Why you should travel more often

Travel is something everyone should do at least once and if not a million other times in their lifetime. It can open up your eyes to new cultures, different food and broaden your horizons to how other people live. There’s no point staying in one place when there is so much to see. Here’s why you should travel more often.

Experience new cultures - The world is a huge place and where you’re living is only a tiny fraction of it. Each area of the world has their own culture and something different to the next that is worth the experience. We all have different beliefs and ways that we live our life. If you step out your comfort zone and go somewhere new, it’ll open your eyes to many different cultures.

Grow your confidence - As you travel more, naturally your confidence will grow. Travelling isn’t just an experience of new places but meeting new people and getting used to new surroundings. With both that in mind, your self-confidence will grow and you’ll be more at ease as you travel to other places.

Think of the stories - When you’re old and grey, you want crazy and fun stories to tell your grandchildren - and that could be all your travels. You can fill them with knowledge and tales of all the things you saw.

Food, food, food - One of the best things about traveling is the food and trying everything new. 

Wherever you go, ensure you try their local delicacies.

Get away from 9-5 - Routine is good, however, after some time it can get a little boring and traveling can break that mold.

Discover more adventure and travel inspiration with the collection of books at www.mediavex.com.

Real life reads: The most anticipated non-fiction books of 2019

It’s often said that truth is stranger than fiction and current affairs around the world in the last few years would certainly bear that out. It’s also true that well-researched and well-written non-fiction books have great appeal too. Whether they are books which shine a light on lesser-known historical events or those which provide a unique perspective on the world today, there is always a great array of non-fiction to choose from and 2019 looks like being no different.

If you are looking for interesting and absorbing non-fiction books for the new year, here are some eagerly-awaited titles which are due for release in 2019.

Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts by Jill Abramson

Abramson is a former managing editor of the New York Times. She also served as the chief of the newspaper’s Washington bureau, the first woman to do so and has gathered remarkable insight into the workings of the government and the press and how the two interact. This is a particularly important work considering the current administration’s fractious relationship with the media.

Era of Ignition by Amber Tamblyn

The former actress, who rose to fame through roles in General Hospital and Joan of Arcadia, has turned her hand to writing in recent years, and after a novel and collection of poetry, Era of Ignition, is billed as part-memoir and part-feminist manifesto.

The Path Made Clear by Oprah Winfrey

When Oprah speaks, people listen so this book in which she uses her own life experiences to help readers find their deepest and truest selves is sure to be an in-demand work.

Uncover more non-fiction gems with the books from www.mediavex.com.

Delicious Foods That Were Created by Accident

There are some foods which we just couldn’t live without, but not all of them were the result of culinary genius. In fact, some were never planned at all. Here’s a list of three delicious foods that were created by accident.

Chocolate chip cookies

Ruth Wakefield was attempting to bake chocolate cookies but realized at the last minute that she didn’t have any baker’s chocolate. She rustled through her pantry and discovered sweetened chocolate instead so she broke it into tiny pieces and dropped it into the batter. She expected it to melt and spread to create a regular chocolate cookie but was astonished to see what we now know as a chocolate chip cookie instead.

Cheeseburgers

Who doesn’t love a good cheeseburger? However, the world is extremely lucky that they get to enjoy this invention as originally it was nothing more than a workaround. Budding chef Lionel Sternberger burned the hamburger and slapped a slice of cheese on top to hide the charring. The result was delicious and so the common cheeseburger was born.

Cornflakes

Puritanical dieticians William Keith Kellogg and Dr. John Harvey Kellogg were sure that eating clean and sparse food would help people to lead a moral life. Unfortunately, they left their oats on the side and they crisped up and went stale. The result was the cornflakes that the nation loves today.

To read more, take a look at www.mediavex.com where you’ll discover thousands of books online. With great choice at your fingertips, you can enjoy a good book at any time night or day.

