Welcome everyone,

It's been a week since I've been home from my 8-month trip and I want to share my experience with you guys.

A 16-hour flight, 2 sleeping pills, and a layover in Kuala Lumpur later I finally arrived at 6 AM in Amsterdam last Thursday. Needless to say, I was tired as hell. Also, I was wearing new heels that I had just bought the day before in Jakarta because of course, they wouldn't fit in my bag anymore and at the end of my journey, my toes were fucking bleeding. Little tip guys, don't wear new shoes while travelling guys (no matter how cute you might look). You will regret it.

Anyways my mom and my brother picked me up from the airport and when I hugged they all my energy came rushing back out of nowhere. It felt as if no time had gone by. Within seconds my brother and I were back to goofing around. I felt good and it truly felt like coming home. It had been a long time since no one was strangely staring at me from a distance. I fitted in. I was normal again. No more strangers stopping on the street, asking me for pictures and laughing about my height.

The following days stood in light of hanging out with my friends, getting back to the gym (which didn't go very smoothly, my legs still hurt), establishing a routine and resting. While I'm writing this I'm sat on a terrace in Amsterdam. It's my second time in the city centre since I've been back and I immediately pick up on cultural differences. Which prior to my trip didn't seem to occupy my mind. The local people here think in a very different way than the local people in the countries I just came from. While east dropping on a conversation next to me the individualistic nature of the people in The Netherlands was brought to my attention. The men beside me jokingly talk about not wanting to babysit their grandkids. In Indonesia for example, this is very different. Grandparents sometimes even live with their grandkids and if they don't it's usually seen as a pleasure to babysit them. Of course, not all Dutch people think this way, but the reality of the situation is that a lot of people do.

I feel like I have picked up aspects of the cultures I've been in that I liked, put them in my little backpack and brought them back home. Now I carry them around and look at my own country from a different perspective. Of course, there are certain things about my country that I like and appreciate. For instance, the fact that we can love who we want. This came to my attention as last weekend was the gay parade. A beautiful way to make people aware of and celebrate the freedom we have here. Also, things like having the same rights and opportunities as my brother and having the freedom to do/say what I want. Yet there are things that I miss from South-East Asian culture: the random acts of kindness, the willingness to help and those lovely smiles.

Before I go further with my 'getting back-story' let me share with you to which places I went. I started my trip in November 2017 and during the first 2 months, I spend my time in Hai Phong (Vietnam) volunteering as an English teacher. Then I bought a motorbike and toured around Vietnam for a month. This was a beautiful experience as you see all of what the country has to offer. You can not just fall asleep for 12 hours in a sleepingbus and wake up at your next destination. After this, I went to Cambodia for a few weeks where my mom came to look me up. Oh and btw, I spend 4 nights in the hospital in Pnomh Penh. So guys, please be careful with the food in Cambodia. Many places in small towns don't have running water and hygiëne is not their biggest concern. Let's just say that you shouldn't feel too adventurous and go and try every streetfood stand.

Then I was all tired out and decided to fly to Hanoi and stay there for 3 months. While I was there I got my own appartment. I had a wonderfull experience and I'm so glad that I got to live there. I took salsa&bachata lessons, made good friends and learned even more about Vietnamese culture. After all that it was hard to leave everything that I had built up in that city behind. But at the same time, it was time to go. And off I went to Laos. Laos is a beautiful country where relaxing is number one on the list. Don't  expect any crazy paries!

After a long busride, I arrived in Bangkok where I spend a few days before flying to my last country: Indonesia. Finally, I flew to Bali to meet my best friend from home. We travelled together for 3 weeks. We explored Bali, Lombok and Gili T. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the earthquakes. It hurts my heart to think about all the damage, wounded and deaths that these earthquakes caused.

We parted ways after 3 weeks. She went home and I flew to Bandung on West-Java. Where I spend one amazing week at The Backpacker Lodge, before finally going to Jakarta and flying home.

Sometimes it feels weird being back here. It hurts to know that people here sometimes throw away their chances, yet on the other side of the world people would do anything and work so hard to have those opportunities.

I would really recommend people that are coming back from a (long) trip to have a certain plan of the things you want to do when you come home. If that's working out, writing, making music, going to work, or anything else productive. Just avoid coming back and falling in this black hole. Because while travelling you always have something to do. No day is boring, but when you come back adventure is not hiding behind every corner. Just make sure you have something to keep you busy.

Thank you for reading my story and have a wonderful day guys!