It was a strange month. The first two weeks I had time off with the kids, which meant lots of activities. Some of the highlights were Agualand, Elder, Climbing World, Palmitos Park and Sioux City. After that, I went back to work, and the kids went on vacation with Ana to the Spanish mainland, for a month of sun, beach, and the swimming pool. During the weeks I spend working hard I was even able to find some time for enjoyment, like going for some quality meat at Don Chuleton and visiting the Soul Festival.

After a few weeks of work, I traveled to the Netherlands. The plan was to go sometime in early August, but plans changed. Grandmother Nel is getting a new knee, a major operation, so I decided to head to the Netherlands a bit earlier to lend a helping hand.

I used a simple spray of water mixed with garlic and onion to spay over the plant… and just like that, the problem was history. My coffee plant is thriving again and growing like crazy!

As for the beetle (in Dutch, the ‘wants’)? It packed its bags. Apparently, it couldn’t stand the stench anymore and the leaves didn’t taste nearly as good. Mission accomplished!

Vacation! Time for a different rhythm. No more of that boring daily routine, just a chance to relax. Sometimes you take it a step further and immerse yourself in a completely different environment. Traveling to destinations that are incomparable to your home situation.

Alan has now reached the ultimate level. No school, a new place, and it even seems like he’s diving into a completely different culture. Alan is going full tribal!

This weekend I’m heading to San Agustín in the sunny south of Gran Canaria. Every year, they build an impressive stage right on the beach: the ocean on one side, food, drinks, and restrooms on the other. On Friday and Saturday, we’ll be soaking up the warm sand and enjoying the Soul Festival.

Soul festival 2025 – San Agustin – Friday, July 18:
19:30 Monterreina
20:30 JP Bimeni and the Black Belts
22:00 The Memphis Music Hall of Fame Band
22:10 Shunta Mosby, Dani McGhee & Candy Fox
22:50 Carlos Strong
23:50 Junte Mayon
00:30 Gran Final

Soul festival 2025 – San Agustin – Saturday, 19 July:
19:30 Calamity Jane
20:30 Gisele Jackson and the Shu Shu’s
22:00 The Memphis Music Hall of Fame Band
22:10 Shunta Mosby, Dani McGhee & Candy Fox
22:50 Lil Rounds
23:50 Jerome Chism
00:30 Gran Final

I’ve been to this festival several times, always with Diego. The last time was two years ago. We always do it the same way: two days of fun, Friday and Saturday. One day I drive, the other day Diego takes the wheel. No kids because we’re home alone while both our families are off vacationing somewhere far away. We stay behind as loyal wage slaves.

But this year we’re doing things differently. No commuting back and forth. We plan on sleeping in the car near the beach. Just a mat and a sleeping bag. That saves us a lot of travel time we’d rather spend relaxing in the sand. Friday: we leave, enjoy the festival, sleep in the car; Saturday: more music, another car night, then head home on Sunday.

Two nights in the car? Should be doable. We’re just going to give it a shot.

Update: The festival was absolutely amazing, but I couldn’t handle sleeping in the car for two nights. On the second day, I stayed completely sober and drove back home at night so I could sleep comfortably in my own bed again.

Alan’s soccer season wrapped up this month with a group photo, a fun BBQ next to the footbal field, and a parents versus kids footbal match! He’s grown a lot as a player and really enjoys both training sessions and matches, so it’s very likely he’ll join his team again next season.

A milestone, thats for sure. 50 years already… incredible. This month we also celebrated Ana’s birthday during a combined celebration in the sun, all-in at Mogan Princess & Beach club. We spend four days enjoying the pools, the free food, the free drinks, the activities, just great; a total disconnect from our normal routine.

Besides my birthday, it has been another great month. We joined the club Metropole, the local swimming pool that also has a gym, bar, restaurant, tennis court, squash court, and more. Ana immediately started taking a lot of lessons, so her health will greatly improve. Our kids have quite a few friends who also go to the club, so that should work out well. I started by inspecting the bar, so for me I expect far less health benefits.

Half a century! Amazing. Looking back, something that is almost inevitable when you reach a milestone, gives me a great feeling of victory. Like climbing a mountain, and looking back at the track and seeing the view, the path and combine them with the memories of the climb. Easy parts, hard parts, the falls and mistaken, the shortcuts… together they make the effort valuable.

Looking back at my own path in life I see myself growing up. My street, the little town with the church in the center. My parents and little brother always around. I see fun times digging in the garden, raising rabbits, playing with little chickens and little ducks. Having birds around. Growing beans, unions, chickpeas, carrots, and other plants with my dad. Removing endless amounts of weeds from all the crops. I see us eating fries every weekend, with a kipcorn for me. I see myself making rice every weekend. Terrible rice at first but I get better. I see us making huge Lego villages in the attic. I see fun filled vacations with the family in the sun. I see myself studying and wondering what I’m doing. I see problems at my school. I see myself cleaning the rabbit cages and thinking how could something smell so bad, but feeling pride afterwards. I see myself fighting with my brother a lot. I see myself playing board-games with my mother. Collecting, reviewing and cleaning coins with mom. I can see us biking to grandma in the town nearby through the wind, getting a little (or big) push on my back to help me. I see myself hiding underneath the table, scared of suffocating in the smoke cloud covering the entire living room, where it seems like everyone is smoking. I see myself in my room, in my bed, being scared of the dark. I can see our entire family in the dunes searching for bullets, or collecting blackberries, or getting wild rhubarb. Going to the beach, or to the lake, with our big surf plank. Going for paling. Our first car where we glued a CD on top of the roof. Driving with my brother to meet the ‘paal’ or get a hamburger at the burger king. Getting on the race bike, to drive to Schiphol to see some airplanes land and take off.

