Ciao gorgeous! I am delighted to have you here and to gift you the launch edition of Macaroon magazine, a labor of love and months of fun in the making. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do in creating it and if I make you smile, then I've done my job. I'd value your feedback @wanderful.company ps I don't claim to be an Anna Wintour around writing, lol! My only intention is the feel-good factor in some way. xo Kirsteen travel solo travel rich Issue No. 01 • May 2021 • $6.oo Macaroon TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE Luxury for Less La Dolce Vita Tuna 'Agrodolce' How to taste luxury A day trip to San Remo Delicious Italian recipe on a solo travel budget for some Italian charm from the South Issue 01 MACAROON LAUNCH EDITION Food Italia Inspiration from the south of Italy Solo Travel Want a 10 year vacation? And yes, it is possible! Lifestyle tips A healthy dose of the happy tunes! Fashion feast Less is more: minimalism and neutrals La Petite Class French idioms that make you smile STAPLES 02 Editor's Note 04 Carrie Clops Does Motown 10 Feel Good Challenge 22 Solo Travel - San Remo 26 Recipe: Tonno Agrodolce 27 Luxury For Less MACAROON MAGAZINE | 01 Editor's Note From solo travel tips and hidden gems to the 'lounging with locals' series and yummy recipes, Macaroon celebrates the unadulterated pleasure that is travel... country bumpkin travel addict business girly A very warm welcome lovely peeps to the first edition of Macaroon, a monthly travel + lifestyle magazine inspired by 15 glorious years of non-stop solo traveling. I'm Kirsteen, the magazine's founder, and a solo travel expert Why the name Macaroon? who has one intention, to create 100 percent feel-good factor content. After many hours spent thinking In a world of fast-moving technology and media, many people are craving of a cute name, I kept coming happiness and balance in life. I was exceptionally lucky to grow up in the '70s back to Macaroon. And now it just and early '80s where everything was light, easy, and fun. Knowing I wanted to seems ideal. Their array of bring this to the brand, I came up with the idea of Macaroon. And besides, if colours are akin to the beautiful you can't find something, create it yourself! LOL. tones of the Mediterranean. And I also want to introduce you to Carrie Clops (page 5) a character created in they ooze the feel good factor packing a punch of flavor for such 2019 who is a cheeky blend of Bridget Jones, Mr. Bean, and Benny Hill. delicate little things. Making a monthly appearance, Carrie takes a comedic view that life is way Amusingly once I'd chosen the easier and funnier than it seems and you can find gold in anything if you look name, I realised that Macaroon is closely enough. Chapter One is out in June... in fact 2 words: Mac a typical Scottish name (my home country) A huge thank you for being here...lots of love... and 'aroon' Scottish slang for 'about'. Given I'm a Scottish xo Kirsteen nomad, it seemed apt. Did you know that macaroons were KIRSTEEN COWAN invented in Italy... Editor-in-Chief MACAROON MAGAZINE | 01 www.wanderful.company freedom... EVERYONE WANTS TO LIVE ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN BUT ALL THE HAPPINESS AND GROWTH OCCURS WHILE YOU'RE CLIMBING IT. ANDY ROONEY t hat sweet spot and merry dance of creating on the way to creation... MACAROON | PAGE 4 CARRIE CLOPS A REBEL’S GUIDE TO LIVING HAPPILY EVER NOW Taken from the book ''Carrie Clops Does Motown'' launching autumn 2021. Carrie is no normal girly. She’s a badass rebel with a big heart who has always believed there's so much more to life than ’’eat, sleep, work, repeat’’. Her refusal to accept boredom, sadness, or believe life was just bad luck at times, led her to question it all. And boy, does she question! And incessantly like a madwoman because her trusted bestie intuition knows this life lark is meant to be a whole lotta more fun... Excerpt of things to come in JUNE... ''I'm Carrie Clops, a badass B who craves happiness every moment of my day. I want it all you see! I want fun, I want love, I want adventure, I want sexiness, I want health, I want laughter, I want that high, and I'm not stopping until I damn well get it. I want as much as I can squash into my gorgeous life because let's face it peeps, there