So many of our generation spend their days searching for nonstop and complete happiness. In books, in conversations, in constantly reminding ourselves what to be happy about, thankful for. We are so busy writing lists of what to appreciate that we totally miss out on just going out there and well, live. The good and the bad, the happy and the sad. The health, the sickness, the wealth, the shortness on money, the nature, the city, the active and the lazy days, the lonely ones and those filled with love. It all matters, it all is living. Not just the evenings when you can note down at least five things you have been grateful for today. Also the ones where you are angry or cry into your pillow. Living is changing the things you can change, not forever educating yourself on how to find the strength to do so but to execute your plans, bit by bit and step by step. Living also is coming to terms with the things you can't change. And you don't have to love every single second of it. You are allowed to despise parts of your job. Nobody can tell you not to have days where the mirror isn't your best friend. You can be annoyed, desperate, you can be all of it. You can be human. Weak and strong. Quiet and loud. We feel like the society we personally live in, the one with enough time and freedom to constantly overthink - it's a society consumed by the search for perfection. Perfect happiness, perfect health, perfect contentment, perfect relationships and that means not just with your partner, also with your friends and most importantly, with yourself.

So many tourists flood the country during wintertime in the hope of catching a glimpse of this spectacle but in all honesty they are just really, really lucky if they do. The first time we spent a few days in Iceland we met a journalist who already visited the country 8 (!) times to finally see them dance but he never actually did. There are so many tour operators offering expensive night drives to go see Aurora but well, chances are damn high you won't see a thing. No guide can change the weather or intensity of the solar storms and they will still take you on that drive even though they already know there won't be any green phenomenon to be seen. Over the past three years we did figure out how to calculate all given factors to have a realistic chance on seeing them, though and today we're gonna share those tools and apps. So if you ever come to Iceland and you wanna check out what you're chances are - you're perfectly equipped to make the best out of your stay and not spend hundreds of bucks on a tour without any lights. Those tour operators will probably hate us for saying this but as long as they don't offer to cancel the trip when the sky is all cloudy or the forecast is not high enough OR at least offer something awesome, instead - then don't book such a tour and rather opt for a rental car and go chase them yourself! There is three things you need in order to see the Northern Lights: a car to go somewhere without any light pollution (do NOT go to Grótta like everyone so blindly recommends, more about that later), the Icelandic weather forecast (really only trust that one) and a reliable app that tells you the actual Aurora forecast for the past couple of weeks. But let's dive into those three factors a little deeper:

Arriving in the city of rain on an overly sunny day certainly is a good start to 48 hours of pure bliss, arriving into a suite of The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver even more so. When we walk through the entrance on 900 West Georgia Street we have no clue what to expect. Royal Halls are greeting us, a warm welcome by the incredibly friendly staff and the feeling we just jumped straight back into times where the Pacific Railway Company built such châteauesque beauty all over the country. Tired from a full day of traveling we make our way into our rooms and for a second we can hardly believe our eyes. Have we just been invited to a cup of tea at Daisy Buchanan's? The suites are huge, come with modern, yet incredible classy and elegant interior, serious bathroom goals and the comfiest beds we've most likely ever slept in. The perfect mix between the now and back in the day. In the morning we open the curtains to a bright blue sky and a magnificent view over downtown Vancouver. The breakfast hall is incredibly beautiful, as well and comes with such amazing historic decor that you are not sure if you didn't somehow end up in the 1930s and are suddenly traveling the country by train - a highly luxurious one, that is. Such nostalgic glamour and elegance, we are immediately in love. We order french and avocado toasts and and well if you dine in a 5* luxury hotel you do certainly expect good food - it exceeds our expectations by far, though.This surely all sounds like a hymn of praise but we are not exaggerating, at all. The french toast is still remembered as the best one ever eaten and even though we tried to recreate it at home several times by now, we always failed. No idea what the chef did exactly but damn, it was the breakfast of our dreams. Another plus of the Fairmont Vancouver is it's amazing location. Our plan for the day is to take the sea plane to Whistler Backcomb and the walk to the terminal is only a 10minute stroll through beautiful Vancouver, which is more than convenient. We have slight trouble to say goodbye to the hotel, already but hey, the next adventure is waiting for us and we secretly swear that we will make our way back into those incredible halls one day. We mean, both of our honeymoons aren't booked yet…

