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May 30, 2018 Lifestyle

Pick to Pack: What Tops to Bring for a Woman’s Travel

Travelling is an exciting thing to do; it’s something one looks forward to. It is actually a dream that probably everyone has. Travelling, however, has costs too, and one of the challenging things about it is packing clothes.

In packing clothes before you travel, it is important to bring only the necessary clothes so that you wouldn’t have to carry a lot and bring excess garments in your luggage. You surely don’t want to stress yourself out with bulky bags overloaded with those clothes as you travel.

T-shirt

Let’s start with the basics. Take with you easy-to-pair t-shirts so you can just mix and match them with any other clothes anytime, anywhere and in any weather. You can also consider bringing shirts with a variety of designs and styles. You can bring shirts which are printed, plain and patterned so you can have a lot of options. You may never know if you’ll feel like wearing something bright or if you’ll have to wear something of smart casual.

Jacket

Jackets may be space-consuming, but you wouldn’t lose anything by bringing them just to be sure. Surely, there will be places where the temperature is low, and you’ll need to bring a jacket so you’ll regret not. They’re also stylish especially if you’re not into showing much skin. Some countries wherein you’ll be travelling may also be too sunny so wearing a jacket, although it’s hot, will also protect your skin from getting burnt and damaged.

Tube

There may be clothes which have plunging necklines. A tube is very friendly in such circumstances especially if you’re engaging in physical activities and adventures during your travel. They can be used as inner garments for see-through tops as well. They can be worn as is also depending on the thickness of the cloth.

Cardigans

You can put on cardigans for sleeveless tops or sleeveless dresses. They can also be an alternative for jackets and sweaters, without covering the front body, still showcasing your beautiful outfit’s look. Some places which you might visit like museums and historical places might not allow clothes which are too revealing or skin-showing-off, so cardigans may be used to cover yourself just in case you’re wearing a sleeveless to the place.

Sleeveless tops

They’re ideal for warm weather and can be worn plainly or with a cardigan or a jacket. These tops can be used as inner garments too if you’re not too comfortable with wearing tubes since tubes don’t have straps and have the tendency to get dispositioned on your body. These are ideal if you’ll be sunbathing in famous beaches and resorts in your destinations. If you don’t want to wear a swimsuit, you can consider wearing sleeveless tops partnered with swim shorts.

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As a woman, there probably are a lot of clothes you’d want to put in your travel bag. This is a common challenge for anyone, especially for women. You may need to consider a lot of factors like the weather and the activities that await you as you travel. You can’t just put in your bags clothes that seem fashionable or good for picture-taking. Always remember that what happens off-cam is much more important than what’s there seen in the online world.

Top 5 Reasons Why Street Art is Important

In the last couple of years, I have come to appreciate street art. I now go out of my way to see street art and even go on street art walking tours if they are offered. There are so many reasons why people love street art and why it is becoming more popular or important for people from all walks of life. Street art is an important part of history and identity for many metropolises, and sometimes even has the ability to breathe life into communities.

People are starting to accept that the creative and talented people involved are seen as artists, not vandals. And that their work, however ‘urban’, is still worthy of being considered art. People are becoming more open-minded to urban and street art and appreciating where this art form has come from.

Here are the top reasons why Street art is important and why you should love street art.

1. Street art is freedom and diversity

Art is about expression, creativity, freedom, asking and raising questions, protesting, analyzing, and even beautifying. A way to step beyond convention. There’s freedom with putting work in the street. You don’t even need to be considered a ‘legitimate’ artist; don’t need to have thousands of fans, have a huge social media presence, be taken seriously by galleries, or be picked up by an artist agency. all over the world.

Street art is a very diverse form of expression for people from all over the world. There are street artists in nearly every country in the world who are influenced and inspired by a multitude of cultures and styles. This has resulted in a wide and diverse body of urban or street art found all over the world.

2. Mystery & Intrigue

There are so many questions when you’re a street art lover! Who did it? Why did someone put this work there? What does it mean? Does it even mean anything?

But with the invention of Instagram, it’s now easier than ever to find artists’ official profiles and learn more about their work and why they do what they do. But a lot of street artists prefer to remain anonymous or use aliases for both privacy and legal reasons. There are also still artists who don’t even tag their work so the intrigue and mystery live on.

3. Political or Social Statements

Graffiti and street art have always had a history of being influenced by the present political and social issues. A lot of people have painted on the walls and buildings in their cities as a form of anonymous political protest.

