7 Reasons Why You Should Travel Alone At Least Once In Your Life

By Yara Coelho

 1. You will meet amazing people.

While traveling with friends or a significant other can be a lot of fun, traveling solo for a certain amount of time can prove to be one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do because of the great people you’ll meet.

When we travel with friends or a partner, we tend to stick to that little group of familiar faces and even though you’ll meet new people, the dynamics and interactions won’t be as deep and fulfilling. While you’re on your own on the road, you’re much more eager to meet travel buddies, team up with other travelers and generally reach out more in order to socialize.

2. The overwhelming sense of absolute freedom.

When you travel on your own and you start meeting people and making awesome friends, you’ll probably team up with travel buddies and end up expanding your travel plans. You’ll probably change your plans once you hear about that amazing waterfall, that incredible desert beach, the opportunity to bungee jump from a high bridge, or taste a special delicacy you’ll only find off the beaten track.

When you’re traveling, you’re open to change and you’ll welcome it with open arms. The great thing is that you don’t have to fit into a group’s agenda, give explanations or disappoint anyone, you can follow your rhythm, desires and move like the wind.

3. Traveling alone challenges your fears and insecurities

This is a big one, especially if it’s your first solo experience. I remember the first time I traveled when I was 18 and moved to London on my own for 3 months to be an au pair and live with a local family. I was terrified of the unknown, but if I would have surrendered to that fear, I would have never get to know the strong, courageous and adventurous side of me. I was scared, but I did it anyways and by the 3rd day, I was really proud of myself. From then on I never let fear stop me. 16 years and many adventures later, I still have a little voice inside my head, asking: “What if something goes wrong?” “What if you get into trouble?” This is normal and perfectly human; fear exists for our own protection and boosts our awareness. But we shouldn’t let it control our lives.

Safety can be a great comfort, but common sense is the key. Read and research a lot before you travel, check out hostel reviews, and research feedback from other travelers in forums and blogs. Respect the local culture and I guarantee you’ll be fine.

4. Fall in love.

Everyone wants to find their better half and much is said about failed relationships while on the road. It doesn’t have to be like that! We find love when we meet someone who shares our interests, dreams, and goals. While traveling solo you’ll meet so many people from all walks of life that falling in love might just happen. Whether it will be a great summer love or end up at the altar, no one knows, but there are many people out there with amazing stories.

If you already have a partner, this time away can boost your passion and once you’re back, you’ll appreciate each other’s company more.

5. You can take the time to nurture yourself.

If you have a stressful life back home, either studying hard or working too much, traveling on your own can be the time to take some time off and nurture yourself.

Whether you’re a backpacker traveling cheap or if the sky is the limit as far as your budget goes, you can use this time to pamper yourself. Indulge in rich and delicious local meals which will boost your energy and health, take long walks on the beach by sunrise, or get a massage. Do some yoga and relax a lot. Enjoy all the wonderful things you deserve, and understand that happiness is a birth right, not a privilege.

6. You’ll have a chance to recreate yourself and be who you want to be.

While traveling solo, you can leave your grumpy, tired old self behind and start to be a new you. Explore parts of your personality you are not very comfortable or familiar with. When on the road, you might be challenged by unexpected factors and be positively surprised how well you respond to them. Empower yourself by unleashing the wonderful, irresistible and intelligent person you are, but whom you’ve neglected in your everyday routine.

7. You can finally take time to leave everything else behind.

Just disconnect from the world for a while. Turn off your mobile, “forget” to check you emails for a few days… don’t think about the bills, the responsibilities, the duties and problems. Leave them behind.

Some of the most intense creative times or the ones where we find the solutions for all our problems are actually the moments when we disconnect and stop worrying. Have you ever tried to remember a name or a date and you just can’t spit it out, but after you quit trying it pops out? It’s the same for the rest of life. Sometimes our brains need to get rid of old thoughts in order to be able to create space for new ones, better ones. So just disconnect yourself from everything and you might be amazed by how fresh you’ll feel once you get back home.

Kocoon's selection of Travel apps

From pcmag.com

Search, book, pack, and go with these mobile apps, websites, and online services that help you get out the door.

During the planning phase, and while in the midst of taking time off, you can rely on a number of excellent apps, websites, and services that can help put your mind at ease about your holiday.

