Ready for Xcalak!

Picture by Jules Page

I have been running around like a mad woman the last couple of weeks, all in preparation for today. Today two important things are happening. First of all, I've send out my visa application for the U.S.A. Those who have ever applied for a visa to the U.S. will know what a gruesome and exhausting task this can be. From emails to various people, to appointments with the bank, to every piece of paper you have provide them with. And this is only step one. The second thing is that I currently flying somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean on my way to Mexico. Finally. 6 weeks of diving, traveling, sunshine, blue water and hopefully also some peaceful bliss await me. I will mostly be staying in Xcalak this trip to finish my divemaster. Xcalak is the southern most town on the Mexican Caribbean coastline. Xcalak is the kind of place you dream about when people dream about Mexico. At least that's what my lovely friends who have recommended me this diveshop here. "Xcalak is the still the way the rest of he Mayan Riviera was over 20 years ago". Exactly like I want it. While there are beautiful places on the Mexican Caribbean coastline, there is no way around the ginormous amount of tourists that will want to enjoy the clear blue water and pristine white sand beaches just like you. I've had some great times in Tulum though when I was last in Mexico over 3 years ago, I just wouldn't go back there any time soon. Yet, the area without the tourists would be heavenly. So Xcalak sounds like the perfect place to go to get away and still enjoy some of the best things Mexico has to offer. My mind has been on overload the last couple of weeks, trying to figure everything out and busy arranging so many things and all I want to do right now is not even lay on a beach but put on scuba gear and plunge into the ocean and never come up again. The ocean always satisfies me and can make me forget about the rest of the world above the ocean. A different way of getting away. The Banco Chinchorro is also the largest coral atoll in the western hemisphere.  Needless to say that this is exactly where I want (and need) to be right now.

Picture: www.caribbeanmag.com

The Northern Lights.

I can't take credit for the pictures, you need to be a much more gifted photographer to take these kind of pictures than I will probably ever be. But I was lucky I met someone on my trip to Norway who was. His name is Mike and he is a professionale photographer and writer. He also blogs on Black Blue Green and his pictures of the northern light are just spectacular. Seeing this was probably one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. We were having dinner on our boat in the north of Norway while all of a sudden someone announced that we could see the northern lights from the deck. So everybody rushed to their cabins to get warm clothes asap and then continued on to the deck. In the cold of the wind and the snow we stood on the deck of our boat in the north of Norway while all of a sudden the sky lit up with an amazing green light above our heads. I can't describe this, the sheer excitement and joy I felt that I was able to see this. It's just incredible. Even these amazing pictures can't truly describe what it looks like and feel like to see the sky dancing above your head in all possible colors. The aurora borealis had come to life. 

All pictures by Mike Louagie

Magnificent North Norway pt. 1.

A few months ago, I set out for north Norway. While I had been to Scandinavia before, it was a first for me to go there in full winter. Normally I am not that keen on (read: I hate) the cold and snow, but this trip was just absolutely spectacular that I couldn't really be bothered by the cold or the snow! I was lucky we traveled with Nordic Info on their amazing Hurtigruten. Nordic Info specializes in trips to Lapland as well as expeditions to Greenland, Antartica and Spitsbergen. The Hurtigruten is a legendary journey by sea that starts in Bergen, Norway and ends in Kirkenes, Norway almost at the border with Russia (and back again). Traveling through Norway has been an amazing experience for me. I have been wanting to visit the area for a long time, I just never had the guts to get out the warmest clothes I have and just brave the weather. So traveling there for shoot was a great travel experience.

We started our trip in Tromsø, where I was met immediately by the snow. Tromsø is the northern most university city in Europe and I liked it quite a bit even though I didn't expect it. The views over the water and the mountains were breathtaking, especially the few moments a day when the light was shining from behind it. In that area I also visited a husky farm and went dog sledding with them. Normally I am quite scared of dogs but these ones were just so cute that it was hard to be afraid of them. I was amazed though by how fast and wild they are, how much energy they have. They love nothing more than to run and pull your sledge and they went totally crazy the moments they had to wait to leave. It's pretty cool the way they are trained and what they can do. I've been wanting to do this for a very long time. And it was so cool! I was so afraid to be cold but the thermic suits they gave us worked very well and I wasn't cold at all. For lunch I ate reindeer stuw, something very common for the area. 

That night we set food on the Hurtigruten that would take me to the northern most point of Europe, the Nordkapp. 

