It feels like it was still August yesterday, but no, fall has started and it’s already October. September went by so quickly. It was a busy and nice month and I would like to tell you more about everything keeping me busy in September. Sometimes travel-related, and sometimes not at all!
Andalusia and diving
I started the first weekend of September alone. Ries was with his father and brother in Andalusia and I stayed in the Netherlands to do something else fun: my first diving lessons. Both Saturday and Sunday I spent in the water after which I came home super tired. Ries also had a great fun weekend and wrote his first blog: all about Andalusia.
The rest of the month I spent almost every weekend in the cold water of Vinkeveen (a small lake in The Netherlands) to gain enough experience for my Open Water diving certificate. On the coldest and especially wettest day of the month, (remember, that Sunday most people spent under a blanket with Netflix) I got my diving license. The last two dives were not much fun, the water was muddy, it was raining and only 11 degrees. Oh well, I passed and got my certification! In a few weeks, I will be in Belize in the warm, tropical water, full of beautiful coloured fish.
Blog
It was a very busy month in terms of blogging. I published nine blogs in both Dutch and English and translated five more into English. I notice that because all blogs are now being translated into English, we get many more international visitors. Unfortunately, I am not a ‘native English speaker’ myself and therefore I sometimes make spelling or grammar errors. I try to get as many mistakes out since I find it very annoying knowing a blog is not without errors.
Ries and I are still fairly new in this bloggers world, that’s why I find it interesting to hear how other travel bloggers work. I talked extensively about this with blogger Karlijn from Karlijn Travels, during a nice lunch in Eindhoven. I’ve been following Karlijn for a couple of years and especially her blogs on French Polynesia, helped me a lot when planning our trip. We had a very good time and really made a connection. Something I find very special since I only knew her from her blogs. We spent more than three hours chatting, laughing and exchanging experiences and anecdotes.
Guest blog and Interview
This month I did not only write for Charlotte Plans a Trip, but I also wrote a guest blog for travel blogger Reismeisje. She asked me to share my highlights of our trip through Morocco. Very nice to do! You can read the blog here (only in Dutch).
Our employer, ABN AMRO, interviewed Ries and me about how we started a travel blog next to our normal jobs and how these two jobs fit. It was fun to bring these two worlds together. Especially because thanks to ABN AMRO, we were able to take four months’ work, to travel! You can read the article here (only in Dutch). I was also asked to keep a photojournalist for a week to show what an average week looks like. Super fun to do and I really like the small campaign movie they made out of it (you can find this movie here)!
Finally, we were interviewed this month by Robert, the owner of the Traveljunks. The article is not yet online, but as soon as that is the case, I will share it here.
Top 3 best-read blogs this month:
- Itinerary for 20 days backpacking in Japan
- Packing list: What’s in my backpack and what’s not?
- Movie: a Road trip through Morocco
Discoveries in September
What kind of new things did I discover in September?
YouTube: Casey Neistat
The past month I became a huge fan of Casey Neistat. The whole world, including your grandmother, already knew his vlogs, but I just discovered them. Especially his creativity and editing skills are really great! In particular his film ‘Do what you can’t!‘ is super motivating to me! I also like the videos of his friend Dan Mace!
Series: Outlander & The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
>> Outlander, again something that everyone has been talking about for years, but apparently I have been living under a rock. I think this is really one of the best series I’ve ever seen. Sometimes a bit horrific (for the experts: the end of season one .. why?) But especially super exciting. And secretly (okay, not really secretly, I tell this to everyone who wants to hear it) I’m completely crazy about the two main characters and the setting where the series takes place. After watching this, I MUST visit Scotland very soon!
>> The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is relatively new. From the same producer as the Gilmore Girls and with just the same speed and humour. This amazing series takes you to the New York of the 50s. Season one was aired in 2017 and they immediately signed for a second season. Season two is expected at the end of this year.
Food: Cauliflower risotto and sprouts salad
>> I think we might have made the Cauliflower Risotto from Paulines Kitchen at least five times last month. Very tasty, fresh and warm.
>> Another favourite this month is this autumn salad with, among other things, sprouts and apple from Rens Kroes. I do add some goat’s cheese myself to make it a little creamier!
Sport: Barre
Apart from diving, I didn’t work out that much this month. An occasional run, a few times yoga and that are it. However, that changed during the last two weeks of September when I went to a number of Barre lessons. Barre is a cardio workout that is inspired by Ballet, Yoga and Pilates. People who know me a bit, know that I don’t have great physical capabilities and that even after four years of yoga, I still can’t touch my toes. This workout is really super heavy but also very nice. As I write this, every muscle in my body hurts and I can honestly recommend this (I love the feeling of sore muscles). I follow the Barre Beats lessons at Studio 191 in Amsterdam.
Travel
Besides Andalusia, we also spent a long weekend in the French part of Switzerland with friends. Furthermore, it was relatively quiet when it comes to travel and we spent a lot of weekends at home in Amsterdam.
Through the series Outlander, I am completely captivated by Scotland. Vaguely, I start to make some plans to visit Scotland with a campervan next spring. Does someone have any experience and tips for Scotland? Let us know via a comment!
My favourite moments in September:
- Evening walks through Amsterdam with my friend Fay. Chatting, laughing and enjoying this beautiful city. Now that it is autumn, and the evenings get dark early, the lights that you see everywhere, make Amsterdam very cosy.
- Days of Indian summer; the day before it was still cold and raining, but suddenly the sun shines today and it’s 22 degrees. On those days I just want to enjoy the warmth and fully absorb these kinds of last summer moments!
- Whole afternoons and evenings playing games and drinking red wine with friends while it is cold outside and raining. I’m certainly not ready to say goodbye to the summer, but I can appreciate autumn in these moments too!
- The smell of mandarin oranges! Of course, throughout the year you can get mandarins in the supermarket, but now that it is autumn, they taste so much better and they contribute to that ultimate autumn feeling!
- Our time in Switzerland! We are so incredibly spoiled by the friends we visited and enjoyed to the fullest! By the way, we were all amazed at how beautiful Switzerland is!
Oke, October, I am ready for you! The first three weeks of October are very busy with work. I will be in Nijmegen, Zwolle or at clients almost every day, and I start with a postgraduate course every Thursday evening. After all these busy days I am ready for a new trip again and we will fly to Guatemala and Belize. I look so much forward to this!
