Land of the midnight sun. Okay, I have to say that that sounds cool when you read it but it's really, really freaky when you experience it. Try to understand, you are sitting in your room surfing the net, waiting for bed time. You look up and think, "Ah, it must be about 7 AM." Then you check your watch and realize it's actually two in the morning. At sometime around 3 AM, it looks like its right before dusk and you are sure that it will be dark in thirty minutes. To your surprise, in thirty minutes it actually starts to get brighter again! No complete darkness!

This around the clock light thing completely screwed our sense of time up. Based on this, I came up with two guesses on what happiness in Iceland was. First, shutout curtains! 

Although they didn't work for me, I figured these must be a requirement in every home. My mind, however, still new the sun was lurking behind them and it didn't quite shut off.

My second guess was partying. How cool would it be to leave the club at 3:30 am and have the sun shine bright in your face?  Actually, after trying it the first time, it was rather disturbing and confusing.

It turns out that both of my guesses were correct. Blackout curtains are a necessity and Icelandic people love partying with the midnight sun.

One other thing that they love is their country itself, full of natural hot springs and gorgeous views, Icelanders take full advantage of the natural beauty and resources their country offers.

In Iceland, one of the things people really like is taking advantage of the many hot springs dotting the country. We got to visit the blue lagoon and it was sooo cool... Or warm, actually. The milky white/blue water was very soothing and beautiful to see. I can understand why they like this so much!

One thing that people in Iceland adore is their beautiful country itself. With views like this, I can't blame them. Standing on moss-covered volcanic rock that stretched to the horizon, I could feel the earthly pleasure that the locals here must feel everyday. 

Games and opening happiness 

While driving with our host in Togo we heard on the radio: ‘the three Coke Happiness Ambassadors are due to arrive and they will be here in the studio! Tune in to hear their stories and chat with them in person!’ Wow! Now that was unexpected, hearing about us on the radio was the coolest thing. We ended up being on two different radio stations for an hour apiece. People were calling in and telling us about their happiness. It was an amazing experience actually hosting a call in on the radio. In the evening we went to a street party organized by Coke. They had music playing and people were dancing to all the different African versions of ‘Waiving Flag’. I’m telling you these people know how to dance! They have natural rhythm flowing in their blood! Even the kids were shaking their legs to the music in a way I could not replicate. The people here love to hang out with their friends and play games. They are not afraid of making fools of themselves; it’s all part of the game. Going up on stage and ‘wooing’ a Coke bottle as a competition is just good fun for them. There is no embarrassment, only fun. It’s so refreshing and liberating to be a part of it.
I had a great moment with some street kids. They were hanging out outside the tent eyeing my Coke. I gestured to them that they could have it but an official shooed them away when they tried to come in. I got up and walked out towards them and held out my Coke bottle. They looked at me with big grateful eyes and took it as if I were offering gold. After about thirty seconds of sharing sips between them they had managed to empty it till the last drop. Then amazingly one of the kids came up to me and handed me the empty bottle and in the sweetest voice said ‘merci’ (‘thank you’). They all followed suit and then ran off looking back at me with happy eyes. How a bottle of Coke could bring such simple pure happiness and a wonderful exchange I will never forget.

Empacamos todo, bajamos a la recepción del hotel y nos dijeron que iríamos de Togo a Benin en carretera -cosa que me puso muy feliz-. Siempre he amado los viajes por carretera. Dicho y hecho nos subimos en la camioneta que nos llevaría a Benin. Una vez que cruzamos la frontera y nos encontrábamos en la hermosa tierra de Benin empecé a fijarme en las cosas que veía a lo largo de la carretera. Momentos sencillos, instantes que reflejan la simplicidad de la vida: el sentarse a la sombra de un árbol junto con un grupo de amigos mientras todos beben agua de coco; un niño corriendo que, junto con sus compañeros de aventuras, lleva la ligereza de la infancia y en su cara sólo hay una sonrisa pura y contagiosa; un gato persiguiendo a las mariposas; una mujer cargando a su bebé, con la vista en alto, orgullosa de la criatura que lleva en sus brazos. Observar estas escenas, aunque sean instantes fugaces que pueden parecer superficiales, me hicieron recordar de la importancia que tiene el valorar todo cuánto llega a nuestras vidas. Es la suma de muchas cosas pequeñas lo que le da grandeza y felicidad a nuestro transitar por esta tierra. Más tarde esa noche Tony y yo fuimos a una fiesta en una población de Benin. Nos cobijaba una hermosa noche africana: un cielo estrellado, un grupo de gente que disfrutaba del momento mientras bailaba al ritmo de la música local. En mi mente se encontraba fresco el pensamiento que las cosas pequeñas también nos permiten alcanzar la felicidad.

On our road trip from Togo to Benin, we could see very quickly that something as simple as shade was a very sought after thing in this blazing heat. It seemed that literally every piece of shade we passed was occupied by people trying to escape the sun. It was crazy the many different things people were sitting under including the shade of low brick walls and as you can see in the picture, the shade of a parked eighteen-wheeler. Wherever there was an eighteen-wheeler parked, you could bet that there were people take shade from it. Once, I even saw people laying on the road under the parked truck and another time I saw ladies sitting under a truck selling wares. With this type of heat though, shade, I can understand, is very important.