is no sequel, no rehearsal, no second go, no rewind, no control alt delete, no second takes, no third takes, it’s now. Do you hear that?! Take 10 seconds to ponder that thought. All we have is now. Yikeymikey! Therein lies the question….if we only have now, is my life now a WOW kinda now as I ask myself that right now? You keepin' up with me babe? You know, the kind of wow that sends a shiver up your spine like you're out on a hot date with Jason Statham and he ain't holding back. The kinda feelin' that no words can describe. If the answer is a big fat no, then life is about to get interesting around here...we got some work to do darlin'!'' MACAROON | PAGE 5 I promise if you take a leap of faith, the MOTOWN rewards will come, and the more you do it, the bigger the rewards will be. You can’t begin to imagine just how much! From MELODIES health and happiness, from energy and eagerness, from glowing and gorgeousness to the most incredible opportunities and Carrie Clops has been specifically written timing. Let’s face it, folks, dreams die in the with Motown references dotted comfort zone and why on earth would you throughout to stimulate the imagination. want to go through life not doing what you And that imagination is a smart cookie, it's really really want. That’s nuts, that’s big legal, free, and it's YOURS to do whatever nuts. That’s past the sell-by-date nuts. The the heck you wish! Remember that only limitation is you and your own self- imagination you were born with as a child, imposed mindset. So give yourself a gentle you were creating fairy tales, bucket loads fluffy slap on the face, and say ENOUGH! of them, happy in your wee head until I'M NOT SETTLING FOR MEDIOCRE, someone told you to grow the f..k up. NOW IT'S ALL ABOUT ME! Now it’s time to throw caution to the wind and to damn NOW GET BACK TO THAT KID WHOSE well live as I WANT! IMAGINATION KNOWS NO LIMITS... From Carrie, on this adventure, if you take Carrie Clops Does Motown has one one message you can implement into your MISSION POSSIBLE - to bring you fun, to day, you will change your life. If you bring you laughter, to bring you some change your output, your input WILL come escape from everyday life, to bring you a back to surprise you. Try it for 24 hours smile or two, to bring you happiness, to and watch how you feel, how people bring you imagination, to bring you ‘’new’’, behave around you, and how life just and above all to bring you a happy ride. seems better. You can’t make delicious toast until you plug in the toaster, so plug Is it possible to live happily ever after and it in young peeps. Plug in that feeling and have it all? Well yes, it is! But only if you watch the surprises unfold. believe it! Carrie will provoke some ideas in your pretty little mind, and give you But first: pour some bubbly, grab some impulses to do things. DO THEM earphones and play these Motown IMMEDIATELY, don’t wait, because your marvels as loud as you dare... cautious brain will talk you out of it like it's most likely been doing your entire life. 'Can't Get Enough of Your Love Baby' by Barry White Carrie's advice? Feel your way, don't think 'Love Train' by The O'Jays your way... Twistin The Night Away' by Sam Cooke MACAROON | PAGE 6 EYE CANDY May's Feel Good Challenge: Look for some eye candy in the street and maintain eye contact just for a few seconds more than usual. Just watch how people react. It's a lotta fun and the Argentines are the world's best at this. If you don't believe me, go to Buenos Aires. You won't want to leave...lol! C A R R I E X O MACAROON | PAGE 7 MACAROON | PAGE 8 macaroon life IF YOU THINK YOU ARE TOO SMALL TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, TRY SLEEPING WITH A MOSQUITO. D A L A I L A M A gotta love those little suckers...they never give up... MACAROON | PAGE10 FLEUR HAPPY SPRING M A P E T I T E FLEUR MACAROON | PAGE 11 MODA MINIMAL MOOD attitude... MACAROON | PAGE 19 ATTITUDE IS A LITTLE THING THAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE WINSTON CHURCHHILL make it count... MACAROON | PAGE 20 SOLO TRAVEL Cap Ferrat The beautiful region of the Cote D'Azur has so much on offer and an outdoor lover's dream. With more than 300 days of sunshine annually. it's no surprise it has been the playground for the rich and famous for decades.