If you’re happy and you know it
Answering the question ‘how do you measure happiness in Europe’ is a tricky one; there’s been no end to surveys, polls and graphs. For example, little will ever be rotten in the state of Denmark according to the infamous results of one survey in the mid-noughties. Reaching beyond the feasibility of statistics, cafebabel.com’s citizen journalists have opted to share the happiness they have at hand, which is synonymous with pan-European experiences of travel, having company and celebrating the non-traditional. In this week’s special edition, happiness is not just a topic restricted to the girls. Read the profiles of a Mediterranean boy and girl who charted very different courses to ‘happiness’ through travel. Or learn how to laugh, even at something as melancholy as a break-up (Image: (cc) Pink Sherbet Photography/ Flickr)
cafebabel.com boys speak: what makes Europe’s twentysomething men happy
We girls probably think that macho attitudes, making money and succeeding are what make boys happy. After all, why is it so hard to get them to share on ‘happiness’? Apparently not. Winning a game, doing nothing, a tipple, the latest gadget, friends, girls - a pan-European select number of lads share what makes them smile – and why we girls are different. Vox-pop
love, alcohol, vox-pop, travel, friendship, youth, health, society, family, men and women
How an Italian boy became a ‘happiness coach’
Born in the land of ‘la dolce vita’, Bergamo-born Frank Ra, 32, travelled Europe before publishing a book on happiness. He offers his thoughts on spiritual scepticism, being a former erasmus student or ex-pat and how ‘no place is perfect unless we accept it with all its features’
travel, erasmus, psychology, health, society, books, men and women
The rise of divorce parties in Europe
Inspired by a trend from the United States, an increasing number of companies and services are being established in the UK, France and Germany. Amongst the European Union member states, divorce was not possible until 1970 in Italy, 1981 in Spain 1995 in Ireland and, most recently, 2011 in Malta
Tips for taking a ‘laughter yoga class’ in Paris
Laugh for the sheer pleasure of laughing. Laugh standing up, laugh sitting down, laugh lying on your back, laugh sprawled on your front, laugh during the day, laugh at night, and most importantly, laugh with someone else
Spain: leaving crisis behind to find 'happiness' in and of Latin America
Valencian-born Ainara Aparici, who has lived in Italy and the US, has been travelling Latin America since March 2010 and has directed a documentary. She says the continent has much to teach us about things that we often overlook and forget about
