Remembering the Netherlands gives me goosebumps. It is such a magnificent country, and I am so incredibly grateful to have gone. I went with my travel buddy, my mother. She is my best friend, biggest supporter, and the most beautiful woman in the world. I could cry just talking about her! We both have a passion for travel, so any chance we get, we take it. She is an expert planner; she books all the places we stay and the excursions. I’m in charge of picking the restaurants because one of my favorite parts of traveling is trying different foods and unique restaurants. It heightens every experience. 

We tried Dutch food for the first time… we weren’t the biggest fans. We sat on a corner with our amaretto sours and watched the hundreds of bikes ride past us for hours. We went to the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and took a long boat down the canal. We also took day trips to Haarlem and Keukenhof.

Keukenhof is a botanical garden in Lisse, Netherlands. We traveled by bus with other tourists. We were a little early in the year to witness all of the tulips blooming, but it was still an incredible experience. I also just found out that Chicago imports thousands of bulbs a year from the Netherlands, so I’m glad I got to see them in their natural habitat. My mother and I were there for hours looking at a large variety of flowers. The rows of yellow flowers were almost blinding; they reflected off people’s faces as they were observing the beauty. 

The entire time, I couldn’t believe I was there. Since it was my first time overseas, it felt surreal to be walking on a different side of the world. It’s hard to explain the feeling. I think of it like I’m this little ant in this huge world, capturing huge moments. I may be one person, but I want to experience the amount of many. Does that make sense?