Today I'm going to analyse my previous blogpost and place them in the Quality of life model of Felce and Perry. Felce and Perry knows 5 domains of wellbeing; social, physical, emotional, material and development + activity. Not the kind of article you would expect as a blogpost, but this is my school-blog after all, so once in a while these kind of blogpost will appear.






Cacao
Cacao is a store where you can buy homemade chocolate. Buying chocolate can be defined as a material good and can be placed under meals/food. Cacao also has a possibility to make your own chocolates during a workshop. This is an activity involving education and can be placed under development and activity.

Sprs.me
Sprs.me is a travel agency that books you a surprise holiday. Since the agency focusses on traveling with friends it can be seen as a social activity. It's not only a social activity, because there is still the option go all by yourself. If you look at it from that perspective it can also be placed under development and activity since it involves a leisure activity.

Q&A a dayThe concept of Q&A a day is to answer one question a day, for 5 years in a row. It's a good example of emotional wellbeing. The book makes you reflect on your life by asking you one question a day. It makes you self-conscious and can give you satisfactional feelings by re-reading the answers and seeing your personal development.

Alchemie
Alchemie is a place where everything is possible. It's a place for your cup of coffee after a hard days work, but it's also a place to shop for art, buy vintage furniture and clothing, have a healthy lunch or take yoga lessons. It can be placed under development and activity since it involves a lot of leisure activities. If you look deeper into it, all the separate activities can be places under different branches. The yoga lessons for example would fit into physical wellbeing and the shopping part can be placed under material wellbeing. 

Puha shopping guidePUHA is a tiny little shopping guide that shows a whole other side of Utrecht, filled with art, design, music, vintage, food and drinks. It focuses on authenticity, home made products, unique designs and everything that has that 'special something'. It's a little bit hard to categorize this one, but I think it fits best in the material wellbeing category. Not the booklet itself though, but the places it brings you to: they all have something to do with shopping or eating. 

Do you know those corners in stores filled with flyers and booklets nobody ever notices? Or the pile of leaflets next to the cash register? Since I started coolhunting, I also started to pay attention to these kind of things. Things you normally wouldn't notice. During my visit at Cacao I discovered such a pile of leaflets. One of them was a tiny little shopping guide called PUHA.  



PUHA is a shopping guide that shows a whole other side of Utrecht, filled with art, design, music, vintage, food and drinks. It's designed as a little booklet you can unfold and turn into one large map. The shops are categorized by symbols. It focuses on authenticity, home made products, unique designs and everything that has that 'special something'.

The thing I love about this guide is that it gives you a whole new perspective at the city. It takes you to places you've never been before and it shows you things you didn't even know existed. It takes you out of the central shopping area and changes your shopping experience.
You can find this little special guide at all participating places. Planning a city trip to Utrecht? You can also download a digital version at their website. Not much of a map-reader? There is also a PUHA app, which can check the nearest spot on the list and lead you to it.





What do you know! Blackbird and Alchemie are also on the PUHA list. I guess this proves they are definitely 'experience economy' qualified! ;)

For me, this isn't exactly a new book. I'm already filling in 'year two'. Although not new, it's a perfect example for experience economy: the book makes you reflect on your life and it makes you really selfconscious. It's really fun to see how your opinion can change on something in just a year time. It's also a nice way to keep small memories.

At this time in my life, when my future is so unpredictable and wide open, I'm curios about what my answers will be to the same questions in a few years! How about you, Would you like to have this book?

I have to make a confession: I think I want to move to Utrecht. Discovery after discovery and coolhunt after coolhunt. Utrecht has so many to offer! Today I want to tell you about a place called 'Alchemie'. 

Alchemie is a place where everything is possible. It's a place for your cup of coffee after a hard days work, but it's also a place to shop for art, buy vintage furniture and clothing, have a healthy lunch or take yoga lessons. You name it! Don't want to spend money? There is also a possibility for trading clothes. That works exactly as you think it would: bring something of your own, and trade it for a new piece of clothing you like. It's all about going back to basics and embracing authenticity. 

Alchemie is also a platform for young artists. If you want to shop for art, this is the right place no matter what your budget is. Musicians, designers and craftsmen get a chance to take the stage at Alchemie. There's a place for everyone! To top it all off there's a food corner called Ramanas. It's founded by two guys who want to make vegetarian food a little bit more exciting. 



Alchemie is such an unique concept, it's a thousands things in one place. It's not merely a store: it invites you to participate and thereby a whole new 'shopping' experience arises. Can't wait to visit? Check out their Facebook for the address and information about their events. 

Pictures by Lion van den Brand for Alchemie

photo by Brandon Mitchell - source

I've always wanted to go to the airport and book the first destination available. But what if I can't find a hotel when I arrive or what if it's somewhere I can't speak the language? And what about vaccinations? Clearly I'm not badass enough to take such a leap of faith. 

