We are travel-obsessed, and we are sure you are too! It is okay if you can’t travel much in 2021. Promise yourself that you make 2022 the year of your most extraordinary travels.
Now traveling to places is something every person wants to do, but few can accomplish it. It isn’t that difficult to save money if you determine to do so.
Here are four trips you should take in the new year 2022:
1. Great American road trip
The United States of America is a big country. Flying to each destination isn’t possible because the costs got too high. Since you’ve worked so hard this year, give yourself a month-long road trip to America. Choose your travel route and get lost; it’s okay.
Visit the Statue of Liberty, Golden Gate of San Francisco, and the zoos in the north. Don’t forget to pack a lot of food and eat at local diners to get the best flavor of that city or town.
2. Visit Iceland
Known as the land of fire and ice, Iceland is a country that you should visit in 2022. It has active volcanoes and natural geysers amidst a thick layer of snow. You get food and hot chocolate everywhere you go. And let’s not forget the Northern Lights.
3. Go on a cruise
Check the cheapest cruise available online and take it. It might be a cruise from Mumbai to Goa or Chennai to Thailand, and you need to experience the grandeur cruises have in them. Check for a cruise that is at least three nights and four days long.
4. Live countryside for a week
Live countryside for a week and eat food made on coal. You will never forget the taste of this food, and it will linger on your taste buds forever. Spend a week and detoxify your body with all pollutants you took in a while living in your urban city.
5. Road trip on the south coast of Australia
Go on a six-day road trip in South Australia with many friends. Start in Sydney and enjoy your road trip in Perth. Avoid staying at hotels to cut the cost. Load your car with many carbs to keep you active and awake all the way along.
So, now that you know the trips to take in 2022, what are you waiting for? Make your plans, book your tickets, pack your bags and get going.
You need to visit Austria right now, yes. And no, we aren’t kidding. Austria’s beauty lies in its charming villages covered with acres and acres of trees. If you are passionate about coffee and cake, you just found one good reason to visit Austria.
For those hoping to travel to Europe one day, Austria is a must-visit for them. And today, we will tell you the best reasons you need to visit Austria right now.
For eight times in a row, Vienna has received the first rank for the city with the best quality of life. It has a vibrant culture, cheap rent, clean air, affordable public transport, and low crime rates.
The Alpines of Austria are the prettiest mountain range you will ever come across. It is spread over 400 km of land. Travel through The Eagle Walk to get the most breathtaking view of the Alpine summits.
The countryside has a lot to offer to hikers, with natural beauty and gorgeous landscapes.
3. Art and culture
Austria has the most beautiful museums and galleries in the world. Over the centuries Austria has produced some of the finest artists like Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, and Rudolf Ritter von Alt.
Visit Salzburg’s Museum of Modern Art for its mind-blowing contemporary art and live traditional and modern music.
Vienna is known for its rich art and cultural scene, and ever since the 19th century, the legacy is still maintained. Other cities are also developing immensely in terms of music, art, and culture.
4. Affordable travel
Austria has fully functioning state-of-the-art public transport that is very cheap for its quality. There are regular buses and trains and the scenery out of the transport makes it an even worthy experience.
Plus Austria is easy to explore, visitors can go from one city to another at ease.
5. Food and coffee
So, foodies, there’s no place than Austria when it comes to food and coffee. Austrian claim their country to be the world capital for cakes.
They are so serious about it that once a war raged among two cafes because one accused the other of stealing the recipe and claiming it to be original. Weiner Schnitzel, Tafelspitz, and Frankfurter are some traditional Austrian dishes to try.
6. Stunning architecture
Now, those with keen eyes for beautiful buildings will love a trip to Austria. The architectural style across Austria is strikingly beautiful.
Many of the buildings in Austria were built around 1918-1984, and such buildings are considered highly creative and innovative for their time.
Well, we have given you the top 6 reasons to visit Austria. Now, it’s your turn to do the work.
Don’t we all dream of traveling around the world? While it might take years for most of us to fulfill this dream, some people have already accomplished this.