Meanwhile observing the start of the digital age. Color TV, the first computers, mobile phones, mobile phones with a screen, smartphones, cars with a ‘choke’, cars without. Seeing the climate change, remembering walking of a frozen sea, frozen rivers. Seeing houses being built everywhere. Travelling getting more and more normal.

Then I see a change. Somehow a turn in the path where I changed my style. I see myself really growing up. The seed that my parents planted in me by getting me an 8086 personal computer is suddenly sprouting. I get direction, and can finally see where I’m going. After studying informatics, I start working right away. I get a house, and change jobs a couple of times. After I left my parents home my relationship with my family improves. For a while I am happy, visiting places with friends, going skiing, indoor climbing, going out drinking and visiting concerts and festivals. After a few years I felt the need for things to change. I take a risky detour, just for the experience. I quit my job, and go to travel. I start this blog to keep my family informed. I go to the US for a couple of months and I travel from New York to San Francisco, visiting Canada and Mexico on the way. The trip changed me, and made me much more confident about myself.

After my trip I returned to my previous path, working as a freelancer, picking up old routines, but it was not enough anymore. I start to travel within Europe. I start meeting people, and after a couple of years I go to Spain to learn the language. I stay in Spain and eventually move together with Ana to Gran Canaria. I big change, my destination turned out to be different to the one I imagined earlier. We get married and we have two sons. I adopt to the Spanish life. A life with lots of emotions, some very good, some really bad. At times it is really difficult and I am afraid I made a wrong choice in life. Eventually even life in Spain turns into another routine, and this time I am able to accept it. I know my climb is not yet done, but the part I already did makes me proud. I’m happy to realize and feel that it is the voyage that is important and not so much the destination. This is a saying I have heard lots of times, but I never felt it like I do now.

Here I am now. I feel good about myself. I have confidence. I understand how things work, I know I can learn new things. I know I have made mistakes, and I have hurt people, but I have always tried to avoid hurting others and avoid conflict, but some conflicts were inevitable. I know that some things require lots of effort and lots of work. I understand what has value for me, and what does not have value. I know the choices I make are the correct choices for me. I know that there is nothing wrong with failure. I know strength is easily confused for weakness by people who just don’t know. I know it is hard to fail and disappoint someone, but it is worse to fail yourself. I aim to be a good teacher for my kids. Teach them how to be happy and how to make the world a bit better. Prepare them as well as I can for their own journey.

That’s where I am now, after 50 years I find myself in a good spot, curious about what else my future will bring.

May is a month full of routine. We started the month with a very nice route over/through the water. I make a video about the route, but I still need to shorten/edit it. A week later, I had to get moving—a 10 km run with a few of my colleagues. The 10 km went surprisingly well; I had a very solid time of 0:49:19, averaging 4:55 per kilometer, just under five minutes which for me personally is a very good result.

Alan has an official celebration! A football friend is celebrating his communion and has invited him. Alan was very happy to go together with his best friend, without his parents. He went pincel perfect, with styled hair, perfume, soft creamed skin, and a classy outfit perfect for the occasion.

A few days later, I went to Don Chuleton with some friends. We’ve been there a couple of times before. It’s a men-only event, no women, no children, where we basically just catch up, eat meat, and drink wine.

Alan finished his first official football competition. His team reached the forth place, out of eight. Very good for his first time. We are all very proud.

This month we also celebrated ‘Semana Santa’, a two day holiday everywhere in Spain. Miguel visited us! Alex’ godfather and Alans pan-godfather. The entire family always enjoys the visits from Miguel and during each visit we try and do something new. I think Alan had the most enjoyment this time. Miguel took the kids to an Argentinian restaurant with a Michelin mention. Alan was extatic for days about the food he ate, and I was told in detail all the plates they ate, and all the things that happened during dinner. A lasting impression for sure. Alex was also very satisfied, but it was not his first culinary adventure, so for him it was less impressive.

For my last post about vitamin C I did some research just to be sure I wasn’t giving any incorrect or unhealthy advice. However, I realized that I was taking a relatively low dose! I was taking a dose much higher than the recommended dosage but it was still much less than the safe maximum. This month I started with a new double dose. 2 Grams a day. As of now I notice very little effect. I had a cold this month, so it did not help in avoiding this. I do notice that sometimes I see things clearer. More clarify then I look around, but also more clarity in my thoughts. All this is hard to prove, and I suspect a lot of this is simply my imagination. I’m going to keep up with my new dosage, to see if something happens.

We have a new housemate! A hamster named ‘Pelucita.’ It’s a Russian hamster, but fortunately not imported. Our hamster was born on Spanish soil. We built her cage ourselves—a nice spacious cage with plenty of toys, a hamster house, a running wheel, and her food and water. I think our hamster is very content; during the day she’s calm and plays cheerfully with the kids, and in the evening she goes completely wild and seems to be running a 10 kilometer marathon in her wheel.

Carnival! A celebration on the island. A few family members from Madrid came to visit, which resulted in two weeks of fun outings, but unfortunately also some extra pounds gained. Luckily, with some extra running sessions, I managed to lose those extra pounds again.