Buying presents on a budget

I find it challenging to buy presents for my friends and family members. Firstly because I always want to find something unique, something that will let that person know I care about them, so I put extra thought into picking up a present. The second reason is that I am always short on money so expensive gifts are really not my style. 

I like something simple and meaningful, so over the years I stumbled across wonderful ideas that I would love to share with you. 

A jar of notes is the most personal and I’ve felt really good after giving it to one of my friends, especially because a month after I gave it to them, I was still getting text messages about how it made their day. 

So what is a jar of notes?

Simple. It’s a jar filled with notes for a person you are giving it to. I chose three different colours of paper I was writing them on; pink, blue and white. Pink paper had quotes written on them, blue had things I like about that person and white were random thoughts (for example what movie I recommend or a simple joke). I wrote about fifty of those things and put them into a jar. On the lid I pasted an envelope with a letter that explained what the jar contained and that they should take out one note per day. 

With that I managed to do something personal, original and made sure they got something out of my present for the next fifty days. 

Baking something is the ultimate winner for me. It shows that you put some effort into the present and it’s always nice to get something delicious for a present. Sometimes baking can be underrated but I promise you it is a lovely gift. 

Buying with a group is a very common thing and most of the presents I give are bought with a group of friends. This allows you to buy something that is more expensive, but it’s also great if your schedule is busy because you can just chip in money for the present. Presents that are bought like that are usually more memorable since you can afford to buy concert tickets for their favourite band or a ticket for an adrenaline park or three day holiday in a spa. So overall it’s always a good purchase when you are buying a present together with other people. 

I hope this gives you a few ideas on what you can get for your friend. Remember that a present doesn’t have to be expensive to be meaningful and personal!

Sleeping tips

There is a bunch of things in life that I cherish and on the top of the list is sleeping, purely because I never get enough of it. In the last years I’ve had the worst sleeping habits. I am not able to fall asleep, I wake up in the middle of the night and the worst of all I have constant nightmares. 

Since I know how frustrating it can get I decided to share a few of my sleeping tips. Before starting I would like to remind you that I am no professional and that this may not help you with your sleeping problems. Everything in this article are just personal preferences, things that help me and it could be completely different for you, because your body may function differently from mine, so there is a possibility this won’t help you.

Use up your energy. For me this is one of the most important ones, because I figured if my body is absolutely exhausted I have more chances of falling asleep right away and not having any nightmares. So I would advise you to take up jogging, go to a gym or just meet with your friends to play soccer. Literally any sports activity helps!

Cut out sugar. Sugar tends to raise your energy level so try to cut out thing like chocolate and any sweets in general. If you are consuming energy drinks or caffeine make sure to stop drinking them because they could be the reason for your sleepless nights.  

Eating before bed time is probably the worst thing you can do, especially if you are having nightmares. If your stomach aches while you are sleeping the pain can transform into nightmares that will eventually wake you up.

Using electronic devices before going to bed is not advisable as well. I read that social networks such as Facebook and Tumblr use colour blue for their background because it’s the colour of sky and it tricks your brain into thinking it’s still daylight outside. So I would recommend you to grab a book instead of sitting behind the computer screen or watching a television.  

These are the things that help me and I hope that they will help you as well because not being able to sleep can really affect your body. If you are having serious sleeping problems then I would advise you to pay a visit to a doctor. Sleep tight!

Airbnb review

About a month ago I had no idea what Airbnb is, but then my aunt invited me to go to London with her and said that she rented a room on Airbnb. My immediate response was: “On what?”

Airbnb is an online website that allows people to rent out lodging in over 192 countries. 

People who have unused rooms in their homes can create an account on Airbnb and open their homes to people all around the world. Of course there are a lot of things that you worry about when you decide to do something like that, but I must say that my experience was wonderful.

We arrived in London at about one in the morning and had to get a taxi from the airport to the house that we were staying at. The house looked lovely when we stood outside and rang the bell. We were both very anxious when no one answered the door, thinking we had been fooled and we would have to find a hotel at one in the morning, but it turned out that our host had just fellen asleep. 

She was really nice, very communicative and gave us a very warm welcome. She even left some water in our room if we wanted to make a cup of tea before going to bed. Our room was overlooking the garden they had behind their house. In the morning we were greeted by the sun shining through our window and the smell of breakfast from downstairs. 

Our host showed us around the house that morning and even let us see two chickens they had in the backyard. She made us breakfast, and later took us to the underground with her car, just to show us where it is. 

Later that week she took us to the train station when we were running late for Harry Potter Studio tour, but that’s another story. 

To sum up, even if you are sceptical about going somewhere with Airbnb I’d say it’s worth a shot. Just make sure you look through reviews the person has on the website. Overall my experience was wonderful! I met some amazing people, got to practice my English and was lucky enough to see how people really live in London. Airbnb gives you a chance to really see people’s habits and the way of living all over the world.  

Meeting new people

We all follow certain social rules that we learn while growing up and living as a social beings. Those rules tell us what is acceptable and what is not, but I have always had a hard time deciding if something is acceptable or not. 

I feel like we are all pushed into society and told to start forming friendships and connections that we might use later on in life.

Yet there is one thing that constantly bothers me and that’s meeting new people. In my opinion it is acceptable to be introduced to someone by a mutual friend, it is okay to start a conversation if you are going to the same school or you both participate in an organised free time activity, but it seems weird to walk up to a complete stranger just to start a conversation.

Honestly, it could be just me. Maybe I am the only one that feels like that’s not acceptable way to make friends. And I  have also never heard my friends say something among the lines ‘we met when they passed by and I started a conversation,’ while introducing me to someone. It’s always someone they know from their childhood or school or trainings. 

