Life of Barbie: All the good things about Summertime

Now that I am living in Hawaii again for a while, I remember what are the best things about living somewhere, where it is summer all the time:

1. Feeling like you are on holiday, although you are not! 
2. Drinking cocktails at happy hour time, because you are on holiday ….. or not? 🙂
3. Never wearing shoes. I am a girl, who doesn`t like wearing high heels or winter boots for half of the year. So it is paradise for me walking with flip flops the whole day or barefoot on the beach.
4. Having wet hear nearly all the time. Never using a hair dryer or even worse a flat iron, but always have a nice hairstyle.
5. Looking so good without make-up , because of the nice tan on my face!
6. Starting the day outside at 7 am with a run or yoga or just a walk with my coffee and finishing the day outside at around 10 pm with a walk while eating ice cream or frozen yogurt.
7. Being in such a good body shape because of so much activity during the whole day. You have so much energy here, that there is no other option than being active.
8. Happy, smiling and laughing people everywhere!
9. Every house or block of flats has a pool. I am particularly lucky with a pool and jacuzzi at the roof top (33 floor) :-).
10. Walking next to people with a surf board under their arm like at home people walk with their skis on their shoulder.
11. And for sure the ocean … the ocean is always overwhelming me. By looking at the ocean I get so many good new thoughts every day.

I would like to share some of them with you:

1. Life is not always how you plan it. Change is inevitable, so don`t fight it, welcome and embrace it.
2. Letting go can be scary, but try it! You will like it.
3. It’s totally OK to be by yourself, alone; sometimes you need time on your own to grow.
4. Silence is so important in life and has a big power.
5. Just be who you are! Stop trying to fit in by adapting or hiding yourself and your happiness.

Life of Barbie: Changes in life

After one year living and working again in Innsbruck as a business economist I decided to go on holiday for three weeks to Hawaii (where else J) just to escape the winter and to meet old friends. But eventually this short holiday trip turns out to be a trip that changes my whole life.

My first thought at the airport in Honolulu was, that  the whole last year I didn`t realise how much I missed the Aloha spirit.

 

I lied to myself always saying „I am happy to be in Innsbruck again“, „I like what I am doing at home“. And also if I say it every day, it won`t become true, because my heart feels differently. „It is like you paint over a wet moldy wall with color“ (Robert Betz). And this is exactly how I felt last year. For sure I enjoy my life, I am healthy, I have very good friends to have fun with and great parents, I have a good job, I have enough to eat and enough money to buy nice things. So everyone will ask me and I actually ask myself, why are you not really happy? It seems like whenever I am travelling and somewhere else (not just in Hawaii, also in Paris, in Italy, ….) I am a happy person and in Austria I am a normal person. Here I don`t have the sparkle in the eyes as I have in Hawaii or in Paris or …… So what is it, that makes me feel different?

It can`t be Austria or Innsbruck, because it is nice to live here. Is it just because I am on holiday and life is easy? For sure it is not hard work to ride my lovely beachcruiser J,

play beachvolleyball till sunset,

go snorkeling,

go out with friends drinking good wine, ….. and for sure when you are happy you meet other happy people, you meet nice men. By the way, that`s really funny, because always when I leave home it usually just takes me two days to become acquainted with an interesting charming man and at home I didn`t even meet one the whole last year (Editor´s note: So true!!!). It`s not, that there aren`t any, I just don`t see them at home. So I realized during this trip, it is not about the people or men, it is more about me, who I am, how I behave differently when I am not at home.

All those personal findings raised one question. What do I want in life and what makes me happy? It was the first time I thought about this not including a man. All the time when I was in a relaionship – like the last time in Hawaii, when I tried so hard to find a job there, so that we could stay together – I focused so much on the relationship that I completely forgot about myself. So now that I start concentrating on me I see all those different opportunities that life brings. There is just one question left: „Do I want to change my life now and try do do something day after day that makes me happy?“

I answered the question with „YES“ and from that moment on everything went by itself. Whatever I did, to whom I ever spoke to, it always ended with a new opportunity what I could do in life. For example I just went to a massage school in Honolulu to get a nice Lomilomi massage to do something good for me, and at the end I enrolled at the Hawaiian massage academy to learn Lomilomi, Hawaiian hot stone massage, etc. And why? Because I was always interested in it, I get a new education, I have the chance to stay in Hawaii again for a while, …. and why not? J Then I spoke to friends and immediately I had an apartment to stay in.

It all ended up with a plan for a whole year of new studies in the health and wellness field, moving to Hawaii for some time and then moving to Vienna. I am passionate about this education and I would love to do that work day after day. Three weeks of holiday and a clear „YES“ from myself opened new doors for me to do my own thing.

So sometimes –  to calm down for a short time to think about your past, present and future,  listening to your heart, a clear „YES“ and for sure also a bit courage and luck, can change your whole life.

 

„Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.“

Ferris Bueller

Life of Barbie : Aloha Hawaii!

Ladies and Gentleman,

please welcome guest blogger Barbie!

“Applause”

Aloha is the spiritual key and signifies the sentiments of affection, sympathy, kindness and love. And this is exactly what you can feel everywhere in Hawaii.