GateGuru:

If you ever have a long connection through Chicago O'Hare, you'll want to go straight to Tortas Frontera for sandwiches. At San Francisco International Airport, there's a yoga room where you can decompress and stretch before your next flight. Of course, if you have the GateGuru iPhone app or the GateGuru Android app, you won't need to rely on my advice, as you'll have all these great tips and lists of services to help you navigate the world's best and worst airports.

Available on: Android, iOS, Windows Phone

Packing Pro:

Packing Pro is a mobile app made for super list makers. It helps you remember what to pack and can also serve as evidence of what you packed if your luggage were ever lost. You work from one of many sample lists of items to pack, or you can create your own and tick off items as they go into your luggage. It has a handful of other reminders, too, like booking reservations and watering the plants before you leave home, which you can save into checklists to guide your harried soul while you're running around your apartment like a chicken with its head cut off worried that you'll miss your flight if you dally a moment longer. The $3 app may seem like overkill to those who have packing down to a science already, but it can be an excellent tool for parents who are packing for multiple family members before leaving on vacation.

Available on: iOS

5 romantic things to do when you are in Paris

…Alone or with your special one!

By Kocoon spa’s co-founder Maika Endo

1 ) Pick up a “Mille-Feuille” and a “Tiramisu aux fruits rouges” to take away at L’Essentiel boutique shop from artisanal pastry and baker chef Anthony Bosson (2, Rue Mouffetard). Apparently they also make one of the best butter croissant in Paris!

Sit on a terrace at Place Monge, to enjoy a “Cafe Viennois” with your pastries. Sorry I could not wait for the photo here, I devoured my Tiramisu on the street.

2) After this, you may relax at les Arenes de Lutèce, at a 15 minutes stroll from there. You have some grass to lay down, any plenty of benches with privacy. Whats more, with the view on the pétanque games. I like to lay-on the bench and read for a couple of hours. My friend Vanessa is reading on this photo to the right:

3) Tea ceremony: La Maison des 3 Thés is a must. Everything about this venue is soulful, calm and inspiring. I prefer this kind of place to the more commercial and touristy “Maison des 3 Frères.”

I recommended this tea house to my friend Charlene and she shared her experience here: http://blog.tranquiltuesdays.com/post/98964309008/chinese-tea-in-paris-at-maison-des-trois-thes-i

4) Contemplate the beauty of Paris from le Printemps’ s rooftop terrace. There is a bar if you’d like a glass of Champagne, but my favorite drink in France is still Orangina!

The rooftop opens as late as 8pm, 10pm on Thursdays. I took these photos from the same location, 2 weeks ago (left) and the other one last year in August (right).

5) You can walk to La Seine river, it will take you about half an hour ( I never really timed it!) - a beautiful promenade that I always do on my pilgrimage to Paris; from Opera, to Palais Royal - Musee du Louvre, you will reach le Pont Des Arts. You can crystalize your love forever by “locking this moment”, or by throwing a bottle in the river…I chose the last.

Voila, this is Paris, the most beautiful and romantic city in the world…As Victor Hugo use to say: “He who contemplates the depths of Paris is seized with vertigo. Nothing is more fantastic. Nothing is more tragic. Nothing is more sublime.”

Maika

About Maika...

Maika Endo, is a Japanese-French wellness entrepreneur. After several years in marketing and public relations, Maika felt pulled toward a deeper calling. 

After attending a series of international spa market research programs, including a Spa Management course in Toronto, Shiatsu training in Tokyo, and an aromatherapy course in Paris, she founded Kocoon, Beijing’s first holistic spa, with her mother. Kocoon represented a unique combination of East Asian healing arts, Thai hospitality, and European elegance. In 2013, Maika brought Thai Yoga Massage to Beijing by teaching Thai Yoga Massage courses and offering treatments herself. She has continued to leverage her entrepreneurial experience in the wellness arts by offering consultation in spa set up and management and advice to talented wellness practitioners on how to effectively establish and market their services.

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According to Chinese medicine, spring is the perfect time to drink Chrysanthemum tea!