I wish things would be different because I have seen so many strangers that looked like someone I would love to be friends with.

For example, last year I kept seeing a girl on my way home. We would always smile at each other, but never stopped to say hi and start a conversation. So for one year I would look forward to seeing her and every day I promised myself that I would start a conversation, but it never happened. Then summer came, and with new school year I assume both of our schedules changed so I don’t see her anymore. To this day I still wish I had enough courage to walk up to her and introduce myself because she seemed like a friendly person and let’s be honest, it’s always good to have a friend.

What are your thoughts on it? Have you ever started a conversation with someone who smiled at you on the street and maybe even become friends with them?

How to spice up your life

I feel that everyone gets to a certain point in their life when things slowly crumble then fall apart. You lose your motivation, you don’t have anything to look forward to anymore and your life becomes one long lazy day that you cannot get out of. 

It can be frustrating. 

So what to do when you get stuck at that point in your life? How to keep moving forward? How to get through a day without feeling you accomplished nothing?

You can either push yourself without a particular goal, hoping to find your motivation the same way you lost it - in a heartbeat, or you can make a bucket list.

The bucket list in general is defined as a list of things to do before you die. The sound of it is a bit strange at first. It sounds a bit like something teenagers or young adults would put together to justify their irresponsible decisions. 

Let me tell you that a bucket list doesn’t have to be like that. It can be whatever you set it out to be. You can make it calm and aim to live relaxed, but fulfilled life or adventurous, full once in a life time chances and adrenaline. It is all up to you and your imagination because life can take you anywhere you want. 

Seriously, do not beat yourself up with things that are almost impossible to achieve. The bucket list can simply be ‘sleep under the stars’ or ‘learn how to play the guitar’ or even just ‘make someone happy’. You see, bucket list is something that will keep you going when you wake up in the morning and think: “Oh no! Another day! What’s the point of getting out of bed?” 

The whole point of a bucket list is setting out a goal that makes you value each day and greet it with excitement because maybe today is the day that you are going to cross skydiving off of your bucket list. What’s great about it is that most of the time it doesn’t include pressure or deadline, it is all up to you. 

With the bucket list everyday is a new opportunity.  

Raised into cheaters

Modern society seems to look up to one goal when bringing up a child and that’s making them successful. 

Wanting your child to succeed, to provide for themselves and their family is okay, but not when success becomes all that matters. Not when it becomes okay to break the rules and walk over people so that a person can reach their goal. 

The pressure of being a successful individual is put on a person at a very young age. It seems to be a common belief that grades determine your value as a human being. However, grades cannot show your abilities to work with people, your character or even your knowledge. People are willing to take a risk and cheat in an exam to get a better grade, rather than challenging their mind, expanding their knowledge and simply learn about things that could help them later on. 

Go ahead, call me old fashioned, but I strongly believe that school shouldn’t be just about passing. It should be about learning and discovering new passions.

These thoughts were triggered when I saw a few boys in school taking shortcuts when we had to run. It seemed bizarre to me because we run for ourselves, to get in shape, to push our body to the limits, to see what we are capable of. 

So, because of my beliefs I made a promise to myself when starting high school a year and a half ago; no cheating in exams, no shortcuts and I’m proud to say I am sticking to it. I am proud to say that I have achieved everything with hard work and dedication. 

Some of my friends roll their eyes at me and tell me I am a prude for not using cheat sheets. They often suggest that I should use it when I cannot get certain information in my head, so I nod along, smile politely and think to myself that I am not the one who’s losing here.  

The worst of all is that people will always find a way to bypass the rules, find a shortcut or do something morally wrong because it is not forbidden. 

Now I am asking you. Is it worth cheating in life? Is it worth taking an easy way even though you are only cheating yourself in the end?

I know my answer. Do you?

The Maze Runner: book vs movie

The Maze Runner is a quickly growing franchise based on a novel by Josh Dashner. It’s one of those young-adult fiction that is located in dystopia. It became popular with the release of the movie, which features some of the best young adult actors such as Dylan O’Brien, Thomas Sangster and Will Poulter. 

But because the movie ends with a cliffhanger, I decided to read the book as well, hoping to get more information about what is going on. The writer took part in making of the movie, so I expected a bunch of similarities and very few changes, but I was surprised by the difference. 

The basic story is that Thomas, a teenager, finds himself in the centre of a giant maze without any memory whatsoever, only to be welcomed by other boys into a community that seems to be living in the maze. Soon he becomes a Runner (=a person who runs around the maze, mapping and memorising it), but that’s when trouble starts. He triggers strange events, leading to finding the solution of how to escape. When they get out, they are faced with the real world and the reason why they were put into a maze, making them question their own existence. 

So there is a question: Is it better to read a book or watch a movie?

I’m a big supporter of reading the book first, yet in this case I watched the movie before even opening a book. The movie has a lot of action in it, lots of guys trying to prove themselves, a lot of rushed decisions and it’s perfect for the big screen because of the constant tension. It has a gripping plot, just enough mystery to keep you thinking about it and a cliffhanger that makes you go insane. 

The book, on the other hand, is much more deliberate. Events that take place are there for a reason and nobody rushes into anything, because they realise their lives depend on it. Compared to a movie it is much more intelligent; from how they live in the glade to how they figure out the way out of the maze. In the book they truly are geniuses, like they are supposed to be, while in the movie they just seem like hormonal teenage boys who constantly argue. 

To sum it up, if you read the book first you will build up your expectations and be disappointed. However, if you watch the movie first, the book will fill you in on things they left out. So my advice is to do both, read the book and watch the movie, because each of them is unique and has touching moments in it that you don’t want to miss.