Being in the city of Casablanca makes you dream, for obvious reasons. But there is much more to the place. We were taken to visit two family homes in the modest areas of the city. In the first we met a housewife who welcomed us with tea and pastries. She told us about her daily life. Somehow being in a North African country where traditions are so different to what we know you would expect to hear something unusual about the daily routine of a Moroccan housewife. But she is like any other wife and stay-at-home mother I know. She is dedicated to her children and is happiest when they go out as a family. 
Next went to meet a teenage boy of 14. Now you would expect to hear him talking about the latest trend and the coolest music. But this boy was special. When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up he said: ‘I want to be a pilot so that I can take people to discover other countries and other cultures’. His goal in life is to learn languages (his English is already amazing) and travel. He is desperate to learn everything there is to learn and discover other ways of life. This boy amazed us all. He spoke in such a wise manner. He gave us all food for thought. And he didn’t even seem to notice the effect he had on us. Our translator was so impressed by him that he encouraged him to learn languages by offering his help. Everyone saw how much potential this young man has. 
We ended the day by visiting the biggest mosque in the world which simply took our breath away. And of course we could not leave without stopping by Rick’s Café. Just because.

All I knew about Tunisia is that it’s a popular tourist destination with its warm weather and beautiful beaches. This is true but there is so much more to the place. We started out by going to the market place or as they call it the ‘Souk’. It is not like any market place you can imagine. It’s all narrow crowded alleyways with small shops and stalls. You can find anything there! You can also easily get lost in that maize. The people we talked to there where friendly and willing to chat (maybe also hoping to sell something in the process). The main answers revolved around family and traditions. Although some youngsters did tell us that what would make them happy would be to go to Europe. 
Next we found a shop owner who offered to show us a beautiful view. He took us in and out of alleyways, through another shop, up some stairs and suddenly we found ourselves on a rooftop with beautiful old tiles on the walls and the remnants of palatial rooms. From there we could see the old city in all its splendor. For lunch we went to a very traditional and famous restaurant where you have to knock on a big heavy door to be let in. They also disapprove of men wearing shorts so Tony had to wear a traditional men’s dress while inside. The fact that I, a girl, was wearing shorts and a top with straps did not bother them in the least. How very refreshing! I like this place even more!

The first thing I noticed about Algeria was how European it looked. The capital is a mixture of French architecture and Arabian culture. The second thing I noticed was how friendly and easily approachable people are. Their sense of humor is equally striking. Within a minute of chatting to someone they’ll be joking with you like you’re palls. It’s such great fun!
When talking about happiness here I got the usual answers like ‘family’ and ‘friends’ but also more philosophical answers. A man in the park told me he thought happiness is a journey. It’s on the path that leads to the goal that you will find happiness, in the little moments of joy in life. Another one said that happiness could be found between two sorrows. If you do not know sorrow in life you cannot truly appreciate the good moments. 
I truly enjoyed my stay in Algeria. I had wonderful company and met some inspiring people.

Although we were only in Taipei for a very short time, there were two things that we got to experience that were definitely key parts of Taiwanese happiness. The first, Din Tai Fung! Din Tai Fung, Din Tai Fung! I could say it a million times and it would still get me excited. There is a legend in Taipei that goes by the name of Din Tai Fung. It is a world-renowned dumpling restaurant that is unbelievably delicious.

When we first met our host in Taipei, I mentioned the name of the place and her face lit up with excitement and recognition. Not only do tourists flock from around the world to enjoy the ridiculously good dumplings, the locals devour them in heaps as well. Anytime the name of this restaurant was mentioned, someone would smile. Now that's magic.

The other thing that we were able to experience here that is immensely popular is K-TV, otherwise known as karaoke. Us westerners may think that we can be pretty passionate about karaoke but it isn't until you see it in some Asian countries that you really see how it's done. Taiwan takes it to an even higher level than most, sporting an insane number of private room karaoke joints. We had the opportunity to hang out with people in our very own private karaoke room and their zeal and enthusiasm when the doors were closed was something unexpected. I'm guessing it's easier to let your inner singing diva free when you are in a private room with only your close friends in hearing range. It just so happened that it was in that private karaoke room that someone brought us take-a-way Din Tai Fung dumplings. In that small room, singing our hearts out with our new friends and eating the best dumplings I've ever had, it felt like the center of happiness.

Music, Games and Facebook 

We were welcomed to Indonesia by a press conference and a gazillion people. They all came to find out about our travels and show us what Indonesian hospitality is all about. After we had shared our stories it was their turn to show us what their country was all about. The first step was music. They love their music and have their very traditional instrument called Agklung (try and roll that off your tongue!) and didn’t only give us a demonstration but had us and everyone else play the instrument. They somehow managed to orchestrate us all into playing some songs. It was a blast! 

Then they wanted to show us what happiness was all about and the best way to do that, according to them, was show us some of the games they like to play on their National Day festivities. Pole walking, cycling around cones, we did it all while the crowd cheered us on.

Later in the day they wanted to show us some more of their usual activities. Young people like to hang out at food joints and simply enjoy each other’s company. Chatting to some young folk we found out that Indonesia is one of the top countries addicted to social media. Their happiness is all about sharing their thoughts, passions and daily lives.

Singapore is such an amazing, vibrant and colorful city that it is easy to find happiness around every corner. To start our journey, we visited a local university to meet with the students and find out what made them happy. 

The NYP university of Singapore has welcomes us with a lot of enthusiasm. They put on a great show for us! The contagious energy wave here is pulsing through the campus. I asked the MC of the show where all that energy came from. He has a very simple answer...

It seemed that hanging out with friends and enjoying food and games dominated the list of things that made them happy but it was their energy that shined more than anything. Throughout the day, they danced enthusiastically, sang with passion and laughed and yelled with vigor. I asked the kids to show us their happiness without saying it and they hopped around like bunnies, danced, made huge smiling faces and just all around acted like clowns. You could see that happiness was just a normal state and having the chance to express themselves was happiness all by itself.  

Meet the "crazy squad" of NYP university. These amazing people kept the energy flowing throughout the whole afternoon. They are unstoppable!