"This is because Chrysanthemum is good for the liver and the liver is most vulnerable in the spring time. Chinese medical theory states that the liver controls the eyes and many cases of headaches are due to an imbalance of the liver. If you think about the liver as being a like a big balloon full of blood and then becoming saturated with pollen and insecticides, it will start to expand and heat. The heat has to escape somehow and then rises up in the body causing red sore eyes and headaches. This is a perfect scenario to use ju hua (chrysanthemum flower tea). It has been used for many centuries to treat symptoms like red, dry, sore and painful eyes and headaches, dizziness and in modern times is being used to help high blood pressure read more...

" What you need:

Hawthorn (山楂 shānzhā) belongs to the family of roses and offer many health benefits such as promoting the health of the circulatory system and strengthening the heart, it is also an excellent digestion aid, full of antioxidants. Drink it to fight insomnia.

Chrysanthemum (菊花 júhuā) is a natural coolant, full of vitamins, it is known to boost the immune system and calm the nerves. Also a digestion aid, helps detoxification, and relieves sore throat and respiratory problems.

Rock Sugar (bīng táng) I personally don't like adding sugar as the fruits in the tea bring enough sweetness.

"You will find the dried kind in Chinese big supermarkets."

1-Put 1/2 cup dried hawthorn in a pot and a little bit of chrysanthemum flowers.

2-Optionally, you may add crystal sugar.

3-Pour boiling water. NB: You can make several steeps (3-4) out of one preparation if you keep on pouring boiling water.

International Women's Day

Why do we have this special day?

International Women's Day (IWD), also called International Working Women's Day, is celebrated on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political, and social achievements. Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily in Europe, including Russia. In some regions, the day lost its political flavor, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner. This is a day which some people celebrate by wearing purple ribbons.

History: 

The earliest Women’s Day observance was held on February 28, 1909, in New York; it was organized by the Socialist Party of America in remembrance of the 1908 strike of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. There was no specific strike happening in March 8, despite later sources claiming so.

In August 1910, an International Women's Conference was organized to precede the general meeting of the Socialist Second International in Copenhagen,Denmark. Inspired in part by the American socialists, German Socialist Luise Zietz proposed the establishment of an annual 'International Woman's Day' (singular) and was seconded by fellow socialist and later communist leader Clara Zetkin, although no date was specified at that conference. Delegates (100 women from 17 countries) agreed with the idea as a strategy to promote equal rights, including suffrage, for women. The following year, on March 19, 1911, IWD was marked for the first time, by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

2015 International Women's Day: 

The UN theme for International Women's Day 2015 is "Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!" Governments and activists around the world will commemorate the 20th anniversary year of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, an historic roadmap that sets the agenda for realizing women’s rights.

The International Woman’s Day theme for 2015 is ‘Make It Happen’ with a dedicated hashtag for social media. 

The official hashtag for this day is: #IWD2015 which stands for "International Women's day" and in French: #journéeDesFemmes.

On March 8th at Kocoon get a FREE 15 minutes Anti-Stress Head Massage with your treatment. Enjoy a complimentary rose and a fresh IF juice smoothie. 

My Experience in Beijing

By Marie, Kocoon's Marketing Intern 

 I arrived in Beijing in April 2014 with my classmates from the University of Nantes. I had Chinese classes in Beijing University of Technology for 4 months. This intensive program was very interested, I had the opportunity to learn more Chinese and meet students from all over the world.

My Kocoon adventure started in September 2014 after a short break in France for the Holidays.

When I knew that I will work for Kocoon spa I was very excited because I knew that this will be a very rich experience. Indeed, I can say now that it was a very rich experience!

First, I learned marketing in a real situation. Maika shared her precious knowledge with me about marketing and promoting actions. But above all she shared with me her passion and her commitment to her company. She made me feel I was part of the team and that we all had to walk on the same path to grow the company.

Secondly, I had the chance to work with a team of Chinese ladies. All nice and respectful with me. I learned more about management which is my major in my Master degree. This part was quite challenging because Chinese management is different from French management and in Kocoon spa, even if the management is more French it needs some adaptation to the Chinese culture. It was interesting for me to see the differences between the two cultures in real situations.

I can say that at Kocoon, the more I worked the more I learned, which was great for me!

