On Turning 30

I booked a one-way flight to Australia, planning to go for six weeks, and never stepped foot in Canada again. I got broken up with in an airport so booked another one-way flight to New Zealand. I tried hitch-hiking and I haven’t had alcohol since 2021. I visited the mosques of Christchurch after the 2019 terror attack and island-hopped across Indonesia and the South Pacific. I met my second boyfriend and we drove around New Zealand in a van. I worked for the government and then lived with strangers in New Zealand for six months during COVID after meeting them in a grocery store parking lot. I didn’t see my parents for 18 months during COVID and dabbled in posting on YouTube, a space I want to get back into.

I moved back to Europe and worked remotely for an international climate organization where I had three promotions. I got my Dutch passport, the third in my collection, and used it to move to Austria alone. I roadtripped across nine countries in southern Africa and lived through the 2023 earthquake in Morocco, my footage featuring on every major news outlet in the world. I left an abusive situationship and started anti-depressants. I made a great many friends and ended many friendships, too.

I met my third boyfriend, a good man but a terrible match. I saw the northern lights for the first time in the Arctic Circle and completed the 165km Tour du Mont Blanc hike through three countries. I tried surfing twice and flew a plane in Mauritius. I solo traveled through the Middle East and backpacked through Central America.

I quit my job and I’ve been self-employed ever since. I snorkeled some of the world’s most pristine reefs and went on safaris of all kinds. I visited most of the countries in Europe and brought my skis over from North America. I met my fourth boyfriend on Tinder while at the Adele concert in Munich and he followed me to Italy a week after meeting me. We booked another one-way flight to Australia and we bought a van to drive around the country in. I still don’t have a driver’s license but I’ve been to 80 countries.

I spent more time traveling than at any place I ever called home and wrote hundreds of blog posts to share my love of travel. I read hundreds of books, a love instilled in me by my mother, and I’ve got an insatiable curiosity to learn about the world, a trait instilled in me by my father.