Trips of 2021

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a very happy Christmas! As the new year is approaching, I’d like to look back at 2021. Just as last time, this year was different than we’d all hoped and expected. It’s easy to focus on the negative but I want to look at the positive things. Because a lot of good did happen this year for me and there was room to travel. It was a difficult year in some ways but there were also some events that I can happily look back on. Getting engaged was definitely the highlight of my year and I can surely say that my wedding will be one of the highlights for 2022!

Travelwise, there were still some really cool trips that I took. Time for an overview!

Star Cubicle, Twente and Ootmaarsum

We had booked a tiny house called a Star Cubicle for a weekend in Januari. The idea was lovely, unplugging on the countryside, going on walks, visit the city of Ootmarsum, eating marshmallows by the fire, and watch the stars from our bed, as the tiny house had a glass dome on the roof. Two unexpected things happened this weekend. First, we didn’t see any stars because it was snowing (which doesn’t really happen a lot in my country) and secondly, I got engaged! Boyfriend asked me when we got home but the memory is still linked with this getaway ♥

Amsterdam Beach

A couple of months later, we went on another trip in our own country, namely a weekend getaway to the beach near Amsterdam: Zandvoort, where we also saw some tulip fields and tried to find some deer. It wasn’t the most exciting location for a getaway, but it was lovely and we had a great time.

Yoga Retreat

I’ve wanted to do a yoga retreat for quite some time now, so last year, I thought, I’m just going to sign up for one! It got postponed again and again, but finally, in the summer of 2021, I was able to go. It was in my own country, not too far from my house, but it was a whole new experience for me. I wrote a very long blog about it, take a read if you haven’t yet!

Dijon

When summer came, the lockdowns were over and we were free to go. Since covid started, I’ve been dying to visit Nice again and when the time came, we could finally go. We set out on a roadtrip, but had a stopover in Dijon before we headed towards the sea. Dijon was another really lovely city, with a whole different vibe than Nice.

Two Times Nice [of: Double Nice]

Nice was amazing. The weather was fantastic, the sea as blue as it could be and we had an amazing time. We went to the beach, explored Cimiez Hill and got locked in a couple of times…

Unfortunately, the trip I had been looking forward to for years, was cut short due to some family circumstances. So we couldn’t stay as long as we had wanted. But that just meant that we could go back a month later, when the weather was even better and the sun was shining fiercely, and we the ocean was at the best possible temperature.

We were still able to do all the things we had wanted, like visit the old city, Castle Hill, Palais Lascaris, Museum Mamac and just spending some time relaxing. It was amazing and even though I now have been in this city twice this year, I still want to go back!

Paris

Because two times France in one year isn’t enough, we also went to Paris this year to shop for wedding rings! What better city to buy them in? And we decided to go for the weekend, so we could also do some sightseeing by night and visit the Louvre!

Days out

We also had some days out where we did fun things. We saw deer in Amsterdam, went to Delft and Breda, took a walk with alpaca’s, saw Bob Ross’ art and a lot of birds.

Travelwise, it was a pretty good year, still. I didn’t do all the things I had wanted. We didn’t really visit Belgium or Germany, or the United Kingdom, but we did go to Nice twice and visited Paris. Hopefully, next year will be filled with even more adventure!

Trips of 2020

2020 was really something else, and not in a good way. I don’t have to tell you about it, because we have all lived through it. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the positive, because we did have some good times and I actually did manage to travel for a bit this year. Time for an overview!

Disneyland Paris

One of the highlights of 2020 was celebrating my 25th birthday in the happiest place on earth: Disneyland Paris! It was absolutely wonderful (especially since we were all oblivous to what was to come) and by far the most magical place I have ever spent my birthday!

Rome & Florence

The other highlight was our trip to Italy. 5 days in Rome, 5 days in Florence, both almost completely without tourists. I had never been to either city and it was so cool to see a city like Rome, that’s usually bursting with life, as quiet as it was now, and I absolutely fell in love with Florence. Who wouldn’t? With such beautiful architecture, the gelato, the sunny weather. Oh, can I go back already?

China Light Festival – Ouwehands Dierenpark

We also spent an afternoon in the zoo, watching the panda’s and the lions and then we had dinner, while we waited until dark for the China Light Festival.

Drove an old-timer

Driving an old-timer had been on my list for ages, though now I am not so sure why. We rented a Fiat 600 from 1968, drove around for a bit and had a panic picnick. It was absolutely terrifying. The car was super adorable but I didn’t really like the driving! I appreciate my modern car so much more now!

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is always fun, and we visited a new museum called Wondr, which was an absolute blast. Pools filled with marshmallows, painted furniture, and the biggest ballpit I have ever seen. It was so much fun! Afterwards, we strolled through Amsterdam for a bit and had lunch at the Cat Café.

Maastricht

We have a couple of beautiful bookstores in the Netherlands that I wanted to write about, so we visited Maastricht to browse one of them: Dominicanen, which is located inside an old church. Maastricht is a cute city with great stores and apparently, Sangria, and we had a great sunny day!

Botanical gardens – Utrecht

Can you believe I studied in Utrecht for three years, lived there for a bit but never visited the botanical gardens? We thought it time to change that, so we visited them in summer this year. It was so beautiful and I had a lot of fun taking pictures of butterflies!

Alkmaar

We spent a day roaming the country with Alkmaar and the cheese museum as a fun first stop. Alkmaar is a fun town that looks a lot like Amsterdam, with the canals but without the tourists.

Zaanse Schans

The next stop was the Zaanse Schans, which depicts the Netherlands from the 18th century. Windmills, old houses, crafts, clogs, you name it and it’s there. I had never been there, but read a lot about it and it seemed like a fun touristic place to visit, which it was!

Ruin of Brederode

Third and last stop was the Brederode Ruin, because, well, castles! It was beautiful and old and very informative.

If I look at this list, it’s pretty obvious that 2020 was not a complete waste. And although it was a very rough year, I am pretty certain that we all could learn from it. To see what things are actually important in life and what it is that you want to do. It was a good time for reflecting, if you ask me. So maybe it was not all bad. I for one have made some great plans for 2021 that I maybe would not have made if not for this weird year. Stay tuned!