READING TIPS

Stories You Shouldn’t Miss — Volume 02/24

February edition of my favorite reads

Yes, two months of 2024 have passed already and I can count down the days until we leave New Zealand again. While time is flying faster than ever, I hope you make the best of your lives and live them to the fullest.

In case you don’t have a full reading list yet, I have a selection of my favorite essays from February. Quality reads from different topics and writers. I can only recommend them to you. They are all worth your time.

If you’ve been around on my profile for a bit longer already, you will recognize my first writer here. If I repeatedly choose articles from the same writers, it can only mean one thing: They produce constantly high quality and inspiring work.

And that is describing no other woman better than this one who calls Australia her home. Within the past few months, she’s had to deal with wildfires destroying most of her land, people not being very supportive of her and then losing her job on top. She would have all the right to feel sad, depressed and simply be overwhelmed.

But she’s the opposite. She sees a new challenge in everything and a chance to grow and a lesson to learn. Inspirational as always. If you’re feeling down today, read this essay and learn how to read signs sent from nature.

“I felt as if this little creature who just came to the world tried to say to me, “You have to be bold, curious and brave, like me. Trust life as I trust you that you won’t hurt me and everything will be all right. You will see”. Suddenly, a warm, pleasant feeling engulfed me, and all I could feel was peace and gratitude.” — Janin Lyndovsky

The next writer is a new one to my list but she deserves the slot just as much. Catching me with her title, I knew I’d love her article before having read past the first few lines.

While many might wave off the topic, it is a real thing we still struggle with as women in the world today. While I haven’t had to tell anyone that I’m proud of running like a girl, just recently, I was told ‘I fly like a girl’. Same thing.

Either way, I’m not giving away too much. Take your time and read about the struggles of modern women.

“Instead of walking on stage and being celebrated en masse, the female podium winners were huddled into the corner of the marquee where our winnings were discarded onto us with barely an apology or a well-done.” — Ali Hall

The next story is written by one of my favorite writers and editor colleague. While I first wasn’t expecting much from the title, I was to be surprised. Mostly, as I didn’t know anything about the cannoli she was talking about. As many times as I had been to Italy, this was a new dessert for me.

But the story isn’t just about food. It’s about culture, tradition and finding authentic food while halfway across the world from its origin. The story is about experiencing more than just a meal.

“Most historians seem to agree that the dessert is as old as 827–1091. This time period in history marks one of Arab rule, lending credence to the strong Arab influence in the creation of the dessert. Indeed, there is an Arabic word, qanawāt which means ‘tubes’.” — JoAnn Ryan

And now I am slowly moving on to my favorite topic, the one about travel. Starting with a small adventure of a simple morning walk. Simple but breathtaking. As long as you have the ability to see beauty in the small things in life.

Foggy weather can take our views away but fog can also reveal the real beauty in a landscape and in this article, I ask you to stop at each picture and soak it in for a few seconds or a minute before moving on to the next one. There’s a real build-up toward the end of the photo essay.

“The freezing fog formed ice crystals on the weed’s dead flowers and seed pods. Soon, the sun would clear the fog and melt the crystals. This delicate scene would turn back into just another patch of weeds.” — Kim Zuch

The next writer is a new one at Globetrotters and has started with a selection of touching travel essays. The one that took my attention the most was describing the simple life in my parent’s home country.

Romania.

Not only the narrative is compelling but the photographs are outstanding.

“The smell of fresh baked, still warm, delicious homemade donuts fills the air and there’s a newfound passion for each of us. As we’re sharing the seemingly bottomless cauldron of heavenly delicacies around the campfire, the old lady continues her stories about life in this remote corner of the mountains.” — Silviu-Florin Salomia

I’m not a person for city life or even city travel. I usually don’t last longer than a few hours in any city and yet, this next story made it to my list of favorite stories describing a night in one of Europe’s most famous urban places.

Barcelona.

The narrative takes you through the late-night experiences of life in the city and on the beach. Sit back and relax as you listen to the sounds.

“Feinting the determined advances of two sketchy characters, who try to maneuver me into buying stale weed, warm beer, counterfeit cigarettes, or wilted roses, I make my way to the observation deck and glance at the party scene below: Bar-goers jumping and flitting to a retro beat, puffing on long sinuous hookah pipes, the air fragrant with vapor, knocking back colorful shots with what seems to be bitter, tonsil-torching, pipe-coating liquor.” — Dim Nikov

I saved this one for last as it was a challenge submission for the monthly prompt at Globetrotters and yet I didn’t take it up in my choices as I wanted to highlight it separately.

This was a good space to talk about what nature does to us. How do our feelings and emotions change if we just allow them to run free through the fresh air?

And it doesn’t matter if we don’t reach our destination. As long as we witnessed the birds along the way, marveled at the moss growing over the roots and found joy in simple things, any minute outdoors is a minute well spent in our physical and mental health.

“At the end of my magical adventure on that bridge, I was closer to the little girl who climbed trees and made up stories. I felt more grounded than ever on that bridge above the seafloor and in my imagination.” — Tara Torres

Those were my favorite reads of February and if you read them all, I send a big thank you and virtual hug across the globe.

And in case you missed last month’s selection, here is the link:

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