Henrik Jeppesen, a 27-year old full-time blogger, traversed the world with an unthinkable budget of $ 20 per day. Here’s his inspiring story
The Story Behind
Jeppesen grew up in Thy, a far-flung area in Denmark with just over 40,000. He envisaged himself touring the world very early in life.
At the tender age of 14, he resolved to visit at least 50 countries throughout his existence. This number soon rose to 100 before he finally crossed every country listed on the map.
“Ambition without action is fantasy” – Bryant McGill.
Slowly, he began saving up and researching how to travel more economically. This approach led him to use local couch-surfing sites and hitchhiking in many instances.
However, the path he had embarked upon wasn’t an easy one. He often found himself sleeping in public places. Once, he ended up napping off at a bus station in Niger.
Many of us wouldn’t even imagine doing something like this out of fear for safety. But the fearless Jeppesen says, “The world is a safe place to travel.”
Very soon, his blog started gaining momentum, and by 2010, hotels offered him free stays in exchange for being featured on his blog. He claims to have stayed in over a thousand luxurious hotels so far. Now, who wouldn’t like that?
After visiting over a hundred countries, in 2012, Jeppesen approached the airlines to fund his flight tickets. More than 100 airlines have sponsored him until now. He has spent about $ 60,000 to $ 80,000 on his world tour spanning over 3,000 days.
Jeppesen has a following of over 100,000 on social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. His blog, often leading to business partnerships, is the sole source of income and supports himself.
Every inspiring story comes with the struggles that went into achieving success. He said it was challenging to obtain Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Angola visas.
He has even had some horrific experiences. For example, when he was touring across India, the driver of the car he was hitchhiking stopped in the middle of the journey to down an entire bottle of vodka. Luckily, he reached his destination safely after a couple of hours.
Jeppesen finally achieved his goal of traveling to every country when he visited Eritrea, East Africa. His top 3 picks are South Africa, New Zealand, and Italy due to diversity, people, various landscapes, and food.
There are still 36 territories that Jeppesen hasn’t been to. He has even been to the most dreaded place of all globally, North Korea. In his opinion, it was one of the most exciting travel experiences of his life. His new goal is to set a new world record by visiting all 325 countries and territories.
Jeppesen Tips to Plan a Cost-Effective Trip:
• Pack light, You may be shocked to know that Jeppesen traveled to all the countries without a suitcase! He only had his phone, credit card, essential documents, headphones, and an extra pair of undergarments.
• Use free miles and credit card points
• Avoid fancy restaurants
• Read more and more travel blogs
• Hitchhiking is the way to go! However, try to avoid hitchhiking at night as it can be hazardous
• Opt for low-cost airlines
So, if you follow these tips, even you can have a cost-effective trip and follow your dream of traveling the world.
A multilingual brain is a smarter brain. Whether you’re traveling to a new country or trying to build a skill set for your next dream job, then knowing a second language not only boosts your employability but also makes you better equipped at dealing with people from multiple backgrounds and nations.
Not to mention that knowing multiple languages open several career doors for you. So, we have curated a list of the top foreign languages you should learn for more versatile career options.
Top 5 Foreign Languages to Learn
Here are the top 5 foreign languages you should get a grip on.
1. Mandarin
Mandarin is the official language spoken in China and ranks as the most spoken language worldwide.
With such a huge influx of Chinese nationals into international workplaces, knowing Mandarin becomes imperative to deal with the high number of Chinese employees, bosses, and clients all over.
This needs to be done as China is now an emerging superpower with a GDP higher than that of the US. It is a difficult language to learn but worth the bargain.
The Middle East isn’t far behind with such dramatic growth in its economy and a fast-growing market with a vast number of Middle Eastern investors and business enterprises.
Arabic ranks as the 5th most widely spoken language worldwide, and most countries in Africa and the Middle East converse in this language. Learning Arabic is a difficult task, but with the rising popularity of this language, even in Western countries, you need to master it.
Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world, with more than 405 million people conversing in this language.
It is easy to learn, and many countries in Spain, Latin America, Mexico, and the United States have a lot of people conversing in this language. It will enhance your career prospects.
