While I was doing a help exchange in Rotterdam I ended up being the photographer for a photoshoot celebrating melanin and natural hair...
Read MoreAll Melanin Photoshoot
europe
Iceland: Reykjavík & The Golden Circle
in travel
The only place I have regretted being a solo traveler was in Iceland. I couldn't split the cost of a rental car or hotel room with someone. I ended up taking a guided tour of The Golden Circle. Two nights was way too short...
Read MoreNetherlands: Weesp
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My last night in the Netherlands was so surreal. I arrived by train just after sunset and was met at the station by a friend I met in Costa Rica. She was so generous and offered me a place to crash at her family's home in Weesp, just outside Amsterdam.
Read MoreNetherlands: Giethoorn
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Giethoorn was my next stop after the island of Vlieland. It was really crowded with tourists, especially from China (the bus stop information is even in Mandarin), but I found some quiet spots to satisfy my introvert self...
Read MoreNetherlands: Oost-Vlieland
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The rugged and small island of Vlieland ended up being one of my favorite stops of my Europe trip. I arrived on the ferry on the eastern part of the island around 7pm on a balmy day, and woke up the next day to cold rain pattering on my hotel room window and a clucking chicken...
Read MoreNetherlands: Utrecht
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Don't go to Utrecht. It's not cooler or more relaxed than Amsterdam, there aren't lovely bakeries and lunch spots along the canal, and there definitely aren't any bicycles to rent. ;) Some Dutchies prefer to keep Utrecht a secret from hordes of tourists, so I promised I wouldn't sing Utrecht's praises!
Read MoreNetherlands: Amsterdam
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During my extended stay in Rotterdam doing HelpX, I took a quick overnight trip to Amsterdam, a very convenient train ride away. I got a behind-the-scenes tour at the Van Gogh museum with a relative (no photos allowed), and took a canal tour which was very touristy but still worth it...
Read MoreNetherlands: Keukenhof
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Tulips for days at the Keukenhof Tulip Gardens. I woke up really early to get to the gardens by 9am, located 90 minutes away from Rotterdam...
Read MoreNetherlands: Deventer
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By the time I got to Deventer I was feeling camera fatigue. So, I didn't take a lot of photos, even being in a formerly walled city with historical architecture. Instead I focused on getting to know my extended family (like, really extended - related through my great-grandfather)...
Read MoreNetherlands: Rotterdam
in travel
I spent three weeks in Rotterdam, city that my great-grandfather left in 1912. Land of my Dutch last name: Schoenmaker (literally shoe-maker...the kids from middle school were right, for once).
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