Happy New Year! It may already be the ninth of January, but I simply haven’t had the opportunity to wish you a happy 2022 here on my blog before now. You might have noticed it: last Monday, I didn’t publish any blog. It was my birthday that followed after a Christmas period that was busier than ever this year. As a result, after three years of blogging every single Monday, I made a decision: this year, I will keep writing blogs, but I will also skip a Monday every now and then. Maybe the new frequency will be once every fortnight, but I at this point, I haven’t made up my mind about it yet.
I was quite reluctant to write it: the big year overview of 2022
Another reason why this blog wasn’t published last week already is that I was quite reluctant to write it: the big year overview of 2022. Not that it was a terrible year. Quite the opposite in fact! It was a fantastic year in which the highs overshadowed the lows by far. So many things happened that I just knew from the start this wasn’t going to be a blog I’d manage to write in half an hour. Still, I knew I wanted to write it, for a few reasons actually. First of all, to capture the memories and all of my feelings now. It’s so precious to be able to read this again in a few years’ time. Also, writing a year overview is a very nice way for me to end one year and start the new one. It makes me reflect on what all went well, and what I want to take with me into the new year. It also makes me realise how much I have learned, and how much I have grown. Finally, I want to write this year overview because it’s an opportunity to tell you about some things that happened last year that I never shared here on the blog or on social media. As a person, I always tend to focus on the positive, not giving the negative things that happen too much attention. But in hindsight, those often turn out to be our greatest lessons that also deserve to be told. So, here we go!
When you fully indulge yourself in the present moment without worrying about the future, beautiful things will ‘naturally’ flow to you. One of those precious life’s lessons I got to experience myself. The day after I returned from Paris, my phone rang…
As always, the year started off in the Netherlands with lots of family and friends, a festive feeling I wanted to hold on to for a little more. That’s why, mid-January, two of my best friends and I decided to go to Paris for a winter weekend. It was very cold but also very sunny. The three of us shared a hotel room overlooking the Notre Dame. We laughed a lot, walked around the entire city, and drank lots of French wine. It set the tone for 2022: when you fully indulge yourself in the present moment without worrying about the future, beautiful things will ‘naturally’ flow to you. One of those precious life’s lessons I got to experience myself. The day after I returned from Paris, my phone rang. It was the Dutch delegation of the Eurovision Song Contest: whether I was interested to do some work for them? Well, yes, of course! Another few days later, it turned out that I had unwittingly brought back a nasty little souvenir from Paris: after almost two years of being able to not catch it, I was now really holding a positive covid test in my hands. That week I felt pretty sad and definitely not my happy self. But in the end, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise: having covid now meant that I would be spared later that year, at times when it would really matter (read: the Eurovision Song Contest).
In the car on the way to the airport, I experienced the most bizarre moment of the year by far: on the radio they mentioned the accident and how “a young woman had been injured and her condition was unknown”.
On the last day of January, it turned out that the Eurovision project also included a trip to Turin, just two days later. My very first business trip as a freelancer! It felt very special, and having to go so last-minute didn’t bother me at all. But just a few hours before I had to leave for the airport, I had a car accident, less than five minutes from home. It truly felt like I had ended up in a bad movie. Both cars were total-loss and the ambulance arrived at the scene in no-time. Despite the fact that I had managed to get out of the car myself and that I didn’t seem to be physically harmed, it was clear to me that there was no way I could get on a plane that night. Right? While I was being examined inside the ambulance, the ambulance staff were deeply worried about the impact of the crash that had gone at 80 km per hour. But – I’d dare say – miraculously, everyone had remained unharmed, so at that point I decided to bring it up: “Um, I actually have to go to Turin, do you think that’s possible?”. “Okay, when?”. “Um, in two hours”, I said bluntly. The paramedic almost dropped the blood pressure monitor from his hands: “Excuse me, when?!” But you guessed it, despite the objections of the paramedic, I went anyway. Armed with lots of paracetamol “for when the adrenaline drops and you start feeling the impact of the crash in your body”, I went on my way. In the car on the way to Brussels Charleroi airport, I experienced the most bizarre moment of the year by far: on the radio they mentioned the accident – my accident! – and how “a young woman had been injured and her condition was unknown”. I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh at the absurdity of the moment.
Later that month, what had seemed impossible for so long became a reality after all: the covid measures were loosened
In Turin, I was running from appointment to appointment during the day while watching the San Remo shows from my hotel bed at night. Who was going to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest this year? It turned out to be the best medicine to avoid thinking about the accident whatsoever. I am so very happy and even more grateful to be able to say that the accident had no negative aftershock, just the car that sadly was taken to the junkyard. Later that month, what had seemed impossible for so long became a reality after all: the covid measures were loosened and Carnival could be celebrated. I honestly think it was one of the best carnivals of all time. Perhaps I enjoyed it even more this year because I had now experienced for myself that a carefree life is not always to be taken for granted. Five days long, I partied non-stop with friends and family.
