My Black Coffee Journey

My Dramatic Cut on Sugar

First Published: EntrepreneurJourney.com Dec 20, 2013

Nothing is impossible as long as you decide on something, make plans, and persevere to make it happen. This is how I made it possible to switch to black coffee.

In the past, I used to take 3-4 sugars for Tim Horton or McDonald’s coffee 7-8 sugars for Starbucks’s coffee. After reading on the harmful effects of sugar and salt, I decided to cut back on both of these. It was not instantly that I gave up on sugar. Rather, I gradually decreased my sugar intake. Just about a month ago, my final sugar (before turning to black coffee or tea) intake was 1 to 2 spoons with coffee or tea.

As I felt I was ready to try going without sugar, I tested coffee and tea without sugar and cream for 2 weeks. The first week was difficult, but the second week was not that bad, as my taste buds got used to it. Then what happened next? After two weeks of going without sugar, just to see how it felt with sugar again, I started coffee with sugar and cream again.

Surprisingly enough, I found out that I did not like coffee or tea with sugar and cream anymore and it just did not feel right.

As it stands right now, I am very happy with my black coffee or tea and will continue it that way. If you would like to cut back on sugar, start gradually right now and it’s not that as hard as it may sound.

Why Choose Garmin Vivoactive HR (Over Fitbit Blaze)?

Garmin Vivoactive HR or Fitbit Blaze Smartwatch?

First Published Date : January 9, 2017 ADawnJournal.com

I have been contemplating buying an activity tracker or a smart watch for a while. However, I put it off because I did not want to pay full price and I kept an eye on them whenever they were on sale. However, this 2016 Black Friday sale presented me with an opportunity to buy a smart watch at 40 percent discount. The two major options I had were the Garmin or Fitbit smart watch. Today, I will talk about why I picked Garmin Vivoactive HR over its competitor, the Fitbit Blaze.

Author/Copyright: Ahmed Dawn www.adawnjournal.com

Here are my 2 most important reasons:

Bluetooth Concern – Smart watches or activity trackers send or sync information to a computer or smart phone via Bluetooth. Bluetooth does the job via low-level radio frequency waves. These waves are non-ionizing waves similar to those used by cell phones, which have been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Although Bluetooth EMF radiation is much lower than a cell phone’s, there is not enough information or research on the long-term health effects of activity trackers.

Lack of information does not translate to evidence of safety and I wouldn’t be comfortable wearing something with Bluetooth always on. Here is where Garmin comes in handy, as it gives the option to turn off Bluetooth as I wish, which Fitbit is lacking. With Fitbit, Bluetooth has to be always on and there is no option to turn it off. For that reason, Garmin is my choice.

Waterproof – Garmin is waterproof to 50 meters. I can swim or shower wearing my Vivoactive HR and it’s no problem. On the other hand, Fitbit is only water resistant, not waterproof. You cannot swim or shower with Fitbit but it’s OK to splash slight water on it like in the rain or washing hands, etc.

There are other aspects where Garmin does better than Fitbit, such as having a GPS, better notifications, and so on. But the above two factors I described are more important and they are the deciding factors for me buying the Garmin.

Eagle Creek Load Hauler Expandable Carry-On Duffle

Eagle Creek Load Hauler Review

As my 4-country, 1-month trip is approaching fast, I was looking for a hybrid convertible carry-on that could serve me for one month traveling without any other bulky luggage. Whenever I travel, I do not check any luggage. So my carry-on has to be a versatile piece that can work as a backpack, briefcase, or something that can be carried over the shoulder.

After searching frantically online and watching many reviews on convertible carry-on bags, I decided on the Eagle Creek Load Hauler Expandable for these reasons:

- Ultra lightweight & water-repellent Geo Ripstop ballistic fabric. Weighs only 1 lb 13 oz or 0.83 kg

- Regular capacity is 49 L, but can be expanded to 57 L

- Quick access pockets that makes airport security checking a breeze

- Good looking and attractive price point. I have seen similar luggage at $300 - $400, but at $150 the Load Hauler is fairly priced.

Now my challenge is to fit everything for my one-month Australia-New Zealand-Singapore-Malaysia trip in this Eagle Creek travel hybrid bag. I will be carrying a Chromebook and 2 or 3 cameras for my YouTube Channel Travel Videos  

I will make several videos on how I pack everything and how comfortable or not so comfortable it is carrying my gear in this travel bag. You can also track my full trip on my channel. There will be business class flight reviews, airport lounge reviews, and travel videos. If you haven’t subscribed already, please subscribe now to track this trip.

