Semester 18 Chapter XXI: Pushing It

Okay, what the fuck is up. I’m going back in… Sunday evening, been a pretty eventful week, blasting that T.I. vs T.I.P. album from back in the day, feeling like an old hip-hop head getting emotional on shit that was fresh 20 years ago. T.I. used to be a fucking monster tho…

 

Last week was yoga. Lots of yoga. I swear when I move out of this city, I will miss the hell out of my studio. It really makes so much difference having something like that over here… Much love. I still consider myself being in baby stages but it’s always so rewarding unlocking a new pose, figuring out a new balance and flowing through a new sequence. So yeah, lot of that.

 

I also got a new phone. If I count correctly, this is my fourth smartphone. And it’s such a fucking upgrade from the previous one. I mean… It’s nothing special but shit actually works. And it works fast. And if you open another app, the previous one still runs and you can get back to it. Now, all of it might sound basic but you did not see what I had been working with before. Shit is so fast, I don’t even know what to do with that thing half the time. Stuff that used to take 5 minutes takes 10 seconds now. I keep it super simple tho. Didn’t install too many apps, set a sleep mode for 8 hours a day… And last week, my screen time was an hour a day which includes reading the news (which is actually the biggest chunk of that). So yeah, I guess I’m officially in the 21^st century.

 

We got some people visiting in the apartment these days which means I’m doing one of the following. I either socialize and hang out with them or I do my own thing, letting everybody catch-up not being bothered by my vegan ass. This vegan thing tho… At some point I’m gonna elaborate on shit that’s been going through my head lately because it’s fucking wild. We’ll get there, I promise. Anyways, I did do a long bike ride with the group yesterday, we went to Katwijk, we stopped by at a beach, it was all pretty cool. In the evening, I was decompressing by the newest Mission Impossible which was exactly what I expected to be. An okay action movie. It’s still fuck Tom Cruise forever. With his scientology ass.

 

Today, I got picked up by my diving buddy at 8am sharp and we took it to the Dreischor area. The buddy is in charge of picking locations and I’m happy to follow. We ended up doing two dives at different spots, it was all super nice and I got home at around 4pm. Washed the gear, cooked some food and after like forever, put on my cycling gear and went for a ride. Again, super appreciative of the area we live in. Doesn’t get old.

 

And there you have it… Another week has passed, there some shit lined up for the next one, all is well. Keep your head up, keep it positive, don’t let them fuck with your inner light and stand up for something that matters here and there. We got this. One!

Highlights:

• Diving.
• Yoga.
• Cycling.

Semester 18 Chapter XX: Wakeboarding & Cracks

Okay, here we go again. On the bus to the Hague right now – yet another trip to the Czech Republic successfully concluded. It has been a lot but it has all been fun and I’m happy I’ll get to do it again in couple of weeks. Let’s get to it tho…

Last week was partly business as usual. I worked, I worked out, I hung out with some cool people. There were couple of things out of the ordinary tho. On Wednesday, my sister took me to this lake not too far from Brno for a wakeboarding class. It was a late birthday gift. Now, I’m not much of a surfer. When I started playing with water activities, I immediately fell in love with diving so surfing has really never stood a chance. On this particular lake, there’s a whole wakeboarding infrastructure. You are being pulled on a line attached to this rope, it’s all controlled either automatically or by an instructor, and the pull gives you stability. We spent an hour pretty much learning the basics. How not to fall, how to turn, how to control the whole thing. I’m not really into gifts but when it comes down to them, I do enjoy activities and time spent with loved ones instead of artifacts. So yes, this was really good.

Friday morning, we hopped in my sister’s car and we went on a road trip. First, we stopped by at the cottage where my dad and his partner were staying for some lunch. Then we proceeded to the area around Hradec Králové to get my nephew to a theater camp. See, when me and my sis were kids, we used to go to the same theater company. And when our dad was kid… The same thing. It’s a really cool institution, people very often make life-long friends or partners over there, it’s very specific and there’s a strong sense of community. So now it’s the nephew’s turn. Since him and his buddies are still little, they only came for the weekend this time around. The full camp is 2 weeks. Me and sis were there only as support and apart from sharing a tent during the night, we were happy to leave the rascal to his instructors. I got a chance to catch up with some people I hadn’t seen in ages and I got a bit emotional as I sometimes do. See, last time I’d visited this camp before was like 12 years ago. And back then, I had no reason to assume that I’d ever come back. And yeah, some shit has changed. People I remember as kids have kids who go there now, some faces I don’t know at all. But the energy is still the same and here and there I get flashbacks of when me and my friends were teenagers doing the exact same thing. And it really makes you wonder where has all the time gone. All the love to everybody tho! Oh and on one occasion, I managed to jump waist-deep into a swamp while on a walk. That was great. Took more than 24 hours for my shoes to dry up.

