A little while ago, I entered a writing competition, hoping to win a US roadtrip and a huge amount of money. I didn't win anything, but I thought it'd be fun to share my entry with you. For this contest I had to write about a 'travel discovery'. I had a hard time deciding which one of my 'travel discoveries' I should describe, but in the end I chose for something I discovered last summer in Peru. I discovered that language barriers don't matter in those special moments that you're truly happy.

A Stranger's Smile
I was not exactly happy while walking the Inca Trail from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu in Peru. On the first day I'd contantly been awestruck by the Andean mountains and ancient Inca ruins. On the second day I came down with food poisoning. By the end of the third day I was so exhausted that I didn't even make it to my tent when I reached the campground.

Great things happen on the Camino Inka

I sat down at the end of the camp ground and let my legs dangle off the steep drop-off. About two meters below was the path to the restrooms. People came and went, but I didn't see a single one of them. Night had fallen and I was looking up at the night sky. Within an hour the stars would come out and the Milky Way would cast its glow upon the snowy mountain tops. But now there was nothing to see in the deep dark sky yet. Nothing but the moon.
On the campground the porters, who carried all our supplies and tents, had set up the dinner tent and were busy cooking dinner. I left it all for what it was and watched the fog rise up from the trees. The air was filled with the chatter of excited tourists and the clanging of pots and pans and dinner was prepared all over the campground. There was a sense of ecxitement and joy in the air, as we'd reach Machu Picchu the next morning, but I didn't feel it. I was exhausted and, for some reason, sad and worried about my future.
One of the younger porters walked by on the path beneath. He caught my eye and smiled. 'La luna,' he said. My Spanish was poor and I had no idea what he meant. He pointed at the moon. 'La luna,' he repeated and he smiled again. I smiled back and nodded. 'It's beautiful,' I said, even though I knew he couldn't understand me. That didn't matter at that moment. He smiled again and in that moment it didn't matter where I came from or where I was going. It was just him, me and the moon high above us, waiting there for the stars to come out.  A stranger's smile in the darkness changed my whole night around. There wasn't a single fancy adjective that could describe how I felt at that moment, but there was one simply word that could: Happy. For once I was simply and truly happy.

Apart from this entry, I also had to name two places I'd want to visit if I won the US road trip. I chose New England as area and these two places to go to. At least my reasons for choosing these places was original.

Maine, because after all the Stephen King books I've read, I really want to know why all the weird things always happen in Maine.

Boston, because my dad ran the Boston Marathon years ago and I'd love to see the place where he got so hungry during the race that he stole a banana from a supporter.

Sadly my originality didn't impress anyone, but at least I had a lot of fun writing my entry.
Stay Awesome!

At this moment there are just a few things that keep me from travelling. I haven't found someone who wants to go to the end of the world with me yet. I also don't have the money I need to do that. It's not a big problem though. Right now I'm mostly dreaming of all the amazing places I'm going to see.
A few months ago I started making a list of all the countries and places I want to visit in my life. Since then I've been collecting pictures of all those places. I got kindergarten creative with some glue and stuck them all in a notebook. Every time I get demovited I open the notebook and looks at all the beautiful pictures I've collected.

Italy and Iceland, good combination :P

So at this moment I'm only dreaming, but next summer dreams will start to come true. I'll travel to San Francisco on my own for the very first time. After that trip, I want to go to Cuba, Sweden, Slowakia, Indonesia... The world will become my playground.

My new bag with all the countries I've already visited

Where do you want to go? Let me know in the comments.
Stay Awesome!

'Mom!' A few weeks ago I stormed down the stairs and into the garden. 'Mom, Phineas and Ferb has ended!'
My mom looked up from her work in the garden and said: 'It's still on tv.'
'It ended in America!'
'So?'
'What so?'
'You haven't seen the show in years.'
I didn't say anything. I turned around and went back upstairs to watch the final Phineas and Ferb episode. My mom didn't understand. This was the end of an age.

Phineas and Ferb aired in 2007, but as usual with American cartoons, I didn't get to see it right after it aired. I saw the show first in 2008. At first I wasn't a big fan - probably because teh same three episodes were on tv every single day. But as I watched a couple more episodes, I became hooked. So did my dad. We used to watch the show together. He used to come into the room singing 'Phineas and Ferb' to the Perry the Platypus toon whenever I watched the show. He convinced one of his friends to watch the show too, which resulted in said friend doing the best Perry growl I've ever heard.
Phineas and Ferb became part of my life in high school.
In 8th grade my entire class was fan of the show. One guy drew Perry the Platypus in art class when we had to hand in an assignment. He spent the entire year practicing his Dr. Doofenschmirtz voice, while the girls gave away some pretty impressive Isabella imitations.
The summer of 2010 was spent in the US, where I finally heard the original voices - which weren't as good as the Dutch voices, I decided. Still I spent and excessive amount of time watching the show and looking for a Perry the Platypus shirt.
Near the end of 9th grade, no one wanted to admit that they were still watching the show. I wonder why, because we all knew we were all still watching it. One day we even spontaneously sang the theme song in class. It was awesome: each and every one of my classmates joined in, even the tough guys and the popular girls. By the end one girl said that it was a little pathetic that we knew all the words to that song. Most of us shrugged. It didn't matter, because Phineas and Ferb was an awesome show.