I have made a review video on the Eagle Creek Load Hauler Expandable, which you can view by following the highlighted link.

Dubai - The World Most Dividing City

Dubai – City of Choice

The city of Dubai has become one of the world’s favourite topics of conversation, in a way that no-one could possibly have foreseen a decade or two ago. This remarkable part of the world has surely caught the attention of us all at one time or another, for reasons that may be considered good or bad, but which nonetheless provoke debate. It has to be asked – is Dubai the world’s most dividing city in terms of opinion?

To begin with, it is worth looking at a reason why people love Dubai. There are many reasons, and among them is the blatant ostentation of the city. Although liable to turn off as many people as it attracts, the immediacy of Dubai as an attention-grabbing city cannot be denied. Huge towers like the Burj al-Arab and the soon to be completed Burj Dubai are not, to put a fine point on it, necessary. But then, the same could be said of a lot of smaller, less opulent buildings. These towers astound, and captivate, a great number of people. They make us talk about Dubai, so they serve a hugely important purpose.

However, there are many who complain about the processes that get buildings like these built. Dubai was not a busy, glittering metropolis in the middle of the 20th century. This has happened at very short notice, and the way it has been done is always going to raise a question or two. A lot of people who visit Dubai for a holiday come back and say “well, the room was comfortable, the food was great and the entertainment was marvellous – but that construction noise spoiled the whole thing!”. Dubai is still building – and that is not without its problems for those who enjoy the quiet life. Murmurs about the working conditions on these sites also abound.

However, if working practices in a construction industry are now reason enough to hate a city, you might say that London, New York and other major destinations should be boycotted. There are very few places in the world that were built using altruistic processes by benevolent construction companies. That there are questions about Dubai even today is not encouraging, without question, but there is also justification in the claims of the people of Dubai who consider much of the criticism to be due to envy.

At the heels of the hunt, you are either going to love Dubai or hate it. There are clear reasons for both conclusions, including the fact that ostentation is something that draws strong reactions. If you like glitter, a buzz and an experience that will astound you, Dubai is a place to go. If you want peace and quiet in a centre of cultured gentility, then it may be best avoided. Either way, people are not going to stop talking about this fascinating city any time soon. Any city, after all, which makes it snow inside when the temperatures outdoors are shooting to uncomfortable levels, as seen at Ski Dubai, is worth taking notice of.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Travelnowsimply.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to ahmeddawn.com. This article originally published on the above website on June 13, 2009.

Why Decluttering Makes Perfect Financial Sense

How Hoarding Can Be Your Enemy

First Published: October 1, 2009 ADawnJournal.com

Many of us find that the key to being financially secure is to ensure that we always have one eye on what is coming in and one on what’s going out. Making sure that there is more coming in than going out is, in most opinions, absolutely essential. But hoarding money is one thing, while hoarding possessions is quite another. Many people become quite attached to their possessions, and will keep the old ones no matter how many new they add. The reasons for this are perfectly understandable – when we bought them, these possessions represented something useful to us. It is often quite a wrench to part with them.

However, the time will come when you cannot move because your house is so full of the many things you have collected without even really noticing, and after a period of time just squeezing things in wherever they will go starts to be both difficult and pointless. In this case it is really worth thinking long and hard about whether you actually need half of the stuff you have accumulated over the years. Of course you wanted it at the time, but the fact is that you have probably got by without it for some time now. Maybe someone else could get some use out of it. This is where online auction sites like eBay come in extremely useful for you, and for others.

If you have got to the point where you have so many hoarded possessions that they are beginning to bulge out from every available corner, then it really is time to de-clutter, and one way of doing this is to sell some of the things that you have collected it. If you are a hoarder by nature it is probably still in fairly good condition anyway, so why not have a look and see what people might pay for it? You might actually find that you benefit from having your own policy of only buying something new when you have cleared some space to put it into. Rather than just throwing it all into a dumpster – which a surprising number of people will do when it comes to the time to rearrange things – you could put it up for sale and make some money – allowing you to budget better for anything new that you buy.

You will find that if you use online auction sites, people will pay more for an item that has some rarity value, or that comes as part of a pair. The more things you have that are like this, the better when it comes to trying to raise some cash. Of course, you may find that some of the possessions have sentimental value to you. It is perhaps a good idea to hold on to some of this if you feel that you would be negatively affected by selling it on. The best advice in this situation is to ask yourself whether it is something that is preventing you from moving on, or something that helps you remember. This will help you decide.