Being back home

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Being back home

It’s been almost three weeks since I set foot on Dutch soil for the first time in half a year and for the first time in 2016. I almost got into an accident on my first night, cause I had been awake for about 50 hours and was cycling on the wrong side of the road. But apart from that it's been really great. Life in Holland is back on track. I'm working at the Beergarden in The Hague, doing bar work and organizing events. And seeing all my family, friends, cats, neighbors and colleagues again has been really fun; but can also be a bit weird at times. Lots of people ask me how my travels have been, but how am I supposed to summarize half a year of new countries, cultures, experiences and people? So I figured I’d make a list of all the things that I’ve done for the first in my life ever since I left home on the first of November. So here we go!



First time…

- Jumping onto a moving train

- Eating papaya (not my favorite fruit)

- Participating in multiple yoga classes a week

- Eating curry for breakfast

- Being in a rickshaw (been in so many since then)

- Seeing a lotus flower

- Befriending a goat

- Drinking an India Pale Ale in India

- Eating rice with my hands

- Riding a scooter with three adults on it (yes, Sabrina and Riley, I’m
talking about you!)

- Sleeping on a rooftop with nothing but a mattress and a mosquito net

- Seeing a Bollywood movie (which was hilarious)

- Visiting a camel fair (just as hilarious)

- Doing the Indian head wobble (at which I was surprisingly good)

- Walking through a holy city

- Sharing some sweets with a monkey

- Seeing a Wonder of the World

- Cuddling with an elephant (so cute!)

- Seeing a chicken get killed (not cute at all)

- Transporting grains in a big basket on my back

- Going on a multiple-day hike

- Jumping off a mountain with a person that I barely knew (he was my
paragliding instructor though)

- Slapping the bag (I blame Andrew and Kiev for this one)

- Experiencing what 44 degrees feels like (it ain’t fun)

- Celebrating Christmas at a pool party (so much fun!)

- Baking a vegan cake (with Dan aka Lord Vegan)

- Being more than 18.000km away from home

- Swimming with dolphins

- Stand Up Paddling

- Cycling with a helmet on (no need for that back home)

- Sleeping in a Spiegel Tent (thanks to Ben)

- Busking and doing henna tattoos for money

- Going hitchhiking

- Sleeping in a teepee

- Petting a dragon! (water dragon, but still)

- Hiking up a mountain before sunrise (great times, right Micheal?)

- Taking pictures of trashcans (they were really pretty ok!)

- Seeing a platypus (pretty sure his name was Perry)

- Taking a selfie with a kangaroo

- Staying at free campsites

- Living in countries that drive on the wrong side of the road

- Being on more than ten flights in a half a year period



In short: it's been a pretty amazing half a year! I wanna thank everyone who was part of it, and I hope to see you all again.

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