Germany is the largest economy in Europe, which means greater investors, more clients, and corporate initiatives all over the world. Germany’s ties with the UK also make it an important language to master, and even the import and export businesses are in the hold of the Germans, which certainly makes it important to learn this language.
Many job opportunities are opening up for people who converse in German. It is easy to learn, so you’re at an advantage.
Portuguese is commonly spoken in Brazil, Portugal, and some regions in Africa. Brazil, an important trade destination, has a maximum percentage of Portuguese-speaking people who find it hard to grasp English.
Although Portuguese is not a very popular foreign language, the economic growth in Brazil is fast growing which enhances the prospects of learning this language. It is similar to Spanish hence easy to learn as well.
So, these are the five foreign languages that will give you several advantages if you have a good grip on them. You can learn any of the above-mentioned languages online.
Finding a job after that fancy university degree can prove to be a total burnout experience as not many employers can meet your workplace expectations.
It is difficult anyway in today’s times when the competition has become so intense and finding a job that suits you best can take some time.
You need to motivate yourself not to give up constantly, and here are a few pointers on how to do it.
Tips to Stay Motivated
Following are the tips to stay motivated.
1. Get Specific With Your To-Do List
Haphazard job quests will only leave you more frustrated. You need to be more organized and set daily targets to help you achieve the maximum and quickest results.
Have a target of 2 to 3 employers every day so that you don’t overburden yourself, and your diary entries will help you achieve your goals faster.
It is easy to be discouraged when you don’t find a job. But all the successful professionals got where they are today not by a quick turn of fate but by continued perseverance and many failures on their way.
Take a cue from their stories, read about successful professionals, talk to your established seniors, and you will feel more inspired and motivated to continue with your endeavor.
3. Seek Constructive Criticism from Your Supporters
You need a constant review of your professional practices to see where you’re lacking. Whether it’s your resume formatting or interview dynamics, getting constructive criticism from your seniors and peers will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses and help you move forward.
In order to be a successful professional, you need foresight and ambition. And for that, you need to list your goals on a piece of paper and then embark on achieving them one by one.
They can be your milestones and will give you direction too. This practice helps keep you motivated and organized.
When you’re constantly on a job lookout and get little results, your frustration not only makes you lose your focus but also clouds your judgment, making you desperate to just look for a job whether it suits your work ethic or not.
Just take a few days off and forget your interviews and resume and pitches for a while. This will help freshen your resolve and refocus your mind.
So, these are the five tips to stay motivated when you are looking for a job. The point is to always keep believing in yourself and not let failures bring you down because every failure in this world is temporary.
So, give yourself a break every now and then because good things come to those who never lose hope and keep working for it.
For a long time, the United Kingdom has been every Indian science student’s choice for further studies.
Four out of six top universities of the world are in the UK. Even after its exit from the European Union, the count of international students hasn’t gone down.
The UK offers some of the most affordable courses all across the world. The biggest advantage is that post-graduation is a one-year course. It saves a lot of money and time, and you can also start working earlier.
Average tuition fees in the UK are around 13538 euros per year. The following list doesn’t include the college fees.
Here’s what your monthly cost of living in the UK looks like:
Rent – most students share apartments in the UK. On a sharing basis of three students living in a 1BHK, it will cost you £395 per month. If you want to rent the apartment on your own entirely, the cost goes up to £1050 per month.
Food – home-cooked meals are the best, and they also lower costs. If you do most of your cooking at home, it will cost you £145 a month. But if you eat out more often, the cost goes up to £250.
Gas and electricity – both total up to £70 a month. If you stay on the university campus, the electricity cost is included in your monthly rent. Usually, college accommodations are costlier, and students don’t prefer them because there are a lot of restrictions.
Mobile bills – on average, it goes up to £10 – £12 a month.
Stationery and study materials – students often get gift cards from universities to buy stationery. The costs aren’t that high without a discount either. You don’t need to invest in study materials because all universities have massive libraries from where you can take textbooks for studying. Also, professors do mail you study material to support your study.
Attending an MBA course at the Harvard Business School costs $68,000 for one year.
It is a course of two years, and any well-known business school in Europe costs $71,000 for it, which is a lot of money. Almost every student comes out of Harvard Business School with a debt of $86,000. They do get paid well, around $150,000, but that’s a lot of debt.