Some political statements are quite controversial; scrawled illegally and boldly in various countries and for various reasons. When people feel they have no power or influence but want to express their anger, hatred or defiance towards political injustice, this kind of art happens. But it is still a peaceful kind of protest.

4. Colourful surroundings = Happier Life

Art in the street makes people happy and can cheer them up. Street art makes their day and their commute more interesting and adds character to what would otherwise just be grey and boring. Art reminds people to feel alive. It’s there to beautify a space. It wakes people up, inspires and motivates them. And sometimes it can make people think.

It may have some broader social commentary, or just be there to bring some chaos to the establishment. Street art takes the ‘normal’ and makes it a thousand times more interesting. Even if you live in poverty, there’s something about bright colors and beautiful art that seems to fill the area with a contagious, buoyant optimism.

May 24, 2018 Lifestyle

The emerging trend of mobile apps in travel and tourism industry – Why Mobile Apps are becoming increasingly popular in the industry?

In the modern world, the rise of mobile apps and social media has transformed every industry and travel industry is no exception!

Mobile apps have certainly evolved the way we used to travel around the world. Today, mobile apps for travel and tourism have become an integral part of the industry, facilitating customers to communicate and navigate in a highly interactive manner. These apps are able to help customers get first-hand reviews about hotels and locations, book their seats at hotels as well as in cases for cars and buses. In fact, with the rise of AI, they are actually serving as virtual tour guides for tourists to better interact with their surroundings (Google new maps is a great example of what we can expect at travelling in future).

Mobile travel apps are certainly handy utility tools for smartphone users. These are great to locate best travel resources as well as organize and plan the entire trip. That’s why it is no surprise as we see the skyrocketing demand and success of mobile apps for the travel industry.

Let’s look at some crazy statistics for travel and tourism industry.

According to Statista, the tourism and travel industry is estimated to generate over $17 billion revenue by 2020. In fact, travel and tourism industries are one of the largest industries in terms of revenue generated globally. The global revenue for travel and tourism accounts to over 7.6 trillion US dollars in 2016. Almost all travellers carry a smartphone and thus mobile apps provided an ideal opportunity for the industry to offer better facilities to customers. Today, the mobile apps have become a staple for travel and tourism industry that offer one-stop solutions for all travellers and tourists.

Here are some interesting facts from mobile apps for tourism and travel industry.

Around 15% of global users use travel and tourism mobile apps to plan and book a trip ahead.
Mobile apps for travel and tourism ranks at 7th spot in terms of most number of downloads
More than 30% of travellers prefer mobile apps to search for flight tickets and hotels

And now, let’s see some benefits of mobile apps for travel and tourism industry.

– Marketing Tools

Digital marketing is a compulsion for all businesses across sizes and trades. Mobile apps provide an ideal platform for businesses to project and market directly to global customers. These apps are helping the industry to stay connected with travellers across the globe and market their services in the most interactive way.

– Travel Bookings

Mobile apps in tourism industry — Image credit-pixabay

Perhaps the best advantage of mobile apps is their potency to offer easy bookings to travellers. From hotel bookings to rental cars, trains or buses, mobile apps offer an unlimited facility to travellers and tourists to plan and manage the trip ahead of time. Furthermore, the intense competition in mobile apps category also helps travellers to get some great discounts and incentives for their hotel bookings. Many mobile apps also offer users the platform to completely plan and customize their journey and add as many booking as they want including some special trips or sightseeing bookings.

Oh, you can also check out the complete weather update from the mobile apps, this is especially helpful if you are planning for a high-mountain resort with high expectations of rain or extreme weather changes.

– Easy Transactions

You can complete all transactions through online payment mode. Mobile apps offer you one-stop solution to book, pay and manage all transactions from one platform, without having to undergo any paperwork or without bothering to manage tickets or other paper documents.

– Explore the destination

It’s always exciting to see your destination in advance. Mobile apps offer complete real-life pictures of all travel destinations, along with reviews and ratings. This gives an excellent opportunity for travellers to plan and customize their trip in line with reviews and ratings from other customers.

– Discounts and Incentives

There is a strict competition in terms of mobile apps for travel and tourism industry. With thousands of apps battling to dominate the industry, you can expect some crazy and amazing discounts and incentives when booking with mobile apps. The discounts range from hotel bookings to discounts in airfares and even some complimentary services, absolutely free of charge.

Take away:

Tourism and travel industry has become one of the largest industries will trillion dollars annual revenue. However, the success of the industry is heavily influenced by the ever-increasing number of mobile apps, offering better, faster and reliable services to travellers.

