You may need to reconsider if you think solo travelling was a no-go after years of imposed social distancing and isolation. As the numbers show, you may be in the wrong. With fewer restrictions and more freedom to explore, the last months have seen a sharp increase of excited travellers who book, pack and leave for trips alone. The data collected by Booking.com confirm the trend. Pre-pandemic, only 14% of travellers were booking for one. By mid-2021, that number reached 23%. Meanwhile, the figures from Google trend show a massive increase of 761,15% (in the UK) of solo travellers. Moreover, companies that organize group...

    This season seems to bring lots of concerns. Crisis of all sorts makes the headlines almost everywhere. Still, these months can offer moments for pausing if, especially because the rhythms are other than usual. We can look at things differently and find some relief in ways and places we may not be used to consider as means to lift the spirit. The museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, near The Hague (NL), maintains that "Art is the Antidote". A medicine for feelings of exhaustion and under-stimulation built after the lockdowns, recent debates and constant crisis. The museum - a piece of art in itself surrounded by a...

    Despite more flexibility in working hours arrangements and the growing trend to consider quitting a position less of a taboo, burnout numbers are still on the rise. Women look, once again, more affected by it, especially if they are mothers as some suggest, still more due to school summer breaks. In April, Deloitte’s survey “Women @ Work 2022: A Global Outlook” noted that over half of the women interviewed said they were more stressed than the previous year. And almost 46% reported feeling burned out. Interestingly, many respondents confirmed they could not switch off from work, citing concerns about the impact that...

    The 2022 World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Report is out and Iceland is once again (for the 12th time to be precise) at the very top, and has closed more than 90% of its gender gap. All the Nordics score, again, well. Finland, Norway and Sweden follow close behind. And only four countries out of the 146 in the list, are outside Europe: New Zealand (4th), Rwanda (6th), Nicaragua (7th) and Namibia (8th). The top five are unchanged from last year, but Lithuania and Switzerland have dropped out of the top 10, with Nicaragua and Germany taking their places.   The Global Gender Gap Index measure the world’s...

      Summer may not be the season one would associate with time spent inside, especially probably not seated in a theatre enjoying a live performance. Moreover, plenty of great shows are set up in fantastic open locations: such as Taormina’s Teatro Greco, Vondelpark Open-Ait Theater in Amsterdam, and Regent’s Park Open-Air Theater in London. Still, after months of closures, and probably thanks to a different approach to free time, city theatres are well alive even during the warmest months of the year. And even if many artists and dance or stage companies are touring around – maybe right in one afore mentioned...

    "May you live in interesting times" was the title of the 2019 Venice Biennale. A sort of a curse maintained then its president Paolo Baratta, that sounds somewhat like a prophecy (considering that the art exhibition closed its door in November that year.) Indeed, we are living interesting times, luckily, not exclusively in negative terms. When it comes to work-related trends, Covid-19 has impacted the workforce extensively. It has initiated or reinforced some shifts in companies' cultures. It has changed the drivers that make employees decide to remain, leave or accept a job. It has shed new light on the role played by...

    Somayyeh Mahmoodi, master of Family Counseling and Couple Therapist, born on 04/12/1991 in the ancient and beautiful city of Bamyan, Afghanistan. I have known about war, discrimination and occupation of Afghanistan and the arrival of the Taliban since I was a child. Sometimes in a country, it is difficult to be a girl, but you have parents who value you and understand you well and are with you in all the hardships and problems. Years passed, we studied, worked and now the story continues .... After my master’s degree graduation in 2018, I worked for almost 4 years in Kabul as a consultant, university professor, as...