Travel

Travel

Discovering Vancouver

Posted on Vancouver, Canada

It’s eight in the morning when I wake up. I’m glad to have slept for about eight hours straight, so I’ll have some energy for today. I call my parents to tell them about the journey. It’s nice that these days you can call from wherever you have internet just as easily as when you’re home. As usual the day starts with a workout and a shower. One of my friends got me really nice shower gel from Rituals for my birthday and it’s such a delight (thanks again Iris). Being rested and refreshed I get dressed and pack my bag to go into the city.

Travel

One day in Iceland

Posted on Vancouver, Canada

As usual I start the day with a short workout and a shower. It’s nice, they have a rain shower in this hotel, I love it. While waking up I think about what a great surprise this turned out to be. A free excursion to Iceland. At nine o’clock I have breakfast with my new travel friends. A Dutch man called Alfred and an American guy called Paxton who lived in my city for two years. While having breakfast together Paxton and I realise that we’ve actually briefly met once in the Starbucks where I usually work. The world is really a small place. As usual when I’m staying in a hotel I really enjoy the extensive breakfast.

Travel

The hardest part of traveling

Posted on Vancouver, Canada

I’m at Schiphol Airport only to discover that my flight is three hours four hours delayed. Fortunately I have my laptop with me, so I decide to just accept it and do some work. I’m thankful that I have work that I can do almost everywhere. I text my family and friends that the travel plans are delayed and contact Iceland air asking them what the plan is. They don’t know so much and can only tell me that I’ll find it out in Reykjavik when I arrive there. Either my connecting flight to Canada is also delayed and I can catch it or I have to get the next flight tomorrow which means I’ll have to stay a day in Iceland. I’m fine with both for now. There is not so much that I can do anyway. What’s more, the hardest part of the journey is already taken. Let’s go back a few days.

Travel

New adventures on the horizon

Posted on Utrecht, The Netherlands

Next month I’m flying to Canada to live there for a couple of months. Even though that sounds exciting, there are also moments that I think by myself ‘What am I doing?’. I have to admit that it’s a bit scary to go to a different place in the world where you don’t really know anyone yet and have to figure everything out. Somehow living in one place seems more challenging than just traveling around, but that’s probably because I’ve never done it before.

Travel

To buy a one way ticket

Posted on Utrecht, the Netherlands

The other day I met a girl in the coffee store who had just bought a one way ticket to Africa. Her family lives there and she had decided to go back to them. A few days later I met someone else that had decided to buy a one way ticket to Australia and both got me thinking about the idea of buying a one way ticket.

Travel

Why you should buy souvenirs

Posted on Schiphol Airport, the Netherlands

You might think that souvenirs are a waste of money, but I think otherwise. It’s not that I always buy a lot of useless stuff every time I’m traveling, but I like to to buy something when I visit a special place. It’s nice to have a reminder of a good memory. Recently I discovered the importance of souvenirs again.

Since a couple of weeks I’m working two jobs.

Travel

Adjusting to being back home

Posted on Maastricht, the Netherlands

It’s Friday morning and I’ve been back in the Netherlands now for almost two weeks. When I was traveling I hoped to be able to continue writing each day, but as expected that turned out to be harder while being back home. I wrote some pages on the first days that I was back, but I didn’t post them because it felt like it was quite mundane. Now that I quickly glance over the stories I realise that it could have been interesting to post them, but it’s okay. When I was traveling I wrote about what I did each day and that was great, because I could share my adventures with the world. If I write about my days while being back home, it feels more like a diary and since most people are quite busy I don’t think many people would have the time or interest to read it anyway.

Talking about being busy, that’s one of the first things I had to adjust to coming back home. People here are so busy. In traffic and in public places, everyone seems to be rushing. Coming back from high mountains, big forests and wide open fields, it takes some time to get used to living in little Netherlands again.

Travel

Going home

Posted on Utrecht, the Netherlands

When I have a flight to catch I usually set three alarm clocks in the morning. I wake up before they all go off and for a second I don’t know where I am. Then I know I’m in the hotel room near the airport. I wake up and post my blog of two days ago. The nice thing of being a little behind with blogging is that even when I’m back home, the story will go on for at least two more days. When I’ve finished the blog, I take a shower and go downstairs for breakfast. I always like to be early at the airport, but I still have plenty of time. I get my bags ready, go for a second breakfast and then make a planning for the week in my bullet journal.

Around ten o’clock I check out of the hotel and return my car to the rental company. I will miss this fine ride, my mobile home for the past six weeks. When I arrive at the airport I realize that I’ve forgotten my jackets in the car. I quickly get back into the shuttle bus and fortunately they have my jackets at the rental company.

Travel

A day in Denver

Posted on Utrecht, The Netherlands

At sunrise I wake up again. It’s five A.M. and I think I’ve slept about half a night. I woke up a few times and had to turn on the heating because it got too cold in the car, but other than that I slept quite well. I get myself a cappuccino and continue driving. After about half an hour I stop at my favorite grocery store to get food for breakfast. After having eaten something I drive further to Denver. I stop at a big outdoor store which looks a lot like the one in the tv show Last Man Standing. I’m super excited to go here. It opens at ten and it’s only nine o’clock, so I’ll come back later. I drive a little further to a Best Western hotel close to the airport and ask if I can check in early. They do that and I get a great room with a large bed and a nice desk. I place all my luggage in my room and drive back to the Outdoor Store.

The store absolutely exceeds the expectations. It’s huge! You can find here everything you need for camping, fishing and hunting. There is a big waterfall in the middle of the store and there are many stuffed animals like bears, mountain lions and elk.

Travel

A long lonely road

Posted on Denver, Colorado

I went to sleep sad last night and so I’m surprised to wake up feeling quite ok. Maybe it’s because I slept well or that the sun is shining, but I’m feeling better than I would expect on a day of leaving. I’m also surprised to hear upstairs that my grandparents are already awake. It doesn’t happen often that they wake up before me. I take a shower and pack the last things. Then grandma makes breakfast for me one more time. While I’m having breakfast she has to leave for an appointment. I think she likes it better like this way, that she doesn’t have to wave me goodbye. I think I do too, it’s hard enough already. I say to grandma that the hardest thing is that I don’t know when we’ll see each other again. She tells me not to think like that, but to know that we’ll see each other again and that’s what is most important. I agree and give her a big hug.

I stay behind with grandpa and finish my breakfast. Before I leave we sit down at the front porch and talk for a while longer.