, if you lie to yourself that you need be the better person, and that you need to back off from a useless argument, remember that you only managed to just postpone it. I am not encouraging you to go crazy and start fights, I am only advising you to stand behind your principles, your way of life and thinking, and be courageous. Accept apology from the ones that ask for it, give forgiveness to the ones that deserve and confront the ones that show that they have not learned the lesson of respect and honor. Those that show no signs of remorse or a will to listen even after this don't deserve to be in your presence so make sure you don't waste any more of your efforts and show them the door out of your life (don't choke that person it is illegal!!).

Be fair, treat people and yourself with respect, live honorably, don't run away from problems and make sure you don't get fooled by a Snickers :)).

My answer to the question from the title is: No, thanks!

Are you still human?

Are you still human? 

Or are you broken?

You feel more sympathy for characters in a movie than for the human next to you. You can’t see the person, but you see what shirt he wears or what skirt she has. You see him/her as an object of your own satisfaction, but not as he/she deserves. Can you see the sadness in his eyes? Can you hear the tremble in her voice? How the crosses his arms when he feels threatened or hear her soul pouring out of her when she speaks? 

You became superficial. Why care? Why bother to see further than what your eyes can perceive?  Many of you are choosing the shortest road that answers to your current state of need.

I can see people be more responsible in their work, but not in their personal life? Which is more important to you? Your career or the people that care for you? You believe you are a professional in your line of field so you think you are better than others, yet you run off when confronted with a naked human soul? So you managed to move horizontally from point (x, 0) to (x+1, 0)? Good for you! … You did not evolve at all on the emotional level.

When a person is showing you his/hers weaknesses remember to not take him/her for a broken toy that you throw away because it is cheaper to just get another one than fixing it. Would you like to be treated that way? When a person shows you his/hers weaknesses you should know that you already received the greatest gift that he/she had to give to you except love and that is trust! You have been blessed and yet you choose to see it as a burden that you want to get rid of.

Are you afraid of yourself? When was the last time you actually had a talk with yourself? You used to have feelings but you chose to ignore them because they are more difficult to handle than a piece of paper or a work related question. You don’t have a master degree in that field and you are afraid of failing. You hate when others are not as afraid of themselves as you are. You think you know it all. You think they are weak so you need to make them see it as you see it so you break them until their state fits your resolution of them. Nothing hurts more than having your trust cheated by the person that you showed your inner self to. They were not broken, you just made them feel broken. 

Congratulations you just temporarily won over the “human condition”. That is what you might think. Actually you managed to clear the space around you of trust and love. You are now a disappointment in other people's eyes. You are so alone. You will keep on repeating the ritual with all the people entering your life until no one sincere will want to approach you. 

You all have a choice in life. You can chose to be happy and surrounded by people that care for you or you can just sink in your own miserable victory over humanity.

Objects have a price and a short life, while there is nothing more precious than a human soul that can also stick with you for their entire life. Would you put a price on your life? If not then don’t put a price on other’s life. 

Use objects and care for people.