The use of mobile apps for bookings and travel planning is increasing annually and the intense competition in the industry isn’t just beneficial for the industry itself, rather it also offers great benefits and incentives to travellers.

May 12, 2018 Lifestyle

13 reasons you didn’t know about Mother’s Day

It was all started by a mum, of course. Ann Reeves Jarvis arranged Mothers’ Friendship Day in West Virginia back in the 1860s, and she had a surprisingly serious purpose. A social activist (and mother of 13), Jarvis hoped the special day would quiet the seething animosity between the Union and Confederate soldiers, in addition to their families and neighbours, at the end of the American Civil War.

Story of Anna Jarvis- Mother's Day — The story of Anna Jarvis -The First Mothers Day, History, Origin
Image courtesy-Pinterest

2. Her daughter took it very seriously too. After Ann Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter, Anne M. Jarvis, made it her mission to take Mother’s Day national. Anna never had kids, but you could say Mother’s Day was her baby. She campaigned for years against what she saw as its commercialization, from candy to store-bought cards to a 1934 postage stamp. “If the American people are not willing to protect Mother’s Day from the hordes of money schemers that would overwhelm it with their schemes, then we shall cease having a Mother’s Day, she wrote.

3. Tommy loved his mommy. It was President Thomas Woodrow Wilson (Tommy to his family) who made Mother’s Day a national holiday in 1914, 26 years after his mother’s death. “I remember how I clung to her (a laughed-at-mamma’s boy) till I was a great big fellow”, Wilson wrote in a letter to his wife, “but a love of the best womanhood came to me and entered my heart through those apron-strings.”

4. The French once gave medals to their mothers. After their enormous losses in World War I, more than 4 percent of the population was killed- the French were desperate to build the country. So, the government celebrated Mother’s Day in 1920 by presenting a woman who had five children with a bronze medal. Mothers of eight got silver and those with ten- or more! – got the gold.

Mother's Day France — Mother’s Day in France – Médaille de la Famille Française
Image credit- https://girlgonegallic.com

5. In Mexico, it starts with a bang- and a strum and a toot. Dia de las Madres (which is always on 10 May) is one of the biggest holidays south of the US border for restaurants-and for mariachi bands. Because of the high demand, families often hire a band month in advance to perform just for Mum, and children rouse her in the morning with the traditional song ‘Las Mananitas’ as a precursor of the show to come.

6. Expect a crowd at the restaurant. More people eat at restaurants on Mother’s Day than on any other day of the year, with 92 million Americans dining out with Mum. (The second busiest day: Valentine Day)

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7. Or you could just call her. Mother’s Day is also the busiest day of the year for phone traffic in countries all around the globe.

8. You can never go wrong with a bouquet of carnations. Americans spent $2.4 billion on flowers on Mother’s Day in 2016 (compared with $792 million on cards). Carnations are the traditional bloom of choice for Mum (even Anna Jarvis sent them). In case you are wondering whether you’re a big enough spender, the average Mother’s Day bouquet goes for $29.

9. She is definitely worth the money. Insure.com’s Mother’s Day Index estimates that it would cost $67,619 a year to hire someone to do all the household tasks that mum does for free cooking and cleaning. That’s about as much as the average accountant or chiropractor makes.

10. This mother deserves a hand (and a nap). India’s Daljinder Kaur was believed to be in her early 70s when she gave birth to a bouncing baby boy on 19 April 2016. Daljinder and her 79-year-old husband, Mohinder Singh Gill, spent decades trying to have a baby- and finally succeeded after saving up enough money for fertility treatments.

11. Becoming a future mum is good for your brain. Pregnancy not only alters a woman’s skin and hair but may also affect her brain. According to a small 2010 study published by the American Psychological Association, the changes include a small but significant increase for grey matter in the parts of the brain responsible for sensory perception, reasoning and judgement. These changes may play a role in shaping maternal behaviour and motivation in the development of higher cognitive function.

12. She’s got the same name in every mother tongue. Babies in nearly every country on the planet speak the word mama in almost the same way.

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13. But don’t accuse her of smothering you. Of the mother lode of words will mother as their root, perhaps the most recent is motherhood: the main circuit of a computer. A surprise to some is that smother doesn’t come from the same source- no matter how much you think it’s in your mum’s DNA.

Source- Lauren Cahn and Caroline Fanning –Reader’s Digest May 2018