Peaceful. (at Broek in Waterland)
Today's Document
No title available
Jules of Nature
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
occasionally subtle
No title available
Cosimo Galluzzi
Keni
Three Goblin Art

pixel skylines
Not today Justin
I'd rather be in outer space šø

No title available
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
sheepfilms
will byers stan first human second

if i look back, i am lost
styofa doing anything

#extradirty

Love Begins

seen from Malaysia

seen from Israel
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States

seen from Maldives
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from Brazil

seen from United States

seen from Malaysia

seen from Netherlands

seen from United States

seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from Malaysia

seen from Malaysia

seen from United Kingdom

seen from United Arab Emirates
seen from United States
@amsterdameh
Peaceful. (at Broek in Waterland)
Condescending yet effective āļø (at Westergasfabriek Amsterdam)
Days like these š² was so nice to be back and cycling in Holland! Very thankful for my friends in Europe that I was lucky enough to get to catch up with - thanks all! (at Terschelling, Hoorn Strand)
Montrefall š
Some days you're watching the tall #ships of the world sail into #Amsterdam , other days you're in a windowless classroom daydreaming of the former āµļø I'll try and concentrate now š #sail2015
There's no place like #Amsterdam . 1⣠week left in the #Netherlands !!! Please excuse what will probably be an excessive number of #canal pictures this week š #reflection
āļøš³š Thanks for making my day a little brighter. Life in colour, in #Lisbon #Portugal
#Portugal does colour well. Look out the window, and there's #Lisbon in the distance āļø
This is my I woke up at 4am and now it's 8am and we are in #Berlin and I'm super excited for the #TechOpenAir but you just can't quite tell yet face. š“
Thoughts on Speed Skating & Therefore Cycling
Probably the best decision I made when I moved to Amsterdam for my University exchange semester was telling myself that while in the Netherlands I should learn to speed skate. In true Canadian fashion skating has been a huge part of my life for over 15 years, so I figured, when in Rome! Or in this case Amsterdam. Ā The Dutch are the best at speed skating in the world. As evidenced by:
In Amsterdam speed skating takes place outdoors primarily at the Jaap Eden Ban (pronounced something like Yop Eden Bon) on a large track. The name has always reminded me of a highway (German?) and really it is not so different when one considers the speed at which the average dutchie (not I) rounds the corners. The rink is beautifully bordered by trees and lit up at night with hanging strings of light.Ā
Thoughts on Speed Skating
Its' absolutely nothing like figure skating. Shouldnāt I have expected that? Maybe. When I decided that this was something I was going to do (one has the luxury of trying ridiculous things on exchange) I signed up at the gym and emailed the instructor Kees (so dutch!). When on my first day he handed me a pair of speed skates and even helped tie them up for me I realized I was in for an experience. Firstly, speed skates have no ankles. None. What fun?! Theyāre literally slippers (bowling shoes maybe!) with long knives attached to the bottom. iāll admit I immediately longed for my skates back in Canada. The result: I speed skate funny. Although the years of figure skating did me a lot of good in the balance department, it didnt transfer directly to an ability to round corners wickedly fast in speed skates. Shockingly I skate in speed skates like a figure skater. Albeit very slowly - I did take some enjoyment in the fact that I fell much less often than the other beginners. Ā Ā
Inevitably when the winter ends the ice melts. On a sunny Friday in late March Kees Ā (I so wish I could describe him perfectly) told me that this was the last day of speed skating and that tomorrow we cycled. Ā Ā
It wasnāt a question.Ā Ā Ā
Thoughts on Cycling
And that dear friends is how I got into cycling or fietsen in dutch. Which is why at 10:30am on a summers morning in July I am on the way to work (a little late Iāll admit) having already cycled 2 hours and 40km through the dutch countryside. Holland is very flat (thank goodness) and beautiful. The weather is mild and although it rains a bunch, still very comfortable for cycling. People are kind and this morning while it briefly poured rain we took cover in a barn of a farm we were flying by in an area called Waterland. The farmer in a good natured tone (I have no idea what he said) Ā invited us to. I have an intense love and hate relationship with cycling. Ā Ā
I love...Ā
Getting outside of Amsterdam (its really quite small so this is not very difficult)
Ā Seeing the countryside and visiting adorable small towns that look like they belong in a Disney movie
The wildlife! Bunnies and ducks, lambs and cows. Throughout the spring so far I have seen lambing season (my favourite) ducks and their ducklings following in row, baby bunnies (hundreds) on morning bike rides and even baby swans.
I feel āgreatā afterwards. As in, I feel absolutely awful, but I know its because I just completed a hell of a lot of exercise. Itās a good thingĀ
I hate...Ā
That I am REALLY slow. Iād like to blame this on genetics and the fact I did not learn to cycle at age 3 so that I can continue to think of myself as an averagely fit person.Ā
My complaints really end there. Just working on being dutch.Ā
Summer Start Up Things
The last 3 months have been a blur of school at the University of Amsterdam (April), backpacking through Spain (May), and making the transition to work life at a tech startup back in Amsterdam (June).Ā
At PwaL Iām working on designing their new app - something Iāve admittedly never done before! Jumping into the tech startup scene has been a really big change from advertising and marketing but one that Iām really enjoying. Iām learning a tonne, some of which Iāll try and share here, and having a lot of fun. So although the pay is not necessarily enough to finance lots of international travel, Iām having a good time hanging around Amsterdam for the moment and working on my Yuccie (Young Urban Creative) cred.Ā
Ā -->Ā http://mashable.com/2015/06/09/post-hipster-yuccie/
Chilling with Iz and trying to steal some of his Australian-ness. Thanks to the talented @yak.alexandra
Another day in paradise āļø#Amsterdam
The mad scientist is my dad who arrived today, probably by delorean. Jokes aside, I'm very happy to see my parents and get to show them #Amsterdam! #backtothefutureanyone
April 6th - Amsterdam
Spring here is even lovelier than I could have imagined.
Saturday April 4th Ā - Waterland, NetherlandsĀ
Biking through the dutch countryside with Sam yesterday to the little fishing village of Marken, north-east of Amsterdam. Although the journey there took us about 2 hours (we were biking against the wind) we flew home in just under an hour! The entire ride was about 50k in total so I was very happy we had the sunshine in both directions at least.Ā
Climbing mountains in ScotlandĀ