We are taking eating habits and our health very seriously. We cook a lot, we buy fresh ingredients, we bake our own bread and we educate ourselves. We aren't vegan but we still eat a lot of soy, prefer oat milk over diary and opt for the veggie course whenever we eat out, vegan even, if available. We try to get rid of refined sugar and replace it with date syrup or ingredients alike. We sure love ice cream and we are suckers for a good cake, yet we think that you absolutely are what you eat. We find it a little funny how many people are highly suspicious when it comes to nutritional shakes or food supplements in general but feel like it's no big deal to head out to KFC and other fast food chains where you basically eat what they scraped off of the floors. Balance truly is key to a healthy lifestyle and that means eating at least three times a day, drinking a lot of water and try to opt for fresh fruits, veggies, quit on sugar and go for walks, daily if possible. We live in a time of change. Where we keep our lives organized with cellphone apps, where artificial intelligence gets more and more integrated into well, basically everything and where we have smart solutions and options for whatever you can think of. Smart light, smart electrical devices and an Alexa that turns our music on and reminds us when to take the bread out of the oven. We feel it's weird how many people still make a fuzz about food supplements even though at least every third person struggles with having normal eating habits.

Adventure is out there. It's in exploring places you haven't been to, yet and in finding new beauty at those you've visited a hundred times. It's in smiling at a stranger and getting an honest smile back. It's in the miracle of being pregnant and giving birth to a new human. It's in moving into your first own apartment or settling down in the one you consider to be your forever home. It's in a new love or in falling in love with the same person over and over again. It's in shielding your eyes from bright sunlight, in dancing snowflakes, in the first sip of freshly brewed coffee every single morning. It's in the little things and in the great challenges. It's in new discoveries and beloved old habits. It's in friends and family, it's in laughing, it's in every single day and every breath you take. It's in the fact that our brains are wired in a complexity we can hardly understand. It's in the fact that music makes the brightest day even brighter and gloomy weather beautifully melancholic. It's in the fact that we are able to dance. It's in every single day. Take our daily walk for example. It's the exact same round, day in and out. The only change is between going clockwise or counter-clockwise. Other than that you could say it's forever the same old, same old. Except it's not. The sky ALWAYS looks different. Sometimes it's low tide, sometimes high. Sometimes the ocean is completely smooth, sometimes the waves crash violently against the shore and massive tubes roll over the the sea.

In Anbetracht der Zeit sind wir Menschen nichts weiter als ein Staubkorn in der Sanduhr des Universums. Wir sind ein Atemzug, ein Lächeln, eine Träne, ein schlagendes Herz. Wir sind eine kurze Verknüpfung von Lebenswegen, ein Weitergeben von Geschichten und Träumen. Wir bauen Häuser, welche ein paar Generationen vorgespult längst zerfallen sind, wir hinterlassen Fußspuren im Sand, die der nächste Sturm wieder verweht. Währenddessen rauschen die Wasserfälle unendlich weiter, die Flüsse graben sich tiefer, es schneit und taut und schneit und taut. Vergänglichkeit ist uns in die Gene tattoowiert, bestimmt uns, gibt den Zeitrahmen vor. Wir sehen das Leben von Jahrgang zu Jahrgang mit anderen Augen und anderem Verständnis und dennoch werden wir seit Anbeginn von den selben Wünschen getrieben. Suchen den Sinn in unserer eigenen Existenz. Wir sind nicht viel mehr als Fackelträger des Daseins, reichen die Flamme unaufhörlich weiter, während wir uns an die Menschen drei Generationen vor uns längst nicht mehr erinnern können. Das Einzige, was wir im Rahmen der Zeit anstreben sollten ist ein glückliches Leben zu führen, niemanden zu verletzen, die Natur mit Respekt zu behandeln und dankbar für den Funken zu sein, der an uns weitergegeben wurde.