Me Time: Part I, Benefits of Finding Time For Yourself

We tend to underestimate the benefits ‘me time’ can have on our mental health. It’s not just something we should do when we’re bored or have nothing else to do, scheduling ‘me time’ is just as important as setting up a doctors appointment. In a society that is always on the rush, we tend to postpone any time we have for ourselves or spend it on our phone, not fully immersing ourselves into a moment that should be centered on taking care of ourselves. In fact, here are some benefits you might be unaware come from spending quality time with yourself:

• It relieves you from stress: to fully enjoy ‘me time’, you need to start by accepting that it’s not selfish to take time to yourself, in fact, it's healthy and therapeutic. When you enjoy this time, it gives you the opportunity to really relax and focus on what you want. It doesn’t matter what you do, whether it’s a bath or a movie on Netflix, the important thing is to have uninterrupted ‘me time’ so you can get rid of some extra stress.
• Improves your concentration and ability to retain information: by giving yourself a moment a day where your brain can ‘turn off’ and just enjoy what you’re doing, you’re also taking care of your brain so that it can work better throughout the day. Since it knows you’re going to let it relax, later on, it doesn’t need to stop working to ‘doze off’, improving your concentration and making it easier to retain information throughout the day.
• It allows you to reflect: spending time with yourself allows you to explore your mind and reflect on things that might be bothering you at the moment. Which means you can also take this time to take care of yourself.
• Raises your self-esteem: by taking the time to take care of yourself and focus on your needs you subconsciously remind yourself that you matter and are important. Sometimes we tend to neglect ourselves when we’re too busy taking care of everyone else around us, it’s important and healthy to remind ourselves that we’re important too.
• It impacts the people around you: I know we tend to say that see ‘me time’ as selfish, but actually, the time you spend on yourself has a positive impact on the people around you. All the benefits that this quality time with yourself brings you, will help you improve your relationship with your friends and family. When you don’t take these moments for yourself, you tend to resent people and hold on to anger and negative emotions. So really, scheduling ‘me time’ is part of the greater good.

Now that we’ve established how important it is to have a date with yourself, the next step is seeing how you can find that time for yourself. We’ll offer some tips on this on our next article, but until then we encourage you to look browse through our online library www.mediavex.com for books to read during your ‘me time’.

Crazy Facts About Norse Mythology

Mythology is always wild and entertaining, and Norse mythology does not disappoint. Whilst Marvel has reached blockbuster success using characters from this mythology, no fantasy is wilder than the truth. Here are some wild facts about Norse mythology:

• The Nine Realms and cosmos are placed like a tree branching out with Midgard or Earth located in the center before the ‘branches’ of other realms, Asgard at the top and Helheim at the bottom.
• Despite Odin being the most powerful being, in Scandinavia Thor was the most popular God as he was the ideal warrior.
• Valkyries are a  group of elite warrior women who not only fight but are in charge of picking up the souls of fallen warriors on a battlefield and bring their souls to  Valhalla.
• Norse mythology was a real religion that is still practiced today.
• There are three realms for the dead, the criteria to enter depends on the guardians of those realms but remains a mystery. Helheim the kingdom of the damned is governed by Hel, who is Loki’s offspring and houses the souls of thieves, murderers and those deemed not brave enough by Hel. Freya rules over Folkvang and chooses which half of those who died in the battlefield go to her realm, whilst the rest are guided by the Valkyries to Valhalla.
• Ragnarok is known by the Norse as the final battle of the apocalypse between all beings. Ragnarok means reckoning and it’s supposed to be a necessary apocalypse that destroys most of what’s alive to make way for a new world to be born. Those who make it to Valhalla await Ragnarok as their final battle.

To find more crazy facts, the best thing to do is read about mythology itself. If you wish to explore mythology and other branches of it, feel free to browse through our online library www.mediavex.com.