About my everyday life in Beijing I cannot say it was easy because it takes time to adapt yourself to a new city but I enjoyed my life here. The great thing about China is that there is not a day without a surprise.... Of course sometimes you hate this city because of the pollution and the Chinese people who split everywhere. But once you know some nice places, you have good friends and a good working environment you enjoy it. I enjoyed for example to sit at Crepanini's terrace with a cup of coffee, or go to a local Chinese market close to my apartment and buy vegetables at the stand of an old women always smiling!

My family came in February to visit me. I was happy to show them a piece of my life here…my apartment, my neighborhood, the spa… We all had a great time together. I felt very lucky that they were able to come to China consider that we are 7 people in my family! But I got this passion for travelling from my mother so for her it was a chance to come to visit Beijing while I was staying there.

Thanks to Kocoon I met a lot of interesting people. I met the practitioners who come at Kocoon to share their passion. I met other foreigners who created their company in China, like Lexie from The Lollipop Bakery or Klara from Miss Muesli. I enjoyed these meetings, it made me dream a little…maybe one day I will also create my company…

To sum up this experience was amazing. I also learned a lot about myself and about what I want to become in the future.

I hope I will be able to come back and work in Beijing after I graduate. So see you soon Beijing!

About Marie...

Marie is from the West coast of France, precisely from Les Sables D'olonne in Vendée. She is a student in Master Degree of Franco-Chinese Management at the University of Nantes. Before she studied languages (English, Spanish and Chinese) and Political Sciences in France.

She had several experiences in foreign countries. She studied Chinese language in Taiwan in 2011, and in 2013 she spent 3 months in Colorado, USA to study American politics.

Her Kocoon adventure started in September 2014. She is in charge of the Marketing and Customer Relations at Kocoon spa.

Interview in cityweekend parents and kids

Maika Endo uses Kocoon spa as a community platform.

"There are great practitioners here in Beijing, I try to connect with them and share what they love at Kocoon."

Why Is Mineral Oil Bad for Your Skin?

By Maggie New

All oil is not created equal. Photo Credit full bottle of oil image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com

Mineral oil is an extremely common ingredient in personal care products from moisturizers to foundation to lip balm, and it is also an ingredient in a myriad of hair products. Baby oil, for example, is made entirely of mineral oil. Unfortunately, the use of mineral oil in so many products has more to do with its cost than it's helpfulness in helping you maintain clear, healthy skin.

Origin

Before the invention of synthetic oil, mineral oil was predominantly used as a mechanical lubricant. According to the Environmental Working Group, mineral oil is derived from petroleum and may be contaminated with cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Mineral oil aggravates acne and negatively impacts skin function, causing it to age prematurely. This oil is a common ingredient in anything that requires a smooth gliding action, and may be listed under different names, including petrolatum or paraffinum.

Features

Mineral oil acts as a moisturizing agent only to the extent that it keeps the area of skin that it is applied to moist. While most moisturizers include important nutrients that support the fragile-and always aging-facial skin mineral oil provides no nutrients whatsoever. It actually seals off your skin, preventing it from breathing.

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Concerns

Your skin is the body’s largest organ, and it works together with the kidneys to rid the body of toxins. However, your skin needs to be able to breathe to perform these functions. Kim Anderson, a health care consultant to Arbonne International, states that “mineral oil coats the skin like plastic wrap, disrupting the skin's natural immune barrier and inhibiting its ability to breathe and absorb the 'natural moisture factor' (moisture and nutrition).” In addition, mineral oil attracts needed moisture from cells deep inside your skin. This means that cell renewal is slowed, collagen breaks down, and the connective tissue is destroyed. Normal cell development is slowed down and the skin ages prematurely when skin cells are robbed of moisture.

Consequences

There are other serious health concerns connected to mineral oil. Applying it to your skin repeatedly can cause various negative hormonal effects, including ovarian dysfunction, endometriosis, miscarriages, and damage to the immune system, Anderson states.

Benefits

Mineral oil can be useful in sealing the skin off from outside particles. On your face, this can lead to pimples and blackheads. But in other, less sensitive areas, petroleum jelly can be useful to keep a patch of skin dry while it heals. Products that contain petroleum jelly, for example, can be used to protect a baby's skin as diaper rash heals.

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via Why Is Mineral Oil Bad for Your Skin? | LIVESTRONG.COM.