As most of you know, one of my brothers lives in the Netherlands. 😃 I had several weeks off after the fall semester ended and so I decided to spend the holidays visiting him. It had been 2 years since we had last seen each other in person, and he had also moved within the country, so I was really excited to see him and his new home! 🏠

After navigating a canceled train service to where he lives from Amsterdam 🚊 and having to find buses during a bad storm, we made it! He lives in the north of the country in a super quaint and pretty city. We got to celebrate a friend’s birthday 🎂 while I was there, as well as visit a neat outdoor market.

The bikes here are such a sight to see! 🚴🏻‍♀️ Stacks and stacks of them, and bike riders everywhere! I thought I would probably eventually get hit by one because I’m not used to having to watch for them! 😂

Rotterdam! 😃

We spent the majority of our visit staying with Tanner’s awesome friends, Vesna and Jeroen, in Rotterdam. They were the most wonderful hosts! 🥇 We were so lucky to have such generous, kind, welcoming people to spend the holidays with this year, I feel so grateful! ❤️ Vesna made us multiple delicious meals and homemade bread, and we got to watch great movies, have some really fun talks, and enjoy it all with their sweet cats. Thank you SO much Vesna and Jeroen, you guys will always have a special place in my heart for all the love and care you gave us this visit!! 🥰

Brielle! 👑

One of Tanner’s friends lived in London for a number of years and wanted to celebrate Boxing Day after Christmas. She was nice enough to invite us to celebrate with her, and so we visited the town of Brielle with her family. Brielle is a fortified city that is situated on an island of land in the western part of the country. It played a crucial role in the Eighty Years’ War and today has one of the highest per capita counts of monuments in the country. 

It looks like something out of a story book! We had a lovely dinner as well as several beautiful walks through the town.

Escape Room!

I had only ever attempted an escape room once about 5 years ago, and we did not escape. I wasn’t super excited about trying another one, but the same sweet friends who invited us over for Boxing Day, met up with us again a few days later for an escape room, and we escaped!! Yay! It was a really fun experience! We also grabbed drinks and snacks afterward, and I got to try the famous Dutch bitterballen, or fried ‘meatballs’. They were like fried gravy and pretty tasty.

Friend Visit!

While volunteering in Zimbabwe two years ago on the start of my travel trip, I met Ineke, an avid traveler and adventurer. She lives in Belgium, and it turns out that she was only an hour drive from Rotterdam! She was nice enough to drive up to meet us for lunch one day while I was visiting. It was so great getting to see you Ineke!! Can’t wait til our next adventure! ☺️

Amsterdam 🌃

I had one over night in Amsterdam prior to flying to Hungary for a week, and was lucky enough to spend the day with my sweet friend Stefan. We met while traveling in the Galapagos in 2022 and it was so great to get to connect again in person. He took me all around Amsterdam, including to the infamous Red Light District, and also treated me to the best vegetarian lasagna I have ever had (which he made from scratch, including the lasagna noodles!!). The whole experience was such a treat, thank you Stefan!! 😃

2024!! Happy New Year! 🎉🥳

The last year and a half has been a bit tough living in rural Maine and deciding to head in a different direction career wise, but I am feeling hopeful about the new year ahead! Being able to end 2023 with family and friends in the Netherlands was a much needed injection of joy in my life and I am SO grateful to my brother (and Vesna and Jeroen) for hosting me on this trip! I miss you guys already and can’t wait until our next meeting! Love you guys and thank you! ❤️