#45daysofblogging 41: the magic of chocolate

Day 41 - September 27

This post in going to be a chatty one again.

Yesterday we celebrated two special occasions - I finally finished everything regarding our Human Library project and my friend Anna finished performing in Madame Butterfly. 

So what is the best way to celebrate something? To bake a cake, of course. So that's what we did. She came over to my apartment, we put that famous brownie from 45daysofblogging - day 6 in the oven and just chatted on the kitchen until it was ready. Then one more friend came over and we spend the whole evening on my balcony - speaking, eating brownie and just enjoying our own company.

It was a perfect evening - it didn't take any effort or even preparation (this brownie cooks itself), but it was much more enjoyable and comforting than any big party would be. 

And once again I thought about simple joys of life... Since I first moved to Palermo, I've noticed that I forgot about my typical weekend program I tend to follow in Kyiv (normally sleeping, eating, watching TV-show and then sleeping again). In Palermo I started respecting my evenings, weekends and free mornings so much more - I always try to take the most out of them and spend more time with the people I love. And something as easy as a bar of chocolate turned into a brownie can be a great reason to see your friends and have a nice simple evening together. 

This is the magic of chocolate. Of a cup of coffee and a cornetto on a balcony on sunny weekend morning. Of cooking and eating together. Of being a tourist for a day in your own city - take a guide tour, enter the places you never had time to visit, send a postcard to your distant friends. To go out for lunch and take a walk in the sun afterwards. Invite your friends for a movie night. Make a crepe party and ask people to bring they favorite condiments. 

Just be creative and open to new ideas. Spend time with friends and loved ones. Make surprises. Take opportunities. Catch any interesting experience. Travel to the next city. And just enjoy!

See you.

#45daysofblogging 02: using the best things you have

Day 2 - August 19

Welcome to the chatty day 2!

Today’s post was supposed to be dedicated to the one-day trip to Helsingborg that I’ve mentioned yesterday. But this morning, as I was making my breakfast, an unopened pack of coffee made me think about another topic I really want to address. So there’s a slight change of plans (I promise, I will explain the coffee later).

As my blog is dedicated not only to travels or fashion, I’ve wrote quite a few pieces on minimalism before. To me using your best things is one of the key ideas of minimalism and happier life.

My trusty WEARdrobe - 9 items that survived three moves between countries and continents

Growing up, I've always wanted to be a world traveler. You know, one of those people that can casually drop something like: "I bought this shawl from an old lady on the souk in Marrakesh, and used it as a blanket on my trip to Amazonian jungles". Okay, let’s just admit - I desperately wanted to be cool and mysterious. 

Now, after living in different countries, travelling around and having quite a few adventures, I feel like a giant dork, when people ask me where I bought, for example, my gray scarf. Because yes, technically I bought it in the mountains of Northern Thailand after negotiating the price via a calculator for a while. And yes, I used it as a blanket in a bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap, because they are always overly air-conditioned. But all this seemingly charming ambiance doesn't change the fact that I could've bought the same factory-made scarf in a mall in Kyiv. 

So this post is not about the romantic flair of travelling and finding gems in jungles. I would love it to be about rationality and sustainability, about choosing the right amount of trusty functional things that can serve you throughout many years, places and moves. 

In my opinion nothing tests the quality of clothes better than traveling or moving into a different country with it. When you are living at home, you most probably have quite a stash of clothes and your own washing machine, that doesn’t tear the holes in the fabric. But living out of a suitcase means wearing and washing everything you own three, four, five, ten times more often than before, and not many pieces will survive this.

When I moved to Thailand, I had a very, VERY limited wardrobe of 20 items (not including shoes) that occupied not more than 1/3 of my suitcase. You can see the amount of clothes I had back then if you will follow the link, but I can only describe that “WEARdrobe” as “two of each” – two pairs of shorts, two t-shirts, two skirts, two dressy tops (never worn any of them)… 

When I was moving to Italy for the first time, I was already more experienced in living out of a suitcase. But at the same time I was facing a new task. I needed to bring clothes for 9 months and every occasion – for summer and winter, for office and free time, for hiking and going to the beach. (spoiler alert – I managed!)

This time I landed on Sicily with the same trusty backpack and a standard plastic suitcase, and this time my task was even more interesting – I was packing for at least three years. And as I was unpacking in my tiny dorm room in Palermo, I realized one thing – there are items that were with me through all of these moves, came with me to Sicily for the second time and still didn’t let me down.

I counted 9 wardrobe pieces that were with me in Thailand, during my volunteering in Palermo and are still with me now, when I started my PhD experiences. So it’s time to meet my trusty friends: 

Thank you, Thailand!

Facebook memories reminded me that right about this time three years ago I moved to Chiang Mai and was in the process of adapting to my new life - trying out new food, discovering the city on a rented pink bicycle and having mango shakes for breakfast.

When I think about that period of my life, I feel so many mixed emotions. It was one of the craziest experiences ever, and I have to be honest - it didn't go that smoothly in the beginning. Moving to another part of the world all on your own is not easy sometimes, especially if you're moving with lots of hopes, dreams and fears.

That's why I'm writing this post to say thank you to this amazing country. Thank you, Thailand!

Thank you for being so beautiful, happy and welcoming!