So I want to see the world. Who doesn’t right?!

This wasn’t a decision that I made waking up one morning. It has been a process of slowly realizing the things that make you wonder why you are doing this all. A 9-5 job, rent, obligations, bills. I mean why do we “have” to live our lives in this way. It can’t be the purpose of this all. No if you ask me this question I’ll tell you that I do not know why we are here, but that I know one thing for sure. It isn’t to let it just pass by.

It all started in when I was 11 and I moved to Africa. We moved to Gabon where I got my first taste of living in a place so different to what I was used to. I had to learn a new language: French!!!! I mean for the first 3 months I didn’t understand a word that was said to me. But this continued as we moved around the continent along with my fathers job. From Gabon, Congo, South Africa to Egypt I’ve grown up abroad.

When I got back to The Netherlands it was completely new for me. I didn’t understand all the trends and even though it is my mother tongue I still spoke Dutch like an 11 year old. However, over the past 7 years I’ve learned to completely adapt to the Western system, got a degree in Mechanical Engineering and found a good job to go with it. But somehow something feels off. Like it just doesn’t fit or like life is just passing by without me actually living it. I just thought that this is how everything was supposed to work out, and actually never really questioned all of this

Then in June 2016 we backpacked through Thailand for a month, and this got us into the travelling mind set again. This month of travelling pulled us over the line and we decided to start preparing for a world trip.

I want to have this blog first of all for myself. A place where I can write about the travels, adventures, hard and fun times. But also for you, the reader, to try and tell you my story as it goes along. Hopefully reliving all the moments when I read my blog back in a few years, and who knows maybe inspiring someone to actually make the step and try it themselves.

I have started to adapt my lifestyle to be able to travel the world. I mean, where am I going to find the money to do this all? I’m trying to scrape together every hour at work that I possibly can, selling some of my possessions and we are moving to a small student house where we will live the remainder of the time we have left in The Netherlands. It sounds all very complicated and stressful to make these changes but I have found that it only gives me more energy and more motivation to keep going.

And then come all these questions about, what do I have to take care off before I leave? How do I leave this place? And I think I can go on and on with doubts that might in the end make you stay. I think that when you’re young and want to go out and discover the world, different cultures and learn to trust yourself, you can’t make a mistake. There will always be a place for you when you come back.

When I think back over the last years that I have spent in The Netherlands I think that I forgot one thing. And that is to have fun. FUN FUN FUN it’s what everything is about. Some people will tell you it’s not always fun and games but I truly think that it should be.

I’m a passionate diver and I’ve always dreamed of making this my living. Maybe one day owning a diveshop, who knows. All I know is that even though I’m doing something I’m good at, I’m not doing something that I love. And there is only one thing I can do about it, change!