2012

Okay so it's almost done. 2012 is almost over. Just a couple of hours left until a new year. I guess this would the right time to look back at this year and realise what an amazing year this has been. Last year I was in Austria on a skiing-trip when 2012 started. We shot fireworks into the mountains and drank a little champagne to celebrate the start of a year that was going to bring me (looking back..) one of the biggest adventures in my life. I think I can say that 2012, for me, equals travelling. Travelling everywhere, all the time. I have never travelled more in a year. I discovered the fun there is to find in travelling. And I also discovered the sweat, tears and pain that come with it. Not just from the Muay Thai but also from being homesick, getting foodpoisoning twice and having to say goodbye to some people I will never forget.

I thought I'd make a little list to all the places I travelled to this year, in chronological order:
Starting in January:
Went on a skiing-trip in Austria, stayed with my second family in a chalet in a little town called Niedernsill, near Innsbruck. This trip I decided I will definitely go on more skiing-trips whenever I get the chance. Snowboarding is awesome.

February:
Left for Asia on February 8th in the early evening. Had to say a very emotional goodbye to my family and by the time I arrived at Frankfurt Airport for my stopover I called home crying asking my mom what the fuck I was doing and if she would come pick me up.. I got myself together and decided to still get on the plane to Bangkok later that night. It would just be a waste of money otherwise and I could always fly back the next day.. When I was in the plane everything fell into place and I got my travelling/being-on-myself-mode on. Problem solved.

I arrived in Bangkok, three days later my trip around Indo-China started! February 11th, in the early mornign we took off for Poipet, a small place near the Cambodian border to get our Cambodian visas. Then we drove to Siam Reap. After a day in Siam Reap (and luckily áfter we saw Angkor Wat) I got horrible foodpoisoning. First time I had to go to a hospital for myself, got fluids through IV and a shitload of antibiotics. I took me about a week to recover..  After spending another night in Siam Reap, I travelled to Phnom Penh to meet up with my group as they left the day before. After Phnom Penh we went to Sihanoekville. The beach! Finally! But hey, Mother Nature isn't always with you so we had rain instead of much sunshine. Didn't take away our fun though. We went to visit the beautiful Ream National
Park and went through the mangroves by foot. Ended with a lovely BBQ on the beach and ate baracudda for the first time in my life.

Then our Cambodia experience was over and we set off for Vietnam. Drove to the Vietnamese border which we had to cross by foot. We got our stamps (happy like a little kid every time we got a stamp in our passport) and we walked to the other side of the border. There we got into another bus and we drove to Chau Doc. This little town gave us our first real Vietnam experience. Completely different from Cambodia but no less special. We went to watch the sunset on top a mountain and I remember feeling like a boss right there at that place, for being so far from home, recovered from food poisoning  surrounded by amazing people at the most surreal and mundane spot that could've been found in that town. I was doing it! Travelling on my own!

We only stayed in Chau Doc for one night, so the early next morning we got on the bus and went for a really long drive to Saigon, otherwise known as Ho Chi Minh City. I'd been looking forward to this destination from the beginning because my final history exam in high school was all about the Vietnam-war and we were going to see the Cu Chi tunnels. We went to Saigon, stayed there for two nights and then set off to Nha Trang, another beach town  And again: rain. Luckily we took a trip to an island called 'Monkey Island' and I got burned like a burger on a BBQ once again.
After Nha Trang we headed up north towards Hoi An, a sweet little town full of tailors and good food. Hung around for about two days, then we travelled to Hue. That's were the cold hit us. Hue is pretty far up north already and all we had packed for 'Asia' was shorts. Nobody told us Vietnam was going to be cold as shit. Shit even got worse when we travelled to Halong Bay. This was the most beautiful place I think I've seen during my adventure. Definitely something this was on top of my bucket list and we even got to kayak there. The day we were there was also my mums birthday which made it just a little more special. We went back to Hanoi after Halong Bay but by the time we were in Hanoi we were done with Vietnam. Too many motorbikes, too many people and way too cold. You can imagine how exited we were to get on the plane towards Vientiane, Laos!

We arrived by plane at Vientiane and we drove around the city on bicycles. After Vientiane we took a bus to Vang Vieng; TUBING!! We were so sad about having to leave Vang Vieng. It's just a dusty small town in the middle of nowhere. But God, so amazing. You can do anything there, and everyone was just so relaxed. I could've stayed there for a really long time. But hey, travelling means moving so we drove to Luang Prabang next. A bit more of a cultural experience, got to feed the monks and visit the night market.
After Luang Prabang our Laos experience was over as well. We got on a boat on the Mekong river for about two days, stayed overnight in the smallest place I've ever been in; Pak Beng and then we arrived in Thailand once again. We arrived near Chiang Kong where we stayed a night. The next day we drove to Chiang Mai, were I had my first real Muay Thai training and after we were done in Chiang Mai we got on the train towards Bangkok again.