Balinese dreams.

People have been asking me a lot about Bali lately. And I get it, it seems like the dream destinations. In many ways it is but in many ways I think Bali has been mashed too much by the tourists and expats who never seem to leave. I think 10 years ago it must have been a paradise of rice field, small shops and hindu rituals. But 3 years ago when I was there, it was still pretty nice too so I totally get why you would want to go there. Bali is one of those dream destinations. I just hope it will stay like this and it won't be the new puket in a couple of years.I visited Bali about 3 years ago on a big trip through Indonesia. One thing you notice immediately is how different the vibe here is compared to the other Indonesian islands. It is, of course, the only Hindu island of Indonesia. And I love a Hindu island. Everywhere you see little rituals, the flowers, the incense, the beautiful statues. It's a very special atmosphere. 

Bali is also one of those place who seem to please everyone. If you feel like surfing, go to Kuta where great waves are combined with a party scene. If you feel like diving in an extremely beautiful and quiet place, visit Nusa Lembongan, a small island southeast of Bali. This is where I learned to dive and where I fell in love with it. Indonesia is still my absolute number one when it comes to diving. Nusa Lembongan is one of those place where there were 10 houses and a couple of shacks when I stayed there. One of those places you really want to go to in other ways. Now it's changing I've heard so make sure you get there before the resorts and hotel giants take over. The north of Bali was probably the area that left the biggest impression on me. It's all wild nature, animals along the road, waterfalls, temples in the middle of a forest and scores of terraced rice fields cascading down the lush hills. The scenery is just breath taking. The rice paddies of Jatiluwih are not for nothing UNESCO protected property and Jatiluwih does not mean for nothing 'truly marvelous'.

Then of course there is Ubud, a place I fell in love with, and honestly, if I were an expat, I would too never leave again. Ubud is the perfect south-east asian small city. The atmosphere is nice, friendly and open. You'll meet people everywhere. There are numerous restaurants with live bands, good food and a great vibe.  There is a local market full of crafts. The streets are filled with hindu statues and temples are all around. Plus it is located in the middle of gorgeous nature of palm trees and green rice fields. One of the best things to do here is rent a bicycle and drive yourself up and down the hills and rice paddies - and please, do yourself a favor and go have lunch at Sari Organice Farm. Walk through the monkey forest. Go watch a Balinese dance show. Visit an old medicine man or an alternative healer. Visiting an alternative healer was an amazing experience for me. I just went to see her because I was curious, but then I fainted and I don't know exactly what she did to me but it really made me feel so much better. Then she asked me to come back the next day and I did but she wasn't in her shop. So one of her co-workers took me to who-know-where on his motorcycle and so I ended up with this healer at a Balinese funeral celebration. And it was one of the most memorable experiences in my life. If all that isn't enough, take some yoga classes at The Yoga Barn. This is where I fell in love with yoga while looking out on Bali's incredible beauty.

Traveling through Indonesia was one of my first long and big solo travel trips. And up until now, it still was one of the most incredible experiences in my life. So I get the Balinese dreams. Heck, I might be so against all the tourists and what this place will become but I will gladly participate in it here. Because that's just what this place does to you. 

And then there are still the Gili Islands, but that's a story on its own.

Get away close to home.

Sometimes when life gets busy, you would just like to get away. Away from work, from your busy schedule, from all you have to do. And it's not that hard. I recently took two days off, grabbed my lover, booked a  bed & breakfast and drove for 45min across the boarder with The Netherlands and enjoyed some time away. 

I have been wanting to stay in a B&B for as long as I can remember. But somehow it had never happened before. The timing never seemed right, or the partner, or the money. I get now why people love B&B's. They are usually so pretty, so sophisticated, so elegant. It's not quite your ordinary hotel room. It's so much better. Not to mention the amazing breakfast in the morning. We stayed one night in B&B Bonjour, very close to Maastricht in the Netherlands. Those two days were so relaxing and I am always amazing what a quick-fix a small get-away can be. You don't always need expensive and far away destinations, sometimes a day or two without your computer, cellphone or social buzz in a not so familiar place will do.

The B&B gave us some bikes and we rode them along the river and in between the flower trees to a little town called Eijsden. Our host told us about a great restaurant 'Aon 't Bat' and so we biked there and sat in the sun all afternoon. It was one of those gorgeous unexpected afternoons. 