It is very difficult for every working professional who aspires to do MBA to save money. There are many other expenses as well. This is where you need to get creative.
And we have curated ways for you with which you can pay the debt without jeopardizing your future savings.
Ways to Pay Money for your MBA
Here are four ways you can pay money for your MBA:
1. Business school fellowships
Many business schools offer generous fellowships. All this money is grant money that means you don’t need to pay it back. Harvard Business school offers fellowships of around 50 percent of the college fees.
Many companies offer employer scholarships. They notice your potential and send you to business schools to study.
There is no work component in it. However, this happens in terms of a contract. After graduating, you have to continue working with the company for a few years.
Once you are enrolled in a business school, you can become an assistant to any faculty. The college will pay you for that, and you will get a hands-on experience of what it is like.
You can also become an administrator, a research assistant, or a junior researcher.
Two loans open for postgraduate students are Stafford Loan and Grad PLUS Loan.
The Stafford Loan has a limit of $20,500 a year. It is available at an interest rate of six percent p.a.
The Grad PLUS Loan covers all costs of attendance. It is available at an interest rate of seven percent p.a.
These are the four ways by which you can pay money for your MBA. Get creative to invest your earnings in the right place and not in the interest of a debt you took to study.
Do you end up worrying about your office backlog on weekends? Does the weekend give no respite to you during the rest of the week?
If yes, then you seriously need to get yourself together. Managing workload isn’t difficult, and who wants to be worried about the backlog instead of partying on a Saturday night?
Can’t manage it? Let us help you out. Check these tips to manage your work better so that weekends can be more exciting and relaxing.
Tips For a Better Weekend
Following are some of the tips that will help you have a better weekend.
Don’t procrastinate
Putting off work is the worst thing you can do. This will lead to the accumulation of more and more work, and then you will realize that you can’t complete it in time for the deadlines. And last-minute freak-outs are really not pretty. So just avoid procrastination at all times.
Have a well-structured plan in place for your work goals. Being disorganized about your tasks will just lead to poorly managed work. And that causes a pile-up of extra work on the weekend.
Plan your schedule with a step-by-step chart for completing your work. This will help you achieve your targets in time with zero hassles on the weekend.
Only take enough work that you can manage. Taking all responsibilities for a project on your head will just burn you out. Don’t take up more responsibilities than you can manage.
You may want to end up in the good books of your boss, but this may just backfire. And your work-life balance will suffer too.
This one applies, especially for freelancers. The more time you spend on social media, the more unproductive you get. Browsing through your newsfeed at work is a never-ending affair. So just keep away from this when you’re working.
Save yourself the distraction, you can scroll through memes all weekend, and in order to be able to do so, you need to keep away from your phone when you’re working.
This one has been mentioned so many times, but the tip is worth a try. Maintain a diary, or just set alarms for your work goals. Accomplishing your daily tasks becomes much easier when you have a list of your daily goals. You will be surprised to see the results!
So, if you also want to enjoy your weekend, follow these tips. This will make your weekends less stressful and more enjoyable. A proper balance of fun and work-time is the key to getting success.
The word boss has a lot of negativity bound to it. Bosses are meant to be leaders. Propelling progress by being an exemplar for subordinates to follow. They can encourage you and appreciate your efforts. Unfortunately, that exists in fantasy for most people. So how do you deal with this ‘bad boss’? These tips will help you out:
Is your boss really bad?
Before concluding that you have a bad boss, make sure you get your facts right. Observe your boss’s behavior over a few days. Is the behavior bad for everyone? And is it under some external influence? It might be something out of your boss’s control that is modifying the behavior.
Identify the reason
If your boss doesn’t like the way you do certain things, it may be because it gives a bad impression to others. If you want to smooth things out, you can let your pet peeves take a back seat for a while and let your boss’s ones prevail.
It will make things harder for you, not for your boss. If you decide to slow down, you will not only get the boot, but it will also make its mark. So relax and try to get along with other managers in your workplace to compensate.
Avoid Triggers
If you’ve done your homework well, you will know what causes your’s boss to meltdown. Avoid doing those things, and the truce between your two will hold.
