I’m back! Oh my guys, what a summer it’s been. I’ve had an amazing time the past few weeks, but not gonna lie, I’m glad my blogging hiatus is over and that I get to create lots of fun, new content again. As promised, my first post back is a photo diary taking you through everything I’ve been up to in July and August. It’s been quite an adventurous two months, so let’s take a look at the photos I took!
The very first thing I did in July was a proper throwback to my teenage years. My best friend in high school, who I reconnected with a few months back, invited me to come see The Hu. We visited our fair share of metal concerts back in the day so it was really fun to get to experience this with her. Not to mention The Hu were absolutely amazing. A great night altogether!
At the beginning of the month we had an indoor camp at the scouting with the explorer scouts. We spent five days at the clubhouse, and I decided to take the hammock out to sleep in. I put my air mattress underneath for one more time, since I’m terrified of falling out of it in my sleep, haha! Not that is has ever happened, in fact I’ve become really good at balancing and changing positions inside, but one can never be too careful.
We built a hot tub behind the club house and since the weather was great all week, we were able to relax in it every evening. It was equal parts fun and gross :) (don’t think for a second that water was drained in between uses, haha!)
One of our friends recently graduated art school, so we headed out to Den Haag to check out the graduation expo. I have to admit I find a lot of contemporary art quite hard to understand and appreciate, but some of the pieces were really beautiful. It’s always fun to see what direction art is headed in, and I absolutely love our friend’s project (pictured above).
A while back I received a message from Joni, the corset maker at Rainbow Curves Corsetry, and in July I hopped on the train and traveled to her place to meet up. It’s quite the journet so I brought my laptop (and tea, of course) and got some work done on the train.
I got to try on a bunch of her gorgeous corsets. Can you tell I was absolutely ecstatic? Haha! You’ll hopefully get to see a bit more of Joni, her awesome rainbow hair and her amazing work in a few months :)
The beginning of the summer holiday rings in the start of summer camp season for scouts. The cub scout leaders recruited me to play a damsel in distress up on a tower, who was in dire need of protection from a fiery dragon. Of course the kids were the ones who had to sort out my troubles. I donned my Austrian dirndl (the closest thing to a princess dress I own that isn’t black, haha), put on a blonde wig and headed out. Here I’m sat in the kitchen tent, waiting for the right moment to make an appearance.
Behold the aforementioned tower. I’m happy to report the cub scouts succesfully chased the dragon away and were all made knights in return.
I’ve got my own little monsters at home <3 The summer was a bit rough for them as temperatures got higher than ever, but the tower fan we got helped cool down the house a lot. Add their little paddling pool and ice packs and they all made it through just fine.
I got ridiculously hooked on the show Sons of Anarchy this summer, and binge watched nearly all of it just during the holidays. I saved a few seasons on my phone so I could watch them on plane rides and such, and now I only have a few episodes of the last season (season seven) left. I must say the last season doesn’t appeal to me as much as the others did, but I greatly enjoyed being in this world for a while and I look forward to seeing how the story ends.
We started watching the new season of Orange Is The New Black, but I hated it so much (wish it wasn’t so) that we started watching Breaking Bad instead. I’ve wanted to see that show for a while now as I think it’s dubbed one of the best shows ever. The first few episodes seem very promising, in any case!
Munchkins
My fellow explorer scout leader and I traveled to Germany for a weekend to check out the location we’d booked for our summer camp that was to take place a few weeks later. We wanted to make sure everything was alright over there, and check out the surroundings to see if our plans were possible. I’m amazed every time by how gorgeous nature is as soon as you cross the German border.
A little stop over at McDonald’s for lunch allowed me to try this Big Vegan. It was good! I really hope McDonald’s puts a vegan burger back on their menu in the Netherlands as well, I miss that.
The explorer scouts had a few activities planned across Sauerland, so we checked out some of the placed they planned to visit to see whether they were worth it. This one was a definite yes (from me, in any case) :) Can’t beat medieval structures!