The next day, after a delicious breakfast, we went to Maastricht and just walked around. Ate some pie, drank some coffee, looked at cook and travel books. All in all, a perfect get-away close to home. Because sometimes you just need it.

A spectacular view of Koh Samui.

On my last day on Koh Samui I visited some waterfalls and a great view point. The waterfall was in the middle of the island, hidden in the forest. It was a real jungle expedition to get there but it was great. There were some crazy people sliding all the way up and down the stones of the waterfall, I just swam a bit. The water was remarkably refreshing in hot thai climate. Then we took the jeep all the way up through the mountains of the islands to a spectacular point. The road was all dirt and holes, mangos hanging from the trees around us, the branches almost hitting our faces while we sat on the roof of the jeep. It took us about an hour to get here but the view was just amazing. From afar I could see the coast while mostly I saw the green of the island all around me. We ate an incredible delicious Thai buffet in a place with no walls just a roof overlooking the valley. The statues of the lying and standing Buddha made the scenery complete. The square around the Buddha was so beautiful an authentic, it gave an incredible feeling standing there. I ran around the square ringing all the gongs, as they do for good luck. It are moment like these that make you remember that traveling is an extraordinary thing and that the world is a magical place.

You can find this view point by asking in the village about it!

How much is a dream worth?

Picture from maybelline.tumblr.com

There are times in your life when everything can change in an instant. With one breath, one click on your computer, all of a suddenly everything in your life is different. That happened to me a few weeks ago and the rollercoaster of emotions that apparently came along with that, has got me wondering. 

Is there something you have been dreaming about for as long as you can remember? There is for me. And with one email it came true. I was over the moon happy with this news - I mean like blue skies with pink clouds, sunshine all day long, champagne and cake and confetti and balloons and all other shiny and happy things you can imagine when something like this happens. If you could've seen me  that moment, I am pretty sure there was no person on the planet happier than me. It's not every day one of your biggest dreams comes true.

It took me a while, though, to figure out my path; where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do with my life. I am not one of those people who knew since they were five years old what they wanted to be when they grew up. So I did what I thought I had to do and in my own time I managed to get there. Or at least I got somewhere. Some people just need a little more time and there is nothing wrong with that. People always get there, eventually. And everybody has some sort of dream.

I am one of those people who always preaches about following your dreams and doing what feels right for you, as a person, in your own life, regardless of what other people think about you or think you should do. I mean, they don't have to live your life. Do what makes YOU happy, whatever that is and don't conform to what society, friends, family or anybody for that matter wants you to do or wants you to be. I am a firm believer that if you don't do this, you won't in fact truly be happy. You are the most important person in your life so act accordingly. Of course I realize this is often easier said than done.

I believe that if you want something so badly it's giving you a heartache thinking about it and if you put it out there, if you kindly ask the universe for it to happen, that eventually it will. But what happens when the universe kindly conspires and makes your dream come true? Well, after my initial radiant over the top happiness settled in, and all my (and everybody else's) emotions came rolling in, it scared the shit out of me. Nobody ever thinks about this next part, about how much impact this will have on your life. A dream is never just something that happens. If I'd be that easy, people wouldn't dream about it for years. You always have to take a risk, a leap of faith, to get there.

I never thought about how much my dream was worth to me. For a very long time it was just there and that was all that mattered to me. All I wanted was for it to come true so that's what I focused on. I never imagined that having my dream come true would raise all these questions. In my head I would have just packed my bags, dropped everything and headed out for that dream. It turns out, it's not that simple in reality. Because you never think about all the consequences that come with it, all the changes it will bring to your life. Is what you're gaining by following your dream and acting on the chances that are being offered to you, worth more than everything you will lose because of it? Is a dream worth all your money, your relationship, most of your friendships, everything you have going on in your life? All the things and people you have actively acquired in your life until now? Is moving across the world all by yourself, just because you always dreamed about it, worth all that? Is it worth feeling more alone than ever? Is it worth all you're leaving behind? 

But how could I not follow my dream, now that the universe arranged everything for it to come true?  