I think I stopped watching the show in 11th grade. The Dutch producers decided to recast some voice actors and the new voices annoyed me. But every time I was bored out of my mind, I secretly watched Disney Channel, just to see Phineas and Ferb.

A few weeks ago I discovered that the show had come to an end. I was heart-broken. Phineas and Ferb had been around for all of my high school years. Now I'm in college, and apparently so are they.
Childhood is officially over, but at least it ended with this awesome scene.
Stay Awesome!

Back in December I became one of the many, many dangers on the European roads: after months of driving lessons I finally got my driver's license. At first driving wasn't much fun, because I'd learned to drive in a tiny Volkswagen. That tiny Volkswagen was abut half the size of the bright red tank my Dad calls his car. Learning to drive our Fiat was disastrous...
Lucky for me my Granddad is awesome enough to help me out a little: he let me drive his new Mercedes and his classic 1982 Mercedes and gives me loads of helpful advice. On one of the miniature road trips with my Granddad I discovered how much fun it is to drive around the countryside with no real goal. So, inspired by one of my favorite books, Amy and Roger's Epic Detour, I started making a playlist for those random mini road trips.
Now that I'm on vacation I'll be driving long stretches on my way to France and Germany and my playlist finally comes in handy (even though my dad hates it when I listen to music while driving).

Now I could've made a fancy Spotify playlist, but as usual with everything on my lists, there's a story to tell for each song: stories I can't tell you about in an orderly way on Spotify. Without any further ado, I present you my playlists, including a small story for each song!
Eyes Wide Open - Gotye
I listened to this song all the time when I was in Peru. I could stare out of the bus window for hours, see the Panamericana Highway fly by while I listened to this song. When I listen to it while driving I get that same feeling of freedom I had back in Peru.

Bad Blood - Taylor Swift
This song made the list because of my Granddad. I was driving his classic Mercedes (I'm in love with that car) when this song came on the radio. Apparently my Granddad is a swifty, 'cause he turned the volume up to the max and allowed me to sing along, even though I was way out of key. It was awesome.

50 Ways to Say Goodbye - Train
My playlists aren't complete without a song by Train. Have you ever heard this one? The chorus is so freaking fast, it almost matches my heartbeat when I'm driving a busy road. It could also be the soundtrack to a crazy car chase on a comedy, which makes it awesome to listen to while driving on the highway

Preacher - One Republic
This song is about an awesome granddad, like mine. My Granddad is the best when it comes to driving and advice on driving, so this song deserves a place on the list. Besides, it's one of those songs you can sing along to even if your voice shatters glass when you sing. It's perfect for a drive around town - if you don't mind all the weird looks you'll get at the traffic lights.

Find Someone - Sheppard
You don't know how annoying cyclists are until you're not one of them anymore. In a country full of cyclists, I often find them in front of my car at moments when they should not be on the middle of my half of the road. When that happens I curse a lot, which makes my Dad very angry... But this song, or actually singing along to it, gives me a great excuse to get the frustration out and drop a few F-bombs.

Cassy'O - George Ezra
Another song to get the frustration out. Great to listen to while driving on the highway. It also reminds me of the amazing first day I had in Peru :)

Leave the Night on - Sam Hunt
A little calmer than the other songs on this list. We all need a break every now and then, don't we? This song is the song I like to listen to when I'm on a straight road without any other cars to be seen. It's nice and relaxed and very catchy. It doesn't take long to remember the lyrics and soon you'll find yourself singing along.

T-Shirt Weather - Circa Waves
That one line 'the seat belts were burning our fingers', that brings back memories. Crossing Death Valley by car, not once but twice, is something I don't like to think about, but it reminds me of how lucky I am to be driving in normal weather conditions :P

The songs on this list are all upbeat, because they perfectly capture my feelings towards driving: total excitement and hyperactivity mixed with a little frustration and a tiny bit of fear.
Which songs would you listen to if you were on a road trip?

Stay Awesome!

This morning at 7.53am I officially turned 19. In those 19 years on this little pretty planet I learned a lot of seemingly important things, which I'd love to share with you today. Here are my 19 'important' life lessons!

