Yes, I know you’re here (of course..) to read all about me. But if you don’t mind I’ll start by giving it a try and make some very bold assumptions about you! My best guess would be you’re either:
- A hardcore backpacker
- Wanting to travel but still doing your research on how to actually do that
- My good friend, or boyfriend, or mom, whom I promised to cook dinner for in exchange to a daily visit to my site (The things you gotta do to keep your visitor numbers up ;))
First thing you should know about me is: I can be a tiny bit impulsive and naive. This time I ‘ll keep my feet on the ground of my favorite coffeeshop and just confess that the chances I’m right about you are probably not huge.. So please let me know in a comment who you are. I’m curious, seriously 🙂
Having that said: Welcome! Happy to have you. Whether you’re a potential traveler in spe, a newbie or a seasoned one (or maybe you’re really just curious about my travels), you’ve come to the right place my friend.
As you might have guessed by now: It’s all about travel. I’ll write about my own experiences, give you tips and advice regarding traveling and hopefully, will also learn from you! Because even though I traveled regularly since I turned 18, there-is-always-more-to-learn!
So this is me: Nikki van Leeuwen
In 2016 I finished university and realized it wasn’t quite ‘it’ for me. So I quit my job and gave up my apartment. In 2017, I lived the English teaching expat-life in Shanghai for a year. I spent my days dreaming about far-away places, sunny beaches and palmtrees, and figured it was about time to make a real move and make these dreams reality! I met my current boyfriend and ever since 2018 started we’ve been all over the place.
Since the one thing that excites me in life is traveling, I’m now very passionately trying to keep up a digital nomad life (although this term might not be perfect, it best covers my endeavor to create a life where I’ll be able to travel around the world AND make enough money to do that). Currently it’s mostly about translating, doing some web stuff, and writing blogs.
How it all started
I was born in The Netherlands (Amsterdam, country of legal drugs, tulips, windmills, red light district..?). Furthermore we are known for our cheese and fabulous cows, and apparently we are the tallest people in the world. I am very grateful I grew up in a place that gave me so many opportunities to follow my dreams and travel.
I guess I can call myself a typical Dutch girl, with my blond hair and green eyes, a height of 1.78m, and being the owner of a very Dutch accent. My father used to grow flowers and my brother (who’s obviously taller than me) is a farmer. Pretty cliché right?!
& This is my story
While my brother more or less went my father’s way and always knew he wanted to be a farmer, I was dealing with more of my mom’s adventurous genes. Which sent me any way but that way. Thus I ended up studying psychology, took 2 gapyears somewhere along the way to travel to other ends of the world and finally graduated in 2016. It left me feeling unsatisfied. I’d liked the study, but never envisioned some big career.
By now I was living in my own apartment and working a fulltime job as receptionist. Which was fine. But the thing is.. ‘fine’ had never been enough for me. For as long as I remember I need some up or down, a little ‘too’ or ‘not enough’. ‘Just fine’ doesn’t come up in my dictionary. My (again very cliché) slogan: YOLO.
That’s why I quit my job and moved to another world: Shanghai, China. That’s where I’ve been teaching English for a year and loved it. But… my feet started to itch again quickly and that’s exactly why I decided to quit my job and continue my travels 🙂
Some general facts about me
I’m pretty kind and honest. I can be very excited and passionate about things I care about. Impulsive and naive from time to time: yes. Assertive? Not so much.
I like: traveling, beaches, hot weather, walking on flip-flops, wine, swimming, diving, running, hiking, exploring new things, doing things that are just a little bit too scary, eating food that’s just a little bit too spicy, lying in the grass, having picnics, barbecues, nature, dancing when no-one is watching and singing when no-one is listening, optimism, music, beautiful pictures, inspirational quotes, palmtrees, massages, sunrises and sunsets. All preferably with friends, family or other good people around 🙂
I dislike: Lying, aggression, beating around the bush, negative energy, doing too much of the same, too much routine. Also I generally don’t watch the news and I’m not that interested in politics. And o yes, I’m terribly afraid of spiders.
Want to know more? Don’t hesitate to just leave a comment below.
Here are some articles to get you started: Why Everyone Should Travel | My First Travel Experience
Thanks for posting but I was just wondering about one thing, you said that you are lucky to have been born in Holland, you didn’t say why though? Should we understand from your sentence that being born in Holland should be considered good? lucky?
I might have to disagree. With all due respect, but I don’t think of Dutch people (people who were born in Holland) anything special, i.e. They’re just like other people, nothing that really makes them better than let’s say somebody who was born in Barcelona. There are many drawbacks of being Dutch if you compare it to being Greek, Spanish, Italian or from the Balkan, e.g. soul, warm-blooded, generous and love for sharing, all those things your typical Dutch person lacks.
I’d rather hang out and be with people from the above said countries than with a German, Dutch or French. Having a soul goes a long way. When I see a friend from these countries on the street, I usually get a passionate ‘heyyyyyy! where have you been?’ vs. a cooooold passionless ‘hello’.
Everybody is and should be proud of where they’re from. On the other side, calling yourself ‘lucky’ might imply that you’re telling everybody else out there that you’re special and better than ‘them’, which of course is absolutely not the case like I explained above. It’s nice to be modest and down to earth.
I usually avoid befriending travelers from Germany, France, Holland and the alike because I normally find them selfish, cold and not worth making friendships if I compare them to the Greeks, Spanish and Italians.
By the way, I’m Australian and this was my personal opinion that I’m sure lots of people agree with.
Hi Tommy!
Thanks for your honest comment 🙂 I feel like I want to clarify something here. I certainly didn’t mean that I’m in any way better than people with other nationalities. I meant to say that I feel lucky I was born there, because it gives me certain opportunities that often are not given when born in many other countries. This feeling would probably be the same if I were born in say Barcelona, Australia or many other places with these opportunities. So, I actually just wanted to say I am happy to have the chance to travel and make my dreams come true, and with that nothing against other nationalities 😉 Hopefully that clarifies a bit.
Nikki