In a way, it's not a question to follow my dream or not. I am never going to be able to live with myself if I don't do it now that I can. I would always wonder about it and I would always regret my decision. In the end, I've wanted this for so long for a reason. But what if it turns out to be not so great as I had imagined? Didn't I just idealize the dream? Or should you just put it all on the table when it comes to following your heart? I never thought I would be the one hesitating to run into the great unknown with my eyes closed given the chance to see my dreams come true. I also never thought I'd be so attached to everything and everyone that isn't coming with me. There is no doubt that this is what I have always wanted. It still is what I want. And I am going. But I also never imagined it would be this hard to leave. So I find myself lying awake at night hoping to find the truth between what I want and what I am afraid of.

In the end, there is no way to know, without finding it out for myself. It's not my heart that needs convincing; my heart is sure. It's just a little scared. And it's okay to be scared. As long as it doesn't stop you from pursuing what you were after. But my head is something else. My head is not scared, my head is terrified. Terrified to lose everything I have right now, because let's be honest, in some ways I will. Things don't all change when you move to the other side of the world but things don't all stay the same either. And all the sureness in my heart is not strong enough right now to overrule all the chaos and panic in my head. (And there are differing opinions about which one to listen to.) In an ironic way it's true what Andrew Bennett once said: " The longest journey you will ever take is the 18 inches from your head to your heart."

Elizabeth Gilbert quoted Virginia Woolf once who wrote: ""Across the broad continent of a woman's life falls the shadow of a sword". On one side of that sword lies convention and tradition and order, where "all is correct". But on the other side of that sword, if you're crazy enough to cross it and choose a life that does not follow convention, "all is confusion. Nothing follows a regular course". Her argument was that crossing the shadow of that sword may bring a far more interesting existence to a woman, but you can bet it will also be more perilous."

So which one to choose? What is a dream worth?

Italian cravings.

Last night I started watching eat, pray, love, again while doing some cleaning up around my house in the hope that it would give me some much needed guidance. I won't go into talking about if it's a great movie or not - cause it's not that great - but I fell in love with the book ever since it came out almost 6 years ago. I was living in the US at that time and bought it one of the first days it was published. Because winter in Michigan can be cold I would crawl up in my favorite coffee shop drinking chai lattes while reading non-stop. I remember one time, quite early in the book when she was talking about all the delicious food she was eating, I got a craving for Italian food so badly I ran out of the coffee place and into the first Italian restaurant I encountered. And then I ate a shitload of Italian food. This is exactly what happened to me last night. Which is why I am making this incredibly good lasagna tonight. If I could I would have driven to the airport to jump on a plane to Italy today, but I can't so I'll have to settle for this.

It also reminded me of a trip I took to Italy with a friend a couple years back. We travelled from Rome to Naples and then all the way up to Venice. And what we did was this: walking and eating. I tink I gained like 5kg over this trip but it was totally worth it. We would eat pastries, drink coffee, eat pasta and pizza, two deserts and ice-cream all day long every day. My stomach stretched out about till about twice it's size since around this time but I didn't see a reason to stop since I was enjoying the art of fine food so much. I already told you about the best pizza in the world that I ate in Naples, but the rest of the trip was just like that. Just for the food I would go and live there. Of course, then I would become obese as well. But man, those Italians know about excellent food! And since last night eating in Italy is all I want to do.

A day trip to paradise: Koh Tan!

One of my favorite things to do while in the tropics is go out on a boat trip to go diving or snorkeling. Another thing the Thai islands are perfect for. I took a day trip to Koh Tan to enjoy some more island bliss. Is that even possible when you are already on an island?! Around Koh Samui you can find thousands of other small islands and they are the perfect destination for a day away from the big island. I took a boat trip to a small island Koh Tan, located south of Koh Samui. It took our boat almost 2h to get there but it was wonderful just to sit in the sun and have the wind blow through my hair while the green of the island was (slowly) sliding by next to me. I love the view of the backdrop of an island against the clear blue sea in the sun.

Koh Tan is a little paradise that is heaven on earth. There are palmtrees everywhere and the sights are just amazing! First I went snorkeling in front of the island and after that I relaxed on the island and ate an amazing freshly made fish lunch! All the products are so fresh here it's delicious. In Thailand they even eat the eyes of the fish! After that I played around on the island a bit, standing on the swing, climbing a palm tree. There were almost no people on the island which made it feel even more like paradise. A little paradise just for me. It's hard to describe a little piece of heaven like this, I feel like with everything I say, I don't do the place justice. This place was a total peace of mind. The tranquility that fell over me mixed with the sheer joy of being in such a beautiful place and all the joyful adventurous things to do here. A great day for me would be described exactly like this.