1st June 2024: the journey continues!
Over 6 months have passed since my last blog, but today feels a good day to finally start writing again! The sun is shining, and I'm sitting in the grass overlooking a pretty lake... (where am I?!? 🙃)
Most importantly, today it's been exactly a year that I drove out of my home in Burlington, hitting the road on a new journey!
Many things happened in the last year; the remaining of 2023 as I had planned, and then the last few months deviated from plan but in a good way. I'm kind of in between lives at the moment, which is surprisingly more comfortable than I had thought, although hopefully soon I will actually be able to move forward! Please everyone, cross your fingers for me. 🤞🤞🤞
As I wrote in my last blog, I left Toronto at the end of September last year to spend 4 months in Europe(ish) with I family and friends. After that amazing cross-Canada road trip, I was ready to calm down a bit!
I'll try to write a few more blogs providing more details on what I did exactly, but in short it felt really good to take the time to catch up with people I care about. Instead of constantly rushing (although I still had quite a busy schedule!), it was great to spend sufficient time somewhere so that we could simply hang out on the couch for hours catching up rather that feeling obliged to run around. Regardless, Europe being Europe, I still ended up doing a bit of sightseeing in between the cups of tea, but overall, it definitely felt like I could relax!
I spent most of October and November in the south of France at my parents in lovely Provence 🥰. Perfect weather and blue skies meant that despite most of the time simply following along with my parents' daily routine, I did some beautiful hikes in the countryside, where vineyards and olive trees abound!
It's amazing how easily days are spent doing crosswords, reading, chores and going for a little hike, all whilst being most of the day outside in the garden or in & about town! 🤗
In this period, I also went for ten days to Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman visiting my sister, her husband and their two children 😍. We typically see each other in the summer in the Netherlands so it was great to be part of their life there for a bit! End of October, it was still hot 🔥 over 30 degrees, so I was really struggling to do much at all... I did teach my nephew the basics of rollerblading, went a few times to the beach (scorching if not in the water!) and just enjoyed spending time with them, at home or in the playground. Of course it went by way too fast, although at the same time "tante Fleur" must admit she was a bit relieved to leave the heat and busyness behind! 🤪
At the end of November, I switched my home base to our flat in the Netherlands, where it turned out to be muuuch colder, especially as the heating didn't work for a week 😫.
First thing on the agenda was winter camping in a yurt with 6 of my oldest friends from university. After a summer of camping, it hadn't been my idea, however despite the snow (!) and rain, we had a blast and basically chatted non-stop for two days straight... We know each other close to 30 years so that means that all topics go, and the laughter, tears and wine flowed easily! 😂
On weekdays, I caught up with other good friends from university and work, some of which I hadn't seen in 14 years since I came to Canada, very special indeed to reconnect and still feel the same friendship after so long! It also included a fun visit to modern art museum Voorlinden, where you could "swim" underwater! 🤣
The following week I embarked on a mini-European tour, visiting friends & my brother for 3 days each in Copenhagen, Paris, London and tiny Everdon (population 356) in central England.
I was toured through Copenhagen by my dear friend Jamie who I used to work with at CT... in a cargo bicycle! The best thing ever, as I kept warm under a blanket while he was narrating the sights and manoeuvring us through the busy streets. Mulled wine at the Tivoli Gardens, wine tasting at a distributor under some obscure bridge and wine at home... you get the picture! 🤩 Oh and amazing food as he & his partner are amazing cooks!
Next stop was at my brother in Paris where we visited the art collection at the Bourse de Commerce... the art was a bit too modern to our taste, but the building is impressive and lunch on the top floor was sublime! Staying at foodies (in France! 😃), it meant great food and company all through...
Then, I took for the first time the Eurostar train underneath the Channel... so much more comfortable than the plane for the short distance! My friend Hélène has converted into a true Londoner, so our trips consisted of walking the dog at sunrise in Regent's Park (whilst the chimps in the nearby zoo were waking up!), lunch at a fancy yet homey private club and a visit to the V&A, one of my favourite museums in the city. 😊
Last but not least, I took the train a few hours north to the hamlet of Everdon where Tracey has set up shop with chickens and rabbits in the garden 😀. We ended up making appetizers all day for a party, which was hilarious as we both had no clue what we were doing (ganache truffles anyone??) but the guests left all merry so that turned out OK. Next day, we walked out our headache among the sheep in the very English rolling countryside and ended the evening in the local pub... perfect ending to a great trip! 💖
Back in the Netherlands, Christmas came around quickly so I spent the last few weeks of the year quietly at home, beating my parents and brother-in-law at bowling 🙃 and trying to get outside as much as possible if it wasn't pouring. New Year's Eve is very special as the air explodes with 100's of fireworks (until you can't see them anymore from the smoke) so that marked the end of 2023! 🎉
Meanwhile, I had found out that I couldn't apply for the Chilean visa without going back to Toronto to get my paperwork legalized, so although I didn't really want to, by mid-January I was squarely back into the deep freeze! 🥶 The whole application process is a game of waiting and patience, so that meant I had plenty of time to do many things, including seeing lots of friends, dog-sitting, swimming, hiking, and even completing a course in teaching English!
Some of the highlights include a hike to a frozen waterfall and a visit to a Keith Haring exhibit at the AGO, one of my fav artists in a fab museum!! 😍
Capping of my 3-month stay in the GTA was the spectacular solar eclipse combined with lots of tasty Indian food at my home-away from-home at Navneet & Arpita 😘😘
Celebrating my birthday in New Orleans at my Dutch besties was the best gift I gave myself; with a jazz festival where I collected beer money from strangers, a cool art garden, loving friends, gorgeous weather and a Dollie Parton drag show, what is there not to love?!?🤗
Running a bit out of steam now 😅, I came to Mont Tremblant in Quebec 6 weeks ago to stay at my dear friends Ivan & Cynthia and their larger family (we were 9 on the first day!), where I am thoroughly enjoying being surrounded by nature. I currently teach some 18 hours a week to mostly Koreans (that deserves a separate blog to explain!) while waiting for my visa to come through... again: 🤞🤞🤞
All in all, things are as good as they get; I remain hopeful about going to Chile later this year and in the meantime, I'm having a very different but fulfilling life... I keep learning (things about myself, how to be a coach, new trails) while meeting wonderful and kind people!
Hug, until next time 🌻🌸🌼


