On Saturday before we went to bed, my sister accidentally demolished my phone. Now, my phone was fucking terrible. I bought it back in Tenerife and since the first moment it was crystal clear that I bought some bullshit. Extremely slow, can’t run two apps at the same time, pure rubbish. Sometimes my friends would call me and it wouldn’t ring, shit like that. Battery life was not too bad tho and I kinda got used to the fact that I just waited before shit loaded up. It was also naturally limiting my screen time. If I hadn’t needed anything important, I wouldn’t have used it. So I knew my phone was trash but I wasn’t necessarily planning on getting a new one until it would fall apart. In order to see my toothbrush, I placed it on the rear edge of the car with the flashlight on and proceeded to brush my teeth. That was Friday evening. In that specific time window, my sister showed up, opened the trunk, the phone slid into the hole between the roof and the door and got pressed to the point of no return. No more display, no more anything. Which gave me two days of digital detox. And even tho my sister’s partner gave me some of her old phones Sunday evening, I’ve just ordered a new one. I can’t stand iphones, I want a two sim phone and I also need something reasonably new so I can install new apps on it. It’s crazy how much shit is no longer available if you try to set up a phone that’s couple years long.

So yeah, the camp was an experience. We chilled, we talked, we took some light hikes, my nephew got to perform his first play, it was cute, I felt grateful. Sunday afternoon, we drove to Prague to pick my sister’s partner, I got some of the old phones, took a subway to my bro’s spot, had some dinner, went out for a beer and then straight to the bus station. I even managed to sleep a bit on the bus. Now it’s 8am, I got another 5 hours before I reach The Hague. Not much planned for this week but I know it’s gonna be some yoga, some running and hopefully a bit of diving, too. Hope y’all good. Stay positive and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

Highlights:

• Wakeboarding.
• Theater.
• My phone going to phone heaven. RIP.

Semester 18 Chapter XIX: High Frequency

Hello world, what the fuck is up, here we go again. It’s a sunny Monday morning, I just got back from a walk with the doggo (which was beautiful) and I’m about to catch a hot yoga class before this week’s work kicks in. Last week was all about family and friends and all of it fell in place smoothly just as it always does. Let’s get to it.

I arrived to Prague Saturday early morning and went to my friend’s spot. They left me a key in one of the locker joints downtown. So I wouldn’t wake them up. Which would have been great if they hadn’t left the key in the door from the inside. Took me like 15 minutes of knocking and ringing to drag them out of bed I made it in. I swear I nearly gave up. Was thinking about going back to the station to catch a connection to Brno. Dealing with that shit after 14 hour on a bus was not amazing. Anyways, it all worked out and from that point, everything flowed.

 

My friends are renovating their tattoo shop so I had a chance to see the current state. Looks great. In the evening, there was a gathering of some of my favorite people back at my friend’s spot. And even thought there were some clubbing ideas floating around, we ended up staying in and talking till about 7am. Slept for 2 hours, met up with some of my fellow vegan people, had brunch and a pretty cool hangout and in the afternoon, I met up with my sister and her partner to catch a train to Brno. We ended up having a coupe for ourselves which was awesome. Time flew like it was nothing.

And then my hometown… On Monday, I went to my dad’s trivia night. Which we won. As usual. They also fixed a vast area around the river in Brno so me and dad went to check it out on Tuesday. They did an amazing job. There’s a cycling lane, there’s a pedestrian lane, there’s loads of greenery, the water is somehow crystal clear (it totally was not beforehand). I really believe this extends the center dramatically and gives people a reason the spend time in whole different places. Kudos! On Wednesday, I picked up my nephew at the kindergarten and then did the whole evening with him and sis. Thursday evening, I picked up some homemade Greek olive oil from some family friends and then dropped by at a friend’s workplace for a chat.

Friday afternoon, I met up with that same friend at a café and then we hopped on our bikes and proceeded towards a village not far from Brno where one of my bros lives. We stopped for a swim at this small lake on a way. Awesome. Later on that evening we got join by another of my friends and had a real cool evening. The following morning, we went for a 20km run wrapped up by yet another swim. Had a lunch over there and then headed back home. Spent the whole afternoon reading. In the evening, we had another meet-up, had some drinks and eventually headed to this Fraktal place for some techno. Smaller event, cool people, great music, stayed until about 6am. No alcohol, felt great.