Anticipate
The next step is to know what your boss expects and get those things done before getting a reminder. And then your boss need not keep watch on everything you do.
Getting along is really not that difficult. If you really have a bad boss, the best thing would be to remember these tricks. That does not make you a coward. But sometimes, ‘playing dead’ can help you survive.
3 Tips to Follow If Your Boss does not like you.
What do you do when you realize your boss doesn’t exactly like you? Bad blood with the boss can turn your office hours into nightmares. This will also create difficulties in the work environment. Here’s a quick guide.
Stop overthinking:
Of course, your performance review matters a great deal, but overthinking about it will just drive you insane.
Don’t be worked up about their feedback- just work on the points and stop being anxious. The more you try to understand what they said, the more your mind will get worked up and the lesser you’ll focus on your work.
Make sure that your performance is up to the mark. Focus on every point your boss has mentioned, and just don’t delve deeper. If you prove to be an asset to the organization, the the personal equation with your boss will not ruin your work prospects.
If you notice something amiss about your interactions with your boss, just don’t sit back until a confrontation happens. You should talk to him about this.
It might sound impudent, but it will help you get at the crux of the situation, and you may be able to sort the issues out. This will also give your boss the impression that you’re interested in reaching a consensus and will ease the tension while thwarting the animosity.
Create a support system:
You need to create a strong network of allies to up your networking game and also keep a tab on what someone might say or do against you. In many cases, you’re stuck with supervisors who dislike you.
Keep a group of mentors and advisors alongside you in the form of co-workers. Have meals, grab coffee with them and discuss your work issues without sounding vindictive. Be respectful and friendly so that you have people to watch out for you.
4 Ways to Tell Your Boss you Need a Raise
So you’ve been slogging it off at work, chasing targets and achieving the unimaginable. Your appraisals look awesome, while your boss seems to be impressed by your work ethic. And you also need to get that fancy condo for yourself, but that’s too expensive considering your current pay scales. If a raise is on the cards, but your boss hasn’t mentioned it yet, you will be in for a long dilemma.
To ask or not to ask.
Change your job? Nah. So don’t wait for your boss to make the first move. This isn’t dating, so just breathe. Here are a few ways to hint your boss for a raise minus the embarrassment.
Compare your salary with others in the same field.
You need some ground research to back up your raise request before you decide to face your boss. So just go on and find out how much is the median salary that people at the same designation and job profile as you in other companies earn.
You can also find this information online. Glassdoor.com is a good option.
Ascertain your credentials
Your salary depends a great deal on your qualifications and credentials. Are you qualified and experienced enough to ask for the quoted salary figure? You need to be very realistic and pragmatic. The amount of time spent under the current employer also counts, and so does the location of work. Big cities offer a greater salary always.
Examine the financial state of the organization
Remember, timing is very important. If there’s a financial crunch or a wave of uncertainty in the industry, avoid talking about a raise. And don’t just observe. Dig deep and do some reports. Get hold of the finance reports for a start.
Be well prepared
As soon as the iron is hot, strike on! Get ready to face your boss, and your way of negotiating needs to be just the same as marketing for a product, in this case, yourself.
Give your best performance; take it as an interview. Jot down your achievements and your contributions to the organization. After this, list your skillset.
And make sure to include your future goals for contributing your share in the company. Once you give a good enough presentation in this field, you can be assured that your boss will consider your request.
6 Tips to Mend Your Relationship With Your Boss if You got off to a Bad Start
We all share a love-hate relationship with our bosses. But when you get into their bad books, it can end up as a total nightmare because it’s your boss who determines your future career path.
But if that latest altercation at work has led to some bad vibes between your boss and you, you need to rectify that immediately or else being at work will not be a pleasant experience.
Here are six ways to make amends if you started up on a bad footing.
Be affirmative about what you want at work. You can’t just sit back and expect things to improve. This is the first step to making progress at any avenue in the workplace. Make changes in your own approach if necessary.
Analyze your boss’s behavior and preferences
You need to understand your boss well. His work ethic, way of communication, psychology, and preferences should be at your fingertips. You should find out everything about your boss, so you are prepared to handle any situation.
