2007 has definitely been the year with the largest numbers of trips outside Romania. I started it in Istanbul, visiting Kiz Kulesi and saying my good-byes to this city laying on two continents. Four months later I was visiting Greece (mostly Athens) for the first time. It took a long drive to get there and an even longer one to get back, but it’s been really, really amazing!

While these two trips were quite short (3-4 days each), I then moved to a different level: nine days in the beautiful Netherlands! While there, I met Trisi and Bart in person and visited Amsterdam, Alkmaar, Hoorn and the Hague. And had a grand finale of 3 days in Bulgaria, laying in the sun.

As the winter holiday is almost here, another trip is due. Turkey, Istanbul, again. Same incredible hotel as last year. More amazing places to visit. Different friends to show them to.

But I have a feeling 2008 will be even better. Although there will be a lot of business traveling involved, I am supposed to see the US, Canada, Spain, France and the UK, India, Singapore and Hong Kong, Egypt (yes, Cairo ), Dubai and Johannesburg. I know bloggers in most of these countries. I hope I get to meet you all!

Meet you there?

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Time: 8.10 am. Temperature: minus some centigrades. Speed of my car: about 20 km per hour. Road: icy.

And I almost killed someone. Old lady, barely walking. With ice on the road, she just started crossing the street, no traffic light, no marking, no nothing. She just did not look and crossed. Thank God for the ABS and low speed. Thank God I have enough brains and driving experience to know ice means driving with the speed of a snail!

I barely stopped in time. I was scared like crazy. I thought nasty and mean things of her. And shouted something like: “If you don’t care if you live or not, at least think about the life you could have ruined”. She did not hear me, the window was shut. I still feel bad and a bit scared.

It would have not been my fault. It would have still meant severe injury (given age and general state of health) or, God forbid, death. I would have had to live with that for the rest of my life. I wish people would stop to think more often…

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December is that special time of year when everyone starts to think about everything that happened in the past year and to also make plans for the next one. And something always happen when we think about the year to come: we think it is going to bring us more, to be more happy and overall better.

Given it’s already mid-December, Bogdan’s question about my plans for 2008 is kind of a natural question. But I have not had enough time to think of every thing carefully. So here are some random wishes, expectations and targets for 2008.

First of all, I hope to finally take my license exam at FJSC. I postponed it for way too long as it is. I can’t really let it linger forever, hoping it will go away, can I? Seriously, not finishing this makes me more miserable than the tiredness and extra stress it brings, therefore it’s a quite logical decision.

Secondly, I plan to have a little company on the side sometime next year. That’s still pretty hush-hush. So don’t ask for details, I won’t give them until I finish the FJSC thingie

I also hope the work related plans for 2008 don’t change and I get to see 3 more continents. In theory, I’ve been in the Asian part of Istanbul, so 2 more would be more appropriated. But 3 sounds better!

I wish to see my friends more often. That’s something that’s really missing at the moment. We are all busy and have hectic lives, but I feel I haven’t tried enough. I think I can do better and I hope I manage to.

I wish to have more time to read and to do the little things I love, like taking trips and photos and going to concerts. But above all, I hope my relationship with D remains as wonderful as it is right now. I hope we’ll keep loving each other, taking dancing lessons and have fun together. Because the stress, problems and work issues are not such a big deal when you have someone to support you when you need it mostly and that part we’ve got figured out by now.

What do you wish for the new year to bring?

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During this specifically crazy time of year, when everybody has to do a lot of things, when deadlines crush you, numbers give you head aches and planning and strategy keep you awake, Mig was thoughtful and sweet enough (as she usually is) to remind me how important it is to be nice, by making me blush a lot with the Nice Matters award. I’d like to first thank her for her constant support, for the jokes and fun times that we’ve shared and generally for being Mig

I always try to be nice to those around me. I don’t always succeed, but every time I feel I could have done more or acted differently, I make mental notes of being a better person the next time. I also love nice people, as I am sure we all do. See, this trait of humans is really crucial to me. Why? Because daily nonsense is enough as it is, because things will go wrong at a certain moments and because we cannot be permanently happy. Why then would we make each other feel worse when so much good comes from one genuine smile?

As I have to pass on this award, I realize it has to be a limited list of people. I’d give it back to Mig, but that would put the award in quite a loop and she already knows I love her So, the Nice Matters Award goes to :

Bart – who has always been around when I needed him and who always has some nice thoughts to share. He simply knows how to make people feel better. I wish I am able to repay him with the same kind of support whenever he needs it.

Sarah – my old blogger friend who I miss talking on a more regular basis, but who is always there.

Tota - who has given my a lot of support during some nasty nights and who, although going through a very difficult and painful moment, still found time to reply comments and emails.

Zu – my daily dose of optimism, my preferred source for good books, nice music and interesting online reads.

Liz Strauss – for here extreme niceness and for being wonderful at making people feel at home.

And little bro Ryan – for his warm soul and all the times he was there for me.

And I could go on for quite a while here, but I cannot choose my whole blogroll (you can visit each and every one of these bloggers if you want to get to know them). Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being nice!

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While in many countries bloggers and journalists still fight over who’s bringing the right news to the public and over how social media will replace traditional media in time, no one ever overlooks the marketing power of blogs. Books are being written, search engine optimization (SEO) techniques are put into practice, special ad campaigns are designed, everyone pays for reviews from bloggers.

Why all that fuss? Why should companies, freelancers and all types of people with blogging suddenly care about how blogs can impact overall marketing strategies? Here are just a few reasons I’ve come across. Continue reading

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