Let me introduce you to something that changed my mind about this (and probably will change yours as well, trust me!) sprs.me is a travel organisation based in Amsterdam that takes care or your holiday. Nothing new you would say, isn't that what a travel agency is supposed to do? But there's more: the destination of your travels will remain secret until you are at the airport. A few days before your holiday you'll get a card including a code, the temperature of your secret destination and the time of departure at the airport. Once arrived at the airport you enter the secret code in your sprs account and your destination will be revealed! 




No more over the top planning, no more trip advisor syndrome and no stressy decisions! You just need to pack your bags and let sprs.me take care of the rest. You can choose for an adventure trip 6-8 days, or maybe a city trip 3-4 days. Traveling on a budget? Choose for the option 'Broke' 3-4 days. Other options are a sunsation, manly or girls only trip. There's an option for every kind of traveler. This is definitely my kind of travel agency, where it's all about experiencing unexpected adventures. It's time to get out of you comfort-zone to create memories you'll never forget. Embrace adventure and enjoy the surprise!

The next chapter of my school year is all about "experience economy". As an experiment I went looking for my own experience in Utrecht. Based on the experience model of 'van Gool en Wijngaarden' I'm going to analyse my experience.During my adventure in Utrecht I ended up in a cute little coffeeshop called Blackbird. Blackbird is located in 'de Oudegracht' and looks like a tiny coffeeshop from the outside. Although small, it immediatly caught our attention when we passed it. The sign in front of the store read "coffee, slow juice and vintage", which sounds like a perfect combination to me!


The interior of the coffeeshop is unique and has a little story attached to it: Almost everything you see is for sale! But the real eye-catchers are the bikes hanging on the wall. One of the owners, Edwin, has a passion for bikes. The idea is simpel: he fixes old bikes and they sell them at the store! Together with his wife Willemijn, who has a passion for vintage, they created this unique little place. It is clear this is a business started from emotional value, but connected to economic value. Keywords to the concept are craftsmanship, authenticity and hospitality. It's a great example of the living-room society. Before I went inside I didn’t had any expectations because I simply didn’t knew the place. It seemed like a relaxed coffeeshop, perfect for a shopping break with friends or a quiet place for reading a book. My experience started with a soft couch. There is laid-back music playing in the background: not to loud, not to quiet. I order a glass of elderflower syrup, which only costs 1 euro (!) There are people around me doing different things. There’s a girl reading a book, a guy working on his laptop and two ladies eating cake and laughing about a joke. On the back of the menucard there’s an old article from 1967 about Sparta bikes, how cool is that? I smell the fresh coffee and it makes me want to order a cup (I don’t even like coffee!). While I’m drinking my syrup there is a guy buying a bike. Sounds of bike-fixing-tools and coffee-making-tools intertwine.  The staff is very nice and enthusiastic and make me feel welcome. When we ask to the story behind Blackbird, they are happily to tell us everything. 

There are so many good reasons why you should meditate every now and then; it helps reduce stress, it makes you more relaxed, it decreases your blood pressure and so on, and so on..
One of the best things, if you ask me, is that it can improve your concentration during the day and your sleep at night. Enough reasons to start meditating right now.

Easy peasy!
A lot of people say meditation is easy: just sit down and think of nothing. But it's not that easy for everyone. When I'm told "don't think of anything", my mind will do the exact opposite and go totally wild. So that's a technique I can cross off my list. But luckily, there are many more techniques for meditation! For example, there are a lot of useful apps that can help you meditate. I myself tried the app 'Headspace'.

"Headspace is meditation made simple, a way of treating your head right" as it says in the description in the app store. The app is free, so the worst thing that can happen is; it sucks, I delete the app, and go on with my stressful life. Let's give it a try!










Take-10
The first program on headspace consists of a series called Take-10. It's a 10 day program containing 10 minute recordings of someone talking to you. A very calm voice tells you what to do, how to breath and what to think. I immediately notice that after a minute or two, my mind starts to wander of. No worries! The voice tells me it's okay and reassures me it will happen more often. Just breath and refocus.

If you enjoyed Take-10 and want to learn more, it's time to subscribe. When you do, you'll get access to hundreds of exercises from two minutes to an hour.
For me, Headspace was an easy introduction for meditation. Although easy, I didn't make it past day 5. It was surprisingly hard to take a 10 minute time-out everyday! The five days I did manage to meditate were much less stressful then usual. The cherry on top the cake was the awesome design of the app! By using great animations it was the most fun kind of meditation I have ever done!

Have you always wanted to try meditation, now is your chance! Download the app in the appstore and get started today! For more information on how it works check their website.