Ask Questions
Be as inquisitive and interested in all initiatives as you can. You need to show that you’re there in the organization to contribute and create value. That, irrespective of your equation with your boss, will establish you as a professional who is committed to his job, creating a bridge.
Stop Judging
Your boss is human, just like you, and he may be facing worse times than you. Be empathetic for his behavioral shifts. Take a step back when you feel the conversation is going nowhere and approach again for a consensus when you feel they’ve taken enough time to cool down.
Solve the areas of disagreement
You will have to solve the issue at large before you move forward with your relationship with your boss to rule out all unresolved conflicts. Accept their point of view and then address your concern. Don’t be argumentative. Instead, portray yourself as calm, polite, and accommodating.
Your boss will notice the change in your behavior. Be more positive at work and accept diverse challenges. Always have a work ethic that makes you productive. Be interested in the progress of the organization and express that in front of your boss.
If you follow these tips, you can definitely mend the relationship before it is too late.
Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid if You Want to be on Good Terms With Your Boss
The bosses in corporations are the most cursed and misunderstood people due to their strictness and no-nonsense policies.
It is a challenging task to be in the good books of your boss and ensure a healthy work environment considering the difference in levels and designation. But you have to understand that your boss is a human too, and he has the responsibility of ensuring the progress of an organization, and to seeing that all the targets are achieved.
Here are a few things to avoid if you want to maintain a cordial relationship with your boss.
1.Do not think that your boss is God or the Devil
You need to think about your boss as a fellow human being. Of course, that doesn’t mean petting their hair and gabbing about television constantly. Instead, try asking about their health and do not just be a cold-hearted opportunist.
This can help you maintain a better relationship with your boss. You may work at different positions, but a little empathy can go a long way.
Believe me; they can spot it from your body language. If there are any issues that need to be resolved, speak up and let them know. If you harbor animosity, it will be very difficult for both of you to thrive in the organization.
3. Never be condescending in dealing with your boss
Don’t try competing with them as it is unethical to do and can also work against you. Your work will speak for itself if you have what it takes to be on top. Trying to replace your boss and acting superior will only harm your reputation in the long run.
4. Never think of reporting your progress and contributions as boasting
Always keep your boss informed of your progress. This will make an impression that you are concerned about your career path and your contribution to the organization, further enhancing your prospects at work.
5. Be yourself and don’t try to burn yourself out
If you want to suck up to your boss and do work just to please him, it will reflect on your work ethic and productivity. If you need some time off, say it. You need to recharge your batteries to yield effective results.
Summing It Up
Your boss is also a human being; a few steps from your side can easily help deal with a bad boss. Proper communication and the right mindset will contribute profoundly to mending your relationship with your boss.
All you have to do is be a little more considerate about it.
There are so many people who want to study abroad, but only a few are able to go. Standing out of the crowd takes a lot of effort.
You should be willing to take the extra effort while your friends are partying. If you want to study abroad, you need to show some qualities right from the beginning.
Habits that make you a successful student abroad
Here are five habits that will make you a successful student abroad:
1. Read documents carefully
They are very proactive and read every part of the document carefully. In case they don’t understand anything about the document, they take notes and get it cleared as soon as possible.
Those who make excuses will never go ahead in their life. Is the visa expiry date coming up soon? Well, they would have already got the renewal done. When you live alone in a foreign country, you have no room for mistakes and excuses.
3. Always does research
These people are always ahead of everyone because they are good at research. When they enter the room, there is a different aura. Everyone likes intelligent conversation. Too much information has never hurt anyone. It has always done well for people.
If you can’t do things on an immediate basis, you will never go and study in a foreign country. Studying abroad involves a lot more than just good grades. You have to run all around your city to get the work done. You miss or procrastinate one, and you’ll procrastinate the rest as well.
5. Take care of themselves.
If you are dependent on your parents or partner for little things, then you are never going to go anywhere in life. Successful people are independent but value relations. When you are living in a foreign country, you have to take care of yourself financially, health-wise, and mentally as well.
So, these are the five habits that every student willing to study abroad must have.