When I talk to people here  (Innsbruck) about Hawaii, I always realize that they don`t know a lot about the island on the other side of the world. And this is already the first misconception. Hawaii is not one island, Hawaii is the longest chain of islands in the world, consisting of 8 islands.

The five main islands are: OÀHU with the biggest city Honolulu  and the most famous place Waikiki. BIG ISLAND, the largest one, is still building up due to volcanic action. MAUI, the 2nd largest,  KAUA`I also called „Garden Isle“ (my favourite one J) and  MOLOKA`I. By the way the first European land on western Kaua`i on January 20, 1778. It was Captain James Cook, on his third voyage. He sighted Oàhu in the Hawaiin chain first, but adverse winds drove his ships westward, bringing him to land on Kaua`i. The other 3 islands NI`IHAU, LANA`I and KAHO`OLAWE are not visited that much, which doesn`t mean that they are not as beautiful as the others.

What I love so much about Hawaii is that life happens to nearly 100% outdoor. The temperature is always mild, even warm. It`s never cold and never hot  – sunny skies, balmy breezes, gentel surf –    that´s what´s to expect.  So it is perfect for sightseeing, swimming, sunning on the beach, hula dancing, beachvolleyball, running, surfing, scuba diving and a lot of other exciting things, like doing a color run with friends and great  and crazy people (http://www2.thecolorrun.com/hawaii/).

Paradoxically the wettest spot on earth is also in Hawaii (Mount Wai`ale`ale on Kaua`i).

When I start talking about the beaches on Hawaii, I think I will never come to an end, lol. For sure there are 8 islands, so you can imagine how many beautiful beaches you will find there. The great thing is, that on every island you find beaches with different attractions. So I will just mention some of them on Oàhu, where I used to stay most of the time. But don`t forget, this is just a small selction:

For sure there is Waikiki Beach, the most famous and most visited one. Definitly not my favourite, because I don`t like lying towel on towel. This beach is crowded the whole year. Hanauma Bay is another tourist attraction and a snorkle paradise. On the North Shore on Oàhu you find a lot of beaches with the biggest waves, a paradise for surfers. My favourite beach there is Waimea, where you can jump from a rock into the waves J. You also have to go to Pipeline (there are usually the surfer competitions), Sunset Beach, etc. On the East Side there is the beautiful Lanikai Beach and Waimanalo Bay. If you ever go to Hawaii you have to visit all of them and a lot more.

But when I talk about Hawaii, it is not enough to mention the beautiful beaches, the ocean and the perfect weather. Agriculture is also a very interesting topic to talk about. Hawaii is famous for Pineapples and Papaya, the best Papayas I ever ate J. On Maui and Kaua`i are 70,000 acres of sugar, yielding about 340,000 tons of raw sugar. Hawaii is also very famous for its macadamia nuts and the coffee. And because I can`t live without coffee, I can tell you the Kona coffee is really good! But my favourites are definitly the famous Mai Tai (never drink more than two J) and the Hawaiin fresh fish, like Ahi and Aku (sort of tuna).

Last but not least, I have to mention my favourite places, where I spent most of my time the year I lived in Hawaii. I love playing beachvolleyball, and because I lived in Waikiki, I was at the Fort DeRussy Beach Park nearly every day. It feels like having a small familiy there to play beachvolleyball  with the whole day till sunset. Oh, how much I miss it!!! Every weekend I went to the North Shore to all the beautiful beaches and to my favourite litte town, Haleiwa Town. And because I am a girl I also have to mention Victoria´s Secret as one of my favourite places J, I love this shop!!!

So what is it, why do I love Hawaii so much? Is it the beach, the ocean, the great weather?  Sometimes it is better to speak with pictures than with words, look and you will see why J.

Hawaii – its all about beauty, people and spirit – ALOHA!

 

Pictures and text by Barbie

Bulgaria part II

I would like to state at this point that Bulgaria is absolutely underrated. I can imagine that it is not the first holiday destination that pops in mind while planning a vacation but it’s a shame to miss those beautiful coast lines, the long (and empty!) beaches and the local food which has an amazing variety and always tastes guiltily delicious. Don’t forget the emerald green Black Sea (I know, euphemism) and its tub warm water…

Beside that Bulgaria is increadibly cheap. You can have a real fiest with ten friends in a restaurant and only end up paying 7euros per person.

Of course, as any country, Bulgaria has its up and downs. Whilst some parts of the country are beautiful and majestic, others fall literally apart. Huge hotel complexes are being built everywhere, but don’t worry, aparently they are not build to be filled, so the beach remains calm and clear and there is always a lovely bar to enjoy a refreshing Gin tonic. 😉

Of course it helps having a native person with you while travelling through Bulgaria but people are very nice and helpful. 

Photo credits: Mia & myself

Bulgaria part I

Finally holidays…

As last time I went there, Bulgaria kept every promise it made. It was beautiful, relaxing and every bit enjoyable. Especially because I was staying with a bunch of friends, making this vacation even more fun.

We spend almost every day on the beach, enjoying a cool glass of Gin tonic and reading (Fifty shades of Gray) except when we were sailing in Sozopol or visiting Sofia (beware of straying dogs!).

Food was delicious, you could never get enough of shopska salad or little fried fish, at least I couldn’t. 😉

Photo credits: Mathias & Mia