Wouldn't it be awesome if sandwiches came flying from the sky? In Melbourne this is possible! The people of Jafflechutes created the first float-down eatery ever.

Float-down eatery
We've all heard of pop-up eateries, but float-down eateries? Three guys created a flying delivery service. By placing your order online and paying with PayPal Adam, David and Huw are going to make sure you will get a delicious sandwich, by air delivery! Find the 'X' marked on a mystery location and just look up and wait.



You can choose the sandwich to your liking: a cheese and tomato sandwich ($5), cheese, ham and pineapple ($6) or cheese, roast beef, dill pickles, mushrooms and mustard ($7). Are you vegan? Or do you have allergies? Just ask nicely and maybe the guys will make you a special jaffle! 

Trees and birds
But what if your Jaffle ends up in a tree or gets intercepted by a giant bird? No worries! Jafflechute will make you a new one, with extra love. They remind their costumers with the message: "Don't climb trees, you're not a kid anymore. We'll give you another jaffle." A much more interactive alternative for take-away! It's not only about the food itself, but also about making it an experience and bringing people together. Definitely next level awesomeness. 

At the moment Jafflechute events are only in Melbourne, but going global is definitely a future goal. I, for one, can't wait until flying sandwiched come to the Netherlands! 

source image: weheart.co.uk

Child cancer patients often have to be isolated in hospitals during treatment. These isolations can sometimes take up to four months. During isolations the children are not allowed to leave their rooms and have no way to play with other children in the hospital, or with friends.

KonneKt
Job Jansweijer from the Delft University of Technology designed a solution for this: KonneKt. Konnekt allows children to play together again, without having any physical contact. The game transforms the window between the two children in a playing canvas. The foam shapes can be attached to the window using suction cups and magnets. By combining the shapes the kids can play games like tick-tack-toe, connect four, or build their own fantasy world!

Play together!
KonneKt is such an amazing solution for isolated kids! It gives them the opportunity to play again and connect with their friends. During such unpleasant period it is crucial for kids to get this distraction and just for a little period of time, be careless again.

"The goal of the Kickstarter campaign is to give a KonneKt game to 100 hospitals. People who want to support KonneKt can choose for a ‘Buy one+Give one’ option: they buy one game, and donate the same game to one of the participating hospitals. They can also choose to buy one game, which they can either keep themselves, or give to a hospital. The aim is to collect the needed €30.000 euro in 40 days. The pledged amount will only be charged if the aim of the Kickstarter campaign is met."

Donate now!
So it's time to make this product reality! You can help this kickstarter by donating a small amount starting from 1 euro. You can read all about donating on their kickstarter page. Do you want more information about this product? Watch the video below or go to their website.

source: image left - image right

I've always wanted to have my own vegetable garden. Imagine chickens running around happily and fresh greens and fruits growing everywhere. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen because living in a small studio without a garden or even a balcony can be a little bit of a problem. The solution is urban farming. Urban farming is super awesome, and I'm going to tell you why! 

1. No matter how tiny your backyard or balcony is, you can make it work. Urban farming is possible in so many different ways. You just need to think outside the box. For example, make the most of your stairs and turn it into a garden. You can also buy ready-made square meter gardens. It makes it really easy to get started. 

2. With the increased awareness about chemicals being used on vegetables and fruits in the food industry, you can make sure your own greens will be the healthiest ever! Also, local food has much more freshness, flavour and nutrients because there is no transport process. On top of that we will reduce CO2 emissions because there will be less transport if everyone starts urban farming.

3. Urban farming can revive our neighbourhoods. Do you even know your neighbors right now? You will when you start urban farming! Neighbours can exchange the crops they have in surplus, because when it's harvest time you will have way too much to eat it all by yourself. Sharing is caring!

source: image left - image right

This could be one of the most important movements of our time. Imagine everyone having their own little garden. Eating healthier, reducing CO2 emissions, reviving your neighbourhood. And if you don't have a garden or balcony at all, like me, you can still make it work. Just put a teeny tiny greenhouse in your windowsill. You can grow herbs, or even small vegetables. Go urban farming!

At the end of the 20 days, you can send each other one message. Will it be goodbye? Or will it be a beginning of a new friendship?  

“If it works, if it succeeds, you’ve started to model the life of a stranger in your head and maybe in your heart, and if it really works, you start to realize that all the strangers around you all have complex and rich lives." (Kevin Slavin, director of MIT Media Lab’s)

Source: 20 Day Stranger

We live in a world that's constantly changing. Although this change can be a little bit scary sometimes, it's a beautiful thing. If you keep this in mind, you'll discover things you've never imagined to be possible. Hello Tomorrow will show you all the beautiful things, because every new day is exciting and filled with new possibilities.

Let's discover. Hello Tomorrow!