Jumping into the unknown
One itsy bitsy spider bite was all it took. To be more precise: one lethal bite from the notorious Greenback spider, found only in the Iraqi Desert. “Murderer, Baghdad…” her uncle had whispered with his dying breath, and now she found herself 3000 miles from home. The air in her room was thick with sexual desire and the sweet scent of jasmine. As the Adventuress looked up from her map to glance over at the beautiful bronze body asleep next to her, she realized something. She had never felt more alive.
Forget the image of the elderly, greyhaired lady, married to her typewriter. Agatha Christie was a feisty, freedom-loving feminist who wove her own destiny by traveling the globe and fearlessly jumping into the unknown. Writing was an equally important way for Agatha to define her sense of self, and how she delighted in infusing her female characters with her own combination of wanderlust and zest for life! But Agatha outshone even her most adventurous characters when she launched herself empty-handed into the second part of her life – she was 38 and newly divorced – with a spontaneous solo trip with the Orient Express to the Middle East. Here she found a new passion (archaeology) and her true love (Max Mallowan). “I had the firm conviction that, if I went about looking for adventure, adventure would meet me halfway,” she once wrote. “It is a theory of mine that one always gets what one wants.”
“Your travel life has the aspect of a dream. It is something outside the normal, yet you are in it. You are like the Vikings who have gone into a world of adventure, and home is not home until you return.” Agatha Christie
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Building bridges
From the Erasmus Bridge and the Mercedes-Benz Museum to Qatar’s metro network; Ben van Berkel’s iconic landmarks bring people together in rapturous beauty, again and again. I talked with the Dutch architect and educator about sensuality, ‘healthy’ buildings and the remarkable parallels between our designs.
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More than a feeling
Don’t ignore your emotions; they are much more powerful than you can imagine. By linking the magical world of emotions with hard science, Dutch scientist Pierre Capel, professor emeritus in experimental immunology, shows us the consequences of our feelings and the power of our minds. The message: we can do much more than we think. “Meditate. It’s the single best thing you can do for your health.”
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Marlies Says
Keto curious?
The fact that I feel bikini-confident all year round is, of course, a nice bonus. But for me, the biggest payoff of following the keto diet is the way it optimizes my health and gives me tons of energy.
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Marlies Says
Super (skin) food
‘If you can’t eat it, why put it on your skin?’. I pretty much live by this beauty adage. After all, with your skin being one of your body’s largest organs, anything – and I mean anything! – you put onto your skin will end up in your bloodstream.
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