That was the end of my 'organised' trip, so now we we're on our own. It was March 12th by now.
Me and the boys decided to travel together some more. We wanted to go more down south. We stayed in Bangkok for two more days and then got a plane to Phuket. Phuket was full of tourist, but good beaches and we had great fun. We stayed at Karon and Kata Beach and when we were done with that I arranged a boat trip for us towards Krabi. We stayed at Au Nang for about four days, visited Koh Phi Phi and went to the beach again. After that I felt it was the right time for me to go to Koh Samui to start my Muay Thai training, which I had been dying for. I booked a flight from Krabi to Koh Samui, got picked up by the Gym's owner and I still had three months of travelling left.
Travelling got less important when I was there. I just stayed at Chaweng most of the time. Didn't really visit other places, only left the island once for my visa run to Malaysia. Staying on Koh Samui was the right thing to do. I met amazing people there. I met so many people in that first month as well, but certain people I met on Koh Samui will stay with me forever.
I had to go back home May 30th.
The were all my 'Asian-places-travelled-to'.

When I got back I was broke-ass. So I had to work again, also because I had made the decision to travel again next year. I got to go to Bretagne, France for two weeks with my family in August and after that travelling was done for 2012.

In total I already visited 11% of this earth. I think that's a fair amount for the fact that I'm just twenty years old.

This percentage will be bigger within a week, because January 6th I'm off to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to visit my good friend Jeferson. One of the special ones I met on Samui. I plan on going back to Thailand around the end of March if all goes well. Still don't really know where I want to go but I guess I'll figure that out. So 2013 will be all about travelling again, until I start University in the fall. I'm starting University for sure this year. I really will.. Just like I said last year. No seriously haha, I will study Cultural Antropology and Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. A study that will allow me to travel for the rest of my life. Sounds like a plan to me!

In case you didn't know already, I'm a person that loves to make lists. Bucket-list, Things-to-do-lists,  Places-travelled-to-lists, etc. So here's a list of things I did or didn't do in 2012:

( ) stayed single for the whole year
( ) made out in/on a car
( ) kissed in the snow
( ) celebrated Halloween
(x) kissed in the rain
(x) had your heart broken
( ) broke someone else’s heart
( ) had a stalker
(x) went over the minutes on your cell phone
( ) someone questioned your sexual orientation
( ) gotten pregnant
( ) had an abortion
(x) have a relationship with someone you’ll never forget
(x) done something you’ve regretted
(x) lost faith in love
( ) kissed under a mistletoe

OTHER
(x) painted a picture
(x) wrote a poem
(x) ran a mile
( ) shopped at Hollister or Abercrombie and Fitch
(x) posted a blog
(x) listened to music you couldn’t stand
(x) went to a sleepover
(x) went camping
( ) threw a surprise party
(x) laughed till you cried
(x) laughed till you peed in your pants
(x) visited a foreign country
(x) cut in a line of waiting people
(x) told someone you were busy when you weren’t
(x) partied to celebrate the new year
(x) cooked a disastrous meal
(x) lost something/someone important to you in 2012

I…
(x) broke a promise
(x) lied
(x) went behind your parents back
(x) disappointed someone close
(x) hid a secret
(x) pretended to be happy
(x) slept under the stars
(x) kept your new years resolution
(x) forgot your new years resolution
(x) met someone who changed your life
( ) met one of your idols
(x) changed your outlook on life
(x) sat home all day doing nothing
( ) pretended to be sick
(x) left the country
(x) almost died
(x) given up something important to you
( ) lost something expensive
(x) learned something new about yourself
(x) tried something you normally wouldn’t try and liked it
(x) made a change in your life
(x) found out who your true friends were
(x) met great people
(x) stayed up til sunrise
(x) Cried over the silliest thing
( ) was never home on weekends
(x) got into a car accident
(x) had friends who were drifting away from you
(x) had someone close to you die
(x) had a high cell phone bill
( ) spent most of your money on food
(x) had a fist fight
(x) went to the beach with your best friend
(x) saw a celebrity
(x) gotten sick
( ) liked more than 5 people at the same time
(x) became closer with a lot of people

This year I also discovered the true value of many and how hard you have to work for it to get some. Ever since I came back I have been working my ass of to save money. I start work really early, get home, sleep, train and work again the next day. And it just goes on and on. It pays off, I'm saving money. But I'm learned that not everything in life is worth paying for and sometimes it's better to keep the money in your pocket instead of spending it. You want everything all the time, but it's not always worth it. So better be wise and think about the consequences of spending it now or saving it for later. Most of the time 'saving-it-for-later' will be the right thing to do. I definitely learned that one. Money doesn't grow on trees. 

Some other things I also did and learned this year:

Collected about €460,- for children with a disease

Learned how to make an origami-dinosaur

Won my fight by K.O 

Trained my ass off

Partied with some of the most amazing people

And had the best trainers one could wish for

2012 was an awesome year and if 2013 only will be half as good it will still be great as fuck. I have no expectations for next year, I just want a good health, lots of travelling, great people around me and not too many struggles.. I was able to conquer this year, so if all goes well I should be able to conquer the world.. Or at least next year. I wish everyone all the best for next year. Let's make 2013 a great one, one to remember, just like last year. Be thankful for all we've had, and grateful for all the things that will come. And if I can make one last wish for 2012: PLEASE LET ME WIN THE LOTTERY TONIGHT, 30 MILLION EURO'S WOULD BE JUST FINE! Amen.

This year will go out with a bang at a great party tonight accompanied by my sister, everyone; have great evening and don't do anything I wouldn't do! 

See you next year. 


(for more pictures and stories about Asia, you can visit my blog about Asia: click here to go to blog , it's in dutch though..)