Funny thing.. At the party, I talked to this guy in his mid-twenties and he told me it’s cool to see people pushing 40 still going to raves and having fun. In his head, that shit would stop around 30. And I do understand where he was coming from. When I was at my party age, I perceived guys my current age exactly the same. And it is also cool that I still get to go (albeit far less) and I still love it and visually I still somewhat fit in. But it’s also scary being that guy now. In The Netherlands, you see people of different age groups at events like these here and there but in Brno, the crowd is mostly much younger. And you’re the ancient veteran that remembers things from centuries ago. I’m good with that but it’s all a bit funny. And time flies like crazy…

 

Also… When you walk home at around 6am from a party, you tend to be quite skeptical about the upcoming day. I felt great but I was also contemplating a possibility of spending the whole fucking Sunday at home not doing jack shit. I eventually did sleep a bit and before noon, I felt ready to go. So I hopped on my bike yet again, met up with my cycling buddy and we went to the outskirts of Brno to meet up with one of my techno buddies from the night before. Trees, nature, peace and quiet. Very welcomed. Then we did an amazing cycling route to Bílovice for another beer. I made it back home in the evening feeling fucking great about the whole weekend. Everything worked out, I saw so many of my favorite souls, I did a lot of exercise, I dived into my tribal self for some dancing. Hell fucking yes.

Now it’s back to work but I also have some fun stuff lined up for the week. Oh, and I also got me some new barefoot running shoes and they’re on point. So I’ve been warming them up a lot. Anyways, sending some love to everybody over here. It’s a fucking privilege being surrounded by so much positive energy and love. Hope y’all having great summer too! Sending love to everybody out there. One!

Highlights:

• Prague.
• Brno.
• People.

Semester 18 Chapter XVIII: In Depth

Okay, let’s do this. Lately, I’ve been having quite some traffic on this blog and some of the guys have been going way down the memory lane with me which made me revisit some older posts. I’m still not sure why I do this but I do this and to be honest, reading shit I was going through years back is kinda cool. My memory is pretty useless so this kinda feels like a testament. It brings me places, it makes me grateful and it also makes me appreciate all the things and people I’ve encountered within the past decade or so. So yeah, shout out to everybody who considers and of this shit somewhat interesting.

 

I’m writing this chapter from a bus. I’m on my way to Prague to spend some time with my loved ones and I decided to take advantage of some of the time I got to burn before I get there. See, I really try not to fly. Honestly, I’m not doing the greatest job when it comes to that, but I do try. So these 14-hour rides back and forth have become quite a staple in my modus operandi. And frankly, it’s not too bad. Much longer than the flight but it’s also city center to city center, much more comfy and mostly overnight. So yeah, go buses and trains!

 

These past couple of days in The Hague have been great. I got a new diving buddy now with whom I went on a dive on Monday evening. See, having a diving buddy is awesome since you don’t depend on the diving center. You pick you time, you pick your location, you go. The guy picked Grevelingen which is about 100km from The Hague. Which means there’s no way I’d get there just by following the diving center’s agenda. And it was really good. We had a good chat, the dive was chilled, visibility much better than the week before. And granted, you get good visibility mostly around 4-8 meters but I’m honestly still in awe I get to dive regularly again. Diving is apparently a bigger thing than I’d thought over here. For the first time ever, I saw a publicly accessible compressor for tank refills. You come, you put some coins in and you can do for another dive. Fucking brilliant. The refill is like 4 EUR. I am surprised anybody considers this a good business model but I’m sending a whole lot of love! The only drawback at the site were jellyfish. There were loads of them everywhere (especially around 2-4 meters) and they stung. Not too much, all irritation was gone the next day… But our faces were burning after I got out. Anyways, really cool dive. Dropping some videos to this blog for you guys to get an idea. Fish, crabs, all that…

 

The rest of the week was work, workouts, yoga and runs. Weather has been nice so it was all very pleasant. I think I’m locking on the dancer pose and sugarcane starts to feel doable too. Handstands still not all that but I’m coming. Step by step. Thank god my addictions happen to be healthy at this stage of my life. So yeah, shout out to all the yogis, all the vegans, all the people who connect rather than disconnect and some extra love to my readers! Keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

 

Highlights:

• Diving.
• Running.
• Yoga.