Meanwhile, the Eurovision Song Contest was getting closer and closer, and there was the offer to be part of the Italian show team. Now I can hardly believe it, but until mid-April I highly doubted whether I should go
March and April I was at home in Rome. They were two months in which I spent a lot of time on personal growth. My Scottish-Italian friend came to visit me for a few days in March, and 2 Dutch friends for a weekend in April. Meanwhile, the Eurovision Song Contest was getting closer and closer, and there was the offer to be part of the Italian show team. Now I can hardly believe it, but until mid-April I highly doubted whether I should go, wondering if this was really something I wanted to do. But after several talks with friends and family, I also realised that I would be crazy not to take this opportunity. And that’s how I left for Turin on Sunday the first of May, not having the slightest idea what was in store for me.
In Turin I realised: this world, the world of music and entertainment, is what makes me happy. A seed was planted…
It was to be one of the best experiences of my life about which I wrote an extensive blog already back in May. In Turin I realised: this world, the world of music and entertainment, is what makes me happy. A seed was planted… After Eurovision, I flew to the Netherlands for a few days, where it was already very warm and sunny, to then come back to Rome again. In the green hills towards Tuscany, I had the honour of witnessing a beautiful, Italian christening ceremony. Three days later, it was already time to pick up my parents from the airport. For the first time since I had left for Rome in 2019, they were finally coming to see me. We experienced some very dynamic days in Rome, and then enjoyed the peace and stillness of the countryside. In the Castelli Romani, we had lots of food and wine, while taking in the most stunning views.
I packed all my belongings and stored them in the attic of the US embassy (just goes to show: with the right connections, you can get even the most unlikely thing done in Italy)
By now I knew I wanted ‘something else’ from life, though at the time I had no idea what exactly that would be. What I did know is that I wanted to spend the whole summer doing exactly what I felt like doing. To travel a lot, and to live in the moment, exactly as I did on the third of June, the very first beach day of the year in a beautiful secluded bay in Sperlonga, where you could only get to by scooter. Less than a week later, I flew to Alicante for a Spanish friend’s wedding. I stayed there for five days, during which a very special encounter made me learn more about myself. Back in Rome, things moved quickly. By now, temperatures had gone up to forty degrees (and thus basically unbearable). I packed all my belongings and stored them in the attic of the US embassy (just goes to show: with the right connections, you can get even the most unlikely thing done in Italy). A day later, I found myself on a plane to the Netherlands, not having the slightest idea that it would not be before December that I’d be back in Rome.
It was at a coffee bar in Lecce that I took a decision fuelled by nothing more but a gut feeling: I would move to Milan
By now, summer had officially begun and that meant a very special girls’ trip (it was the six of us!) in Croatia and a long weekend with friends in the Champagne region. After almost six years, I finally went back to Brussels for a few days, the city where I lived years ago and which forever holds a special place in my heart. But a summer without Italy wouldn’t be complete to me, and so I booked a ticket to Bari (Puglia) at the end of July. Ten days later, I would leave already. Once here, I took a completely unplanned but very welcome break from social media, my email, and even Whatsapp. My stay in the south of Italy was as special as it was beautiful. During these days my intuition made itself heard more strongly than ever. It was at a coffee bar in Lecce that I took a decision fuelled by nothing more but a gut feeling: I would move to Milan.
The moment I shared with you that I no longer live in Rome I still vividly remember. I was so overwhelmed by all your reactions!
From the moment the summer ended, Milan became my sole focus. In October, the moment was there already, although my new adventure got delayed a little due to the extraction of two of my wisdom teeth that didn’t went well. It was honestly one of the most intense pains I have ever had to experience in my life, and I was extremely bummed about the bad timing. That’s why it feels even more crazy to realize that, looking back on it now, I have almost forgotten about it already. Instead, the moment I shared with you that I no longer live in Rome I still vividly remember. I was so overwhelmed by all your reactions!
Even though I have been ‘living’ in Milan for over two months now, I haven’t been here much that much yet
And then my new life in Milan began. As you know, I had to go house hunting. That turned out much better (and faster!) than expected. I’ve shared the whole process with you here on the blog not so long ago. Even though I have been ‘living’ in Milan for over two months now, I haven’t been here much that much yet. In fact, in November I was in Genova, Madrid, Bologna and Florence for work, and in December I went to Rome for a weekend. To see my friends again after almost six months, but also to finally pick up my belongings. Those belongings that were still stored at the US embassy, remember? And then, after a delicious Christmas dinner here in Milan, I flew to the Netherlands on the 21st of December. Home for the holidays, which were as wonderful, bustling and cosy as always. Writing this year overview was on my mind all the time, but since I wanted to fully live the present moment, I decided to postpone it a little more.
Exactly a year ago – in January 2022 – I really did not have the slightest idea of what was in store for me
But now I am back in Milan and did I finally found the time to write this. I realise that exactly a year ago – in January 2022; when the world was still largely on lockdown – I really did not have the slightest idea of what was in store for me. After two years of pandemic that had put the world upside down, I had not even made the most concrete plans. But I did have one very fervent wish, which I still remember very vividly. It was my wish that 2022 would not be a boring year. In fact, some excitement was all I wanted. Well, I think I don’t speak nonsense when I say that that wish has been fulfilled. More than fulfilled!
I hope all your dreams and wishes, big and small, may come true this year. Felice anno nuovo!