Grow Trails

25/09/2021

People are so SUPPORTIVE when they find out that I am doing the SNP trail. ♥️

Within two hours, a man started conversing with me about the SNP trail in a park, a lady near the mineral water spring Ifigénia wished me well for all my life, and then I got this muffin from hikers in the woods. Just because they wanted to share.

THANK YOU ❤️🙏

I will do my best to pass your kindness on.

16/09/2021

THE WAY IS THE GOAL (Cesta je cieľ)

Sometimes we set ourselves tasks and then the whole point of the day is to complete them. Recently I realized that not finishing a planned task stirs my emotions quite a lot, while completing a task does not necessarily bring as much joy, it just means thinking about what goal to set next.

Where is the happiness I thought would come if I just do this or that additional thing? If only I shoot a successful reel or publish a learning material that I’ve been planning for a long time… and then I do it and very little happens. The world revolves the same as before. I may be happier for a couple of hours but am already setting myself bigger, more glamorous goals. ‘If only I’d just do… I’d be happier.’ But really?

The life happens while we work on our goals, not afterwards. Sometimes it’s hard work and a struggle, but this is when we are alive. The joy is in the process. 

Yesterday on a 32 km hike, my feet were burning with pain at every single step I took and I so wished to already be at the accommodation in a warm bed. But then, why am I on the trail if I just want to be done with the hike? I remembered how each year when going home after a completed segment of the SNP trail I wish I could go further along the trail. I don’t want to be done with it. Realizing this, I started feeling immense gratitude that right now is the time of the year when I can walk the trail again. I do enjoy it even though at the moment every single step hurts. Being on the way is the goal in itself.

Today I’m again full of energy and ready to hike further. And I am very, very happy :)

More from my SNP trail journey can (soon:)) be found in my stories & highlights. Join me on the way.

27/08/2021

For all kids and grown up kids there’s the Open Campus event at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria. 

Last time we’ve been walking on liquid, made ice cream, played with self-foldable shapes and much more. 〰️🍨🐐

The hands-on science activities revolve around topics from biology, neuroscience, math, physics and computer science.
It happens on 19th September on IST Austria’s campus in Maria Gugging, near Vienna. Family-friendly event and free entry.

Come to play with science 🔎🧬🧫🧪🧲👩‍🔬👨‍🔬🔬☺️

28/07/2021

SUMMER MOOD, FREEDOM, SUN, JOY and SOULMATES 🌄🌻🍓🤹

The past year has brought many changes into my life, new projects, challenges, but also fulfilled dreams, revived friendships, then hard work, ups and downs. Desire to wait through the lockdowns because the summer must eventually come and all will be good again. 🌞

I’m very grateful for the past couple of weeks to catch a breeze of normality. Family visits and trips abroad are more special than ever. Seeing windmills along the highway associates with going home. Being on the go, wind in the hair, sun in the face. Total joy of freedom. 🕊️⛰️ 🍃🏠🤸

Catching up with old friends, long walks and endless conversations. Maybe it’s just a feeling but the conversations seem deeper than before the pandemic. Maybe each of us tries to make the most out of this time together. I feel happy and very grateful. ♥️

How has this summer been for you? Do you manage to immerse in the moment?

For me, it sometimes takes energy to stop worrying about the future, but summer has a magical ability to remind me of how much beauty there is around us. 🌻🍒

Some extra GrowTrails news for the week: I’m excited to say that a 💠Games booklet💠 is now available on the webpage. I’ll be making another post specifically about the booklet, but if you travel on holidays and are looking for an inspiration for quick and easy-to-set-up family games, you can already download the Games booklet at https://growtrails.com/games. 🧩🎲

Wishing you a joyful summer! 🌄

(last pic )

21/07/2021

Some photos from the test run of the `Emergency in the Research Centre’ game.
Saving the scientists 👩‍🔬👨‍🔬who got trapped inside a research centre was no easy task, especially when the crazy mathematician, mad physicist and a research scientist wouldn’t give out clues so easily 🔎🧬🧪🧩📝 😁

