November 2004. After a 19 hour flight we finally arrive in Rio. An eclectic group of 15 students ready for 2 weeks of cultural and political emersion in the land of samba. In my dreams of Rio de Janeiro, I envisioned the sun shining, a hammock between two palm trees, with me sipping delicately on […]
Doh. So annoying. Rotterdam has been flooded by a flue tidal wave and OF COURSE I’m got caught in the middle. I look like super pale vampire girl right now. During my waking hours – when not sitting like a zombie vampire on the couch, trying to keep my eyes open – I’ve been catching […]
I first got the travel bug when I was 16. I convinced my dad that I really had to go on a study trip to Málaga (Spain) for two weeks to improve my Spanish. A few years later, at 18, it was to join my student association for a trip to Brazil. At 19, five […]
Self-doubt I started this blog a few years ago, in 2014, but I stopped for a while, unsurprisingly, because of self-doubt. You know, those thoughts that hold you back: “nobody will read this blog”, “what if people will criticize my thoughts”, “what if people don’t find what I write interesting enough”… You probably have them […]
Ever since my studies (FYI Latin American Studies) our motto has been: “Visit Cuba before Fidel Castro dies”. Not because we were a fan of his regime per se, but because there was something intriguing about the man behind the regime. The quintessential rebel against what Capitalism stands for. The last vestige of Communism. The […]
Now is the time to go to Cuba. At least, that is what everyone seems to be thinking. When telling my friends and colleagues that I was going to the Caribbean island, almost every one of them had either plans to go themselves, someone in their immediate circle did, or they had already gone. Go […]