Symbolism in Mythology: The Snake

Snakes have been represented in almost all cultures since the beginning of time. From its portrayal of the ultimate sin in The Bible to a symbol of deception in Norse mythology, each culture has a different interpretation of what a snake symbolizes. Each culture has studied snakes and concluded a different representation of its symbolic meaning, here are the important ones:

• Duality: many people believe that a snake represents the duality between good and evil. This is partially due to the fact that a snake is beautiful and elegant, but can also be poisonous and lethal.
• Revenge, Betrayal, and Vindictiveness: some cultures take the duality of snakes to the next level and associate them with revenge and betrayal. This is because a snake’s attack is quick, unexpected and deadly, surprising many of its victims. It’s because of this that many people don’t trust snakes and as a result appropriated them as symbols of distrust and vindictiveness, associated to people that don’t aim to negotiate and instead have ulterior motives.
• Fertility and rebirths: many cultures, especially in the East, view the snake as a symbol of fertility, rebirth and life creation. The origins of this symbolism are based on a snakes ability to shed skin, viewing this as natures ritual to rebirth. Some cultures even view snakes as symbols of sexual desire and passion.
• Guardianship: there’s a reason Indiana Jones fears snakes, and that’s usually because they are always guarding temples, tombs, and sacred places. Cultures observed that when threatened snakes would instead fold, stand their ground and defend their turf. This inspired them to use them as guardians of sacred places where you can find valuable things that are hard to move.
• Poison and medicine: snakes are regarded the same way plants and fungi are in some cultures. Their poison has the same versatility as some plants and fungi, where they can heal but also fundamentally kill. There is also some hallucinogenic properties that have given snakes a reputation as a divine being and their poison as the elixir of life.

In general, snakes will continue to have representation in anything that is mystic. Versatile, beautiful and lethal animals that they are,  they will carry on fascinating different cultures. To look into myths and their interpretations of snakes, check out our online library www.mediavex.com.

Travel The World From Your Chair With These 4 Books

If you are a victim of wanderlust and love to travel, books are a great way to discover new countries. They are the perfect way to immerse yourself in different cultures. If you are craving for adventures that take you far away from your routine here is a list of 4 books you need to consider:

1.   ‘African Honeymoon’ - Gordon Burridge

Explore Africa in this memoir that follows the true story of Gordon and Marian Burridge. A Scottish couple that left the Greenlands of Scotland to get married and start their life in Africa. This book tells the authentic experience of the couple's struggle to adapt to a continent so radically different to everything they knew. Their story was documented through the many letters they sent to Scotland throughout the years, making the pages of this book a real escape to Africa.

2.   ‘I Was On That Train’- Jeffrey Brett

The actual act of traveling can at times be the most memorable part of a trip. This is what Jeffrey Brett explores in his collection of short stories ‘I Was On That Train’. Brett writes about a series of intimate moments between the passengers of a train and how each situation is conditioned by the trivial choices they made; choices like choosing which compartment to sit in. A very intriguing book for whoever enjoys the actual act of traveling.

3.   ‘The Lost Art Of Finding Our Way’- John Edward Huth

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you got lost and didn’t have a GPS? Sounds scary, right? In ‘The Lost Art Of Finding Your Way’, Huth challenges this idea by using prose and illustrations to show that there is beauty in getting lost. He tries to regain the values of travel we lost with technology. It is the perfect book for you to enjoy when all you are thinking about is traveling, the beautiful illustrations will take you to all the places Huth is describing.

4.   ‘Sideways On A Scooter’- Miranda Kennedy

If you have ever wanted to quit your job and leave to the other side of the world then you should pick up this book because that is exactly what Miranda Kennedy did. A successful journalist in New York who quit her job and left for India. Kennedy chronicles in this book her life in India and how she discovered a country so different from the perception we tend to have.

Books are a great and more economical way to travel in your everyday life. These are just some of the many books that can take you around the world. If you are looking for books that help you escape reality only to travel to unknown countries then you should explore www.mediavex.com.