14/07/2021

Last preparations before testing a treasure hunt LIVE with ~15 test players. Very happy that the pandemic measures allow us to meet up in larger groups again and we get to play it together 🤩🤸🧩🧪👩‍🔬🧬🔎

10/07/2021

Let’s reveal solutions to the two puzzles I posted in my last two posts. ✍️📐💪 It actually turns out that they are the same puzzle - one is just a reformulation of the other🤔😁. Yet people perceive the first one as a very tough one, and only very few people can solve it correctly. But once you formulate it in terms of envelopes and add a post office plot 📬💌, it turns out that then suddenly majority of people can solve it correctly. 🎉

Why is it so? 🤔 No one really knows. But it gives us an indication that being good at math has to do with having enough experience and familiarity with the objects. ➡️ This may mean that almost anyone can learn mathematics if they practice enough. ✌️📏😍🎲

And what is the correct solution?📝 Well, you need to turn over the first card (A) and the fourth card (6). In the post office version of the puzzle, the correct answer is that you have to flip the open envelope and the envelope with a 3-euro stamp.

To see why these are the correct solutions, as well as to read more about the equivalence of the two puzzles, visit the Grow Trails blog post at https://growtrails.com/98-of-people-cant-solve-it/.

06/07/2021

Last time I showed a puzzle that only around 2% of people can solve correctly. This time it’s going to be much easier 😊

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
AT THE POST OFFICE 💌✉️📨📬

Imagine that sending a standard letter from a local post office costs 3 euros. On top of that the post office also offers the following service: they noticed that people are lazy 🤷 to glue the envelopes and so the customers can bring the letter in an open envelope and they will glue the envelope for them before sending it off. In this case, however, the customer must pay 4 euros.

Imagine that you work at the post office. 🏤 There are four letters in front of you as in the posted image: one with an open envelope, one with a closed envelope, one with a 4 euro stamp and one with a 3 euro stamp.

You know that each of them already has either a 3- or 4- euro stamp on one side and has an open or closed envelope on the other side. Your job is to check whether every customer who handed in a letter in an open envelope has also paid the higher postage. Which of the four envelopes do you have to turn over to find out?🤷
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

If you believe you know the answer, share it in the comments! 😁💪

04/07/2021

Another logic puzzle for a lazy Sunday evening, can you solve it? 🤔💪

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
There are four cards lying on a table. You know that each card has a letter on one side and a number on the other side. Your task is to check whether the above cards also satisfy the rule that “if a card has a vowel on one side, then it has an odd number on its other side”. Which of the four cards do you necessarily have to turn over to be sure that the rule indeed holds?
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Apparently, only about 2% ❗️of people can solve this puzzle correctly.
If you believe you are one of them, share your solution in the comments! 😁

26/06/2021

“Happiness is not just the absence of feeling unwell”, the lecturer said and I remember thinking to myself that THIS should be taught already at school.

The ‘Five ways to wellbeing’ study asks why do some people feel happier in life than others even when the external conditions are the same?

The research says that regularly doing these 5 types of things will improve our long-term happiness: GIVE, BE ACTIVE, KEEP LEARNING, CONNECT and TAKE NOTICE.

Our wellbeing is, to a large extent, in our own hands and we can improve it by the actions we decide to take :)

More about the 5 ways to wellbeing is in the blog post:

“Happiness is not just the absence of feeling unwell”, the lecturer went on to explain the need for positive psychology. Most of the medicine today focuses on treating deficiencies. But we can do better than that. Merely ensuring that people are not sick is not enough, we should be helping them ...

20/06/2021

‘Our edible city’ says the sign. The city of Klosterneuburg decided to plant various sorts of fruit and veg into these large pots in the public areas. All grown naturally and everyone is welcome to refresh themselves with a ripe strawberry or tomato, as they pass by. It seems to work! :) Plus it brings together strangers who would otherwise just ignore each other in the park. Now you get a strawberry and a chat with another human being for free :)

‘GIVE’ and ‘CONNECT’ are two of the Five ways to wellbeing. Let’s practice them in our own communities ❤