Personal Updates

13 articles

Something I’ve learned in my life so far: it’s full of adventures and surprises, and you can make whatever you want out of it. For me, writing about my life is an outlet and a way of self-reflection. That’s why I like to share my life adventures in the form of some random brainwaves or just a short update on how I am doing and what’s going on.

Five tips to make your (temporary) house feel more like home

In my own little house, I feel safe and at ease. It is cosy and comfortable and that makes it possible to relax, to recharge and to do the things that make me happy. But even though the feeling of ‘home’ is very important to me, I have lived in quite a few different houses over the past few years. It is not in line with my need for stability, but it is what it is. About two years ago, I found the homely feeling I was longing for, in my own little house from the 1930s. In which I also hoped to find stability.

Read more

Why I decided to stay 29 for a little longer

Last year, I did not celebrate my birthday. Or rather, I was not able to celebrate it. Shortly after corona turned from a simple flu virus into a serious pandemic, celebrating your birthday with family and friends was anything but a wise thing to do. This year is no different. Another lost birthday. This time not made impossible by a move or another major life event, but again by the coronavirus.

Read more

Hello from my studio in Ibiza

When my father drives me home in the evening, just before the curfew starts, we pass an information board on the highway. “Stay in the Netherlands. Together against Corona.” It sounds so obvious. When I let the words sink in, I realise that I wish it were that easy: to stay in the Netherlands. In my own little house, in the city that I can call home, close to my family and friends. And yet, although that is all very important to me, I am now writing this from my studio in Ibiza.

Read more

A long-distance relationship in times of corona

It is early when I am walking to the train station. It is still a little dark outside and behind the windows I see how breakfast is quickly being eaten and the laptop on the kitchen table is being switched on again. We live in a strange world… My train leaves in nine minutes. I accelerate a little bit to make sure I don’t miss my train. My first destination of the day is Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Remember? The place you usually visit when you go on a holiday. For me, no holiday. I will hop on a plane to be together with my love again. Also in times of the coronavirus.

Read more

A few more words about 2020…

The year 2020 was one of the darkest years, but also a year in which I learned a lot about myself. ‘Everything that could go wrong, went wrong’. That is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of 2020. I lost my job at KLM before I even started, I had to go through a lot in terms of love, I had to say goodbye to my little hamster girl Roo, who got a nice spot in the garden, and most of all I have lived in a lot of fear, uncertainty and loneliness. All thanks to the arrival of the coronavirus.

Read more

How to quit smoking; my experience with Champix

Today it is exactly four months since I quit smoking. And I can hear you thinking. Huh? Smoking? You? Mm-hm. “I would have never expected that from you.” It is the most common response I get when I am seen with a cigarette. Four months ago, after many years, I decided that it was enough. I had never been so convinced. Partly because this time I really felt the motivation to quit, but also because during this attempt I got help in the form of a little pill: Champix.

Read more

A new job: how it all worked out in the end

It is a year of extremes. If you had told me at New Year’s that we would be facing a pandemic this year and that I would be sitting at home unemployed, I would probably have laughed in your face. First of all: a pandemic? That only happens in movies. No way that the whole world shuts down overnight. And secondly: if I end up sitting at home unemployed, then something has really gone wrong somewhere. If anyone makes well-considered choices in that area, it’s me. So a pandemic and unemployment? No, I don’t see that happening any time soon. Boy, was I wrong…

Read more

The week that was meant to be different

Today would be my last day off for the time being. Tomorrow my alarm clock would not go off at seven o’clock, but earlier. Amstelveen is not just around the corner. I would be on the train with a strange feeling in my belly, of both excitement and enthusiasm. On my way to my first day at KLM: the start of a new chapter.

Read more

Living in a world with the coronavirus, without a job…

Strange, isn’t it, when the world suddenly looks completely different from one day to the next…? It’s an unpleasant period that we all have to overcome, and we will. I’m sure of that. But the fact that we don’t know how much longer it will take, sometimes makes me a little nervous… And that while we are only two weeks underway.

Read more