1: Fire is very hot and should not be touched
The first very important life lesson I learned was a painful one. On my first birthday my mom gave me cake with a candle on it. I liked the fire a bit to much and immediately reached out to touch it. Not a good idea.

2: Crawling backwards will get you stuck under a couch
When I learned to crawl, I wasn't a big fan of going forward. Going backward was much more fun. But when there were chairs and couches around, it wasn't the best way of transportation. I got stuck on multiple occasions.

3: Swimming isn't difficult
Swimming is the easiest thing ever, I discovered at three years old. I was capable of floating and paddling myself around for a meter or two at a time. I thought I was a great swimmer. My parents disagreed and made me wear swimming aids for years.

4: English is an awesome language
I wasn't even in kindergarten yet when I started learning English (which is pretty unique for Dutch kids), I loved learning new words and got overexcited every time I heard someone say a new word. To be honest, I'm still like that :P

5: Holes last longer than sand castles
As I said in my previous post, kindergarten was the only time in my life when I was popular. I ruled the sandbox and let the other kids dig the deepest hole we'd ever seen. Occasionally we built a sand castle, but those didn't last long. The hole, however, is still there, in the left corner of the sandbox of my old kindergarten

6: Books are the greatest invention ever
I learned to read and quickly got addicted. By the time I was six, I read ten books a week.

7: 'Made with love' is better than 'made by machines'
I spent the whole summer in the US when I was seven. My parents and their friends visited a ton of national parks and bought an official national park pass. My friend Cloudy and I made our own national park passes. To us, they were more beautiful than the original ones, even though they almost fell apart after that summer.

8: Teachers aren't always right
Not everything a teacher says is true, but they don't want to admit it.

9: Superhero stories are fun to write
I started seriously writing at age 9. All stories were about superheroes. At school I was always the first to finish all my work and in my spare time I was allowed to write. At some point I spent more time writing about superheroes than actually learning stuff. It was awesome.

10: Face the fact that cheese is the meaning of life
Kim Possible was my hero when I was 10. One of my favorite episodes was the one in which they travel through time and a bunch of naked mole rats ask Rufus what the meaning of life is. He answers: Cheese.
For years to come I'd ruin every attempt of having philosophical conversation by proclaiming that cheese is the meaning of life. My teachers didn't appreciate it, but it did make life a whole lot easier: at least I didn't have to worry about the meaning of life anymore.

11: Nasua are cute (and no one will believe you on that)
They're called 'nose bears' in Dutch and they're unbelievably cute. After seeing them in Costa Rica they landed on my list of favorite animals, but when I told people at home about them, they didn't even believe these animals exist!

12: In the end you'll always find the right people
Life isn't always easy if you're introverted like me. Making new friends who actually like you for who you are can take some time, but in the end you'll always find them.

13: If your entire class says someone likes you, it's probably true
I am really stupid when it comes to guys, but if 40 out of 50 people say a guy likes you (and they others think it but don't want to tell you because they know you'll freak out), they are probably right. In my case, they were very, very right.

14: Don't listen to country music when your heart is broken
When you get hurt, you need to find a way to deal with that pain and move on. I turned to sad country music, which is not the way to go. It only made me feel worse... So no country music when your heart is smashed to pieces!

15: City pigeons are evil
At this point in life, I started to go to the big city of Rotterdam every now and then. The pigeons there are of a whole different kind than the ones in my kind of rural hometown: they are way more evil. They will do anything to steal your food. This life lesson was confirmed once again when I was in Rome and a pigeon tackled my face...

16: Don't fall for guys just because they can have a Seneca Crane beard
One of the biggest mistakes of my life. I don't think this needs any further explanation.

17: Peruvian hats are the best
Seriously, they might not look awesome, but they're soft and warm and they look pretty cool on me, which is always good. They keep your ears nice and warm, they're simply perfect.

18: Don't put your phone on vibrate in class
Eventually I found some friends who thought I was interesting enough to text all the time. I had my phone almost always on vibrate, which I forgot one day when I put my phone on my desk in class. A friend texted me, the teacher noticed (it was impossible not to notice it) and I had a lot of awkward explaining to do...

19: Online friends are just as valuable as real life friends
Over the past couple of months I've had the chance to become increcibly closewith some of my blog buddies. I always laughed at the people on Catfish, but now I understand how much you can care about people you've never met. My blog buddies are the best, they're always there for me and helped me through some tough times. They are just as amazing (maybe even more amazing) as friends I met in real life. #spacepoliceradio, thanks for being there and thanks for being awesome!

Those are the 19 important things I learned in my life. What would be on your list of important life lessons? Let me know in the comments and have some cake to celebrate my birthday!
Stay Awesome!