Pretty soon after I got back, it was time for me to head to Slovakia to visit my family. My grandpa was celebrating his birthday and there was a big family celebration planned. But first, hanging out in my hammock with a book and the loveliest view.
The celebration took place in the High Tatras, a gorgeous mountain range where we were able to go on amazing hikes. I really wish I could spend more time in beautiful places like this… Maybe someday I’ll catch the travel bug, after all :)
We also visited a shooting range, which was surprisingly fun. I wasn’t expecting it before going in, but I really enjoyed myself, haha! And I was pretty good at it too, if I may say so myself.
The next week was spent with the other side of the family, in Bratislava and at my grandma’s cottage. It was a lovely relaxed week full of high temperatures and sunshine.
One of my favourite views ever: the moment when the airplane passes through the clouds. I got to experience a thunderstorm from this angle once and it was absolutely magical.
I got to be home for two days before leaving again, for explorer scout summer camp. Just enough time to unpack my suitcase, celebrate Robbert’s sister’s birthday, and pack my backpack.
Back to Sauerland! We spent a little over a week camping…
Hiking…
Visiting castles…
And exploring the beautiful city of Cologne. It was a fantastic summer camp, and I’m so proud of the explorer scouts for how they pulled it off.
Just wanted to throw in an honorable mention for my three colour hummus Spongebob sandwich :)
After I got home I took a day to unpack and unwind, and then I tried to get straight back to work. I’d pre-made just enough videos to maintain my uploading schedule until I got back, but there was no time to lose. However, after spending so long in nature and completely disconnected from normal life, I did need a little adjustment period (which I’m not entirely sure I’ve left yet, to be honest). The weather was still amazing in the Netherlands as well, which made it easier to just… not work :) I decided to work half days and meet up with friends in the afternoons/evenings.
Robbert, my brother and I headed into Amsterdam to do some vintage shopping and decided to pop into Mr. Stacks for lunch. It’s a vegan pancake restaurant that I’d wanted to visit for a while. I almost did one day this summer, but they don’t have airconditioning (like most places in central Amsterdam) and it was unbearably hot inside. It still was pretty hot now, but we survived and had some INCREDIBLE pancakes. Look at this! We seriously regretted not ordering just one portion for the three of us, as this was absolutely impossible to finish. I can definitely recommend this place if you’re looking for somewhere to eat around Amsterdam!
Last Friday I found this little guy sitting out next to the trash bins on our street. My boxwood tree didn’t make it through the summer which means I have a spot for this dude, so I checked to see whether he had any insects or diseases. After ruling he’s perfectly healthy (honestly I have no idea why someone wanted to get rid of him) I took him home. Now we have a rescue plant! And what a beautiful one, at that.
Well, that brings us here! A new month, a fresh start and a semi-back to work. I’m actually leaving again at the end of the week to spend a few more days in nature on a camping trip to Belgium with some friends. Can’t wait to truly end the summer in the best way possible.
I hope you’ve had an amazing summer, guys. I’m really excited to be back!
This really reads like you had an awesome summer :)
Could you share where exactly in the Sauerland you went? I actually live nearby and the places on the pictures look lovely, I’d really like to go there sometime :)
Have fun in Belgium!
How delightful! Every time I read a blog post or watch a video of yours I want to visit The Netherlands so bad!!
Yay, I’m so glad you are back to blogging! It sounds like you had a great summer. I visited Belgium in July with my boyfriend to visit his family; we stayed in Antwerp mostly, but we also visited Amsterdam for a day and we loved it! Although it was during the late-July heatwave. so it was 37 degrees! My boyfriend and I agreed that we definitely want to return to Amsterdam to visit again, hopefully when it isn’t so hot! There was so much food we wanted to try but many restaurants were closed from the heat, haha. Hope you enjoy your camping trip in Belgium! :)