This Summer 2022, we have planned to go explore Europe. In the summer of 2021, we made preparations by camping across the Netherlands, namely in Kemphaan, Hemels, and Geithoorn.  After long hours of research, I prepared a two-week itinerary for our camping trip that covers Germany, Switzerland, and France. The trip is 15 days long and will cover more than 2000 kilometers. We chose to use our car as a mode of transportation so it'll be convenient to move around. Below is the infographic I prepared for our trip.

We brought our essential camping gear, a week worth of clothes, and a few snacks for the road. We didn't bring much food for we decided to shop in the supermarkets and surprise ourselves with what meals we can come up with within each place. We refuel three times, all in Germany because they have cheaper fuel rates. 

We allowed ourselves to enjoy each place by having ample time per location. As from previous camping experiences, it takes an hour to set up our tent, and another hour to pack it up. We opted to stay at least four days and three nights at each campground so as not to tire ourselves too much. 

Cochem

Our first stop is Cochem, the famous town along the Mosel river. From Zandvoort to Cochem, it was a 6-hour drive of almost 400km. We had two stops along Germany, to refuel and to get some snacks. We stayed at Mosel Camping Cochem for three days and two nights. The Mosel region was fascinating as it is nestled between the mountains and the Mosel river. Our journey through the mountains was interesting for we never see the same view as in the Netherlands (the Netherlands is pure flat land). 

We wandered across the Mosel Promenade on our way to Cochem Altstad, where you can see Cochem castle. Just like any small European town, the town of Cochem is very charming, straight out of those fairytale books I read when I was young. We wanted to ride the Cochem sasselbahn, a pulley that starts at the bottom of the town that heads towards an awesome viewpoint where you can see a nice view of the castle and the town. Unfortunately, we weren't able to ride it because it was closing soon when we got there. We opted to ride the train tour that travels all across town and tells us a small history of the town of Cochem.

I saw some vineyards slopes in the mountain, and I was interested to try the Mosel wine. I was able to try their local Reisling, which was a bit sweet and dry. I liked it so I bought a wine to add to my sweet wine collection. As we say goodbye to Cochem and head out to another town, we dropped by the Burg Eltz castle, which is nearby Cochem. We spent a good 4 hours on our trek up to the castle and going back to the car. It was a very draining trek because we were also in the middle of the heat wave that time. But the view of the Burg Eltz was amazing. I didn't mind the trek, only if the weather was a bit cooler and not scorching us to death.

Legoland Germany

This is one of the activities we have planned for our kid. Legoland Village has a campground for pitchers and caravans. We camped for four days which includes two days of entry to the park. Our family is more of a theme park enthusiast/thrill-seeker when it comes to traveling.  

The campground is located beside the Legoland village, where the vacation houses were. The Legoland Village has separate attractions for kids apart from the ones you can see inside the theme park. Legoland Village is interesting because it has several sections with different themes, like the Ninjago Apartments, Pirate Hotel, Pipowagen (that is similar to glamping in concept), and other villas with themes from different Lego pieces.

The theme park itself is smaller in comparison to Disneyland. But they have this big area where they built mini cities around Europe out of Lego. It was a fascinating site. Our kid had loads of fun in the park. He is at the age where he is daring to try the scary-looking rides. 

Switzerland

We visited Zermatt during the winter before the pandemic so we can experience snow. Now, we wanted to explore the Swiss Alps during the summer when it is all lush and green, perfect weather for camping in the rolling hills. We decided to explore Interlaken. We camped at Camping Lazy Rancho, on the outskirts of Interlaken town for six days. The good thing about camping in the region is that they provide a travel card for the duration of your stay, meaning you get to travel for free in the whole Interlaken area. Kids travel free until 12 years of age. 

Our first day was unfortunately rainy so we decided to explore the town of Interlaken. It was still pretty despite the weather. The river that connects Lake Thun and Lake Brienz flows across the town center of Interlaken. The blue water was a marvelous sight despite the rain. Our campsite was stunning for we were always greeted by the pretty Swiss Alps and people paragliding and jumping off the mountains. 

Jungfrau region is a place we also explored. Since it is not included in our travel card, we purchased a 3 days pass which was a good deal for all the places we wanted to see. On the first day of using our pass, we headed straight to Jungfraujoch, the Top of Europe since the weather was sunny. After being exhausted at the top, we dropped by Kleine Scheidegg to admire the Swiss Alps and continued our journey to explore Murren.

On the second day of using our pass, we explored Schynige Platte, which was the area we decided to give hiking a try. They say that the amateur trail can be found in this place as there is a kid's trail. We tried the kid's trail first to warm up my son for hiking, then made a detour to check the mountain peaks. It was exhausting, good thing that the weather was perfect, sunny but still cool. As the sun begins to set, we headed to Harder Klum to admire the town as the sun sets. 

On the third day of using our pass, we stopped by the town of Wengen. The town was small and very cozy. We headed our way to Mannlichen using the cable car from Wengen. Mannlichen is a good stop for families for there is a big playground and restaurant on the plateau. You can hike down towards the town of Grindelwald or you can take the cable car.  In the afternoon, we headed towards Grindelwald First to see the attractions and exciting activities.  We were too late for the attractions at that time because everything closed at 5PM. We were so busy exploring the place that when we decided to do some activities, the lines were already too long until the cutoff for the day.

Switzerland is an expensive place to travel, we accepted that fact even before we arrived. But there are a lot of ways where you can save money. We used the water fountains for our water the whole trip. Switzerland's tap water is refreshingly good as it came from the Alps. You can bring sandwiches and snacks to fuel your adventure as the restaurants in the mountain peaks tend to run at an average of 20 euros, and even their instant ramen costs more than 10 euros.

Colmar

I wanted to explore Alsace, and it is conveniently located near Switzerland, so I have included it in our list. We decided to explore the town of Colmar so we can see the La Petite Venise canal bridges. We stayed at Camping de L'Il for three days. 

Our itinerary at Colmar is very simple. We will walk around Colmar's Old Town,  have lunch at Marche Couvert and make our way to La Petite Venice. The whole town is charming, it's like stepping out as Belle in the fairytale story, Beauty and the Beast. Unfortunately, there was a heat wave so we were literally melting and sweating profusely while walking around town. A lot of ice creams and iced coffee were consumed that day.

We decided to visit Musee du Jouet because my son wanted to do something that he will enjoy. The toy stores are nice, but this museum is a lot better choice. Musee du Jouet is a children's museum with a lot of old-school toys. It has three floors full of historical toys for children. The whole family enjoyed playing different types of board games, arcade games, and even Sega. 

After Colmar, I initially planned to drop by Paris for our last leg of the trip. We decided to change plans last minute and headed to Valkenburg aan Geul on our way home. We stayed at Hotel La Casa for one night to refresh and rest a bit before we headed back home. We weren't able to explore the town of Valkenburg because it was raining hard that day. Also, we decided to drop by Roermond Outlet Village to do some retail shopping. 

Our Europe summer camping trip was a tiring one but we had loads of fun. This article has not been your typical travel guide with lots of details but I hope I was able to convey how remarkable the places we went to were. It was exciting to see different towns and confuse ourselves as we switched from different languages. We may not have been able to follow our itinerary to the dot, but it served as a guide for us to have an amazing summer camping experience!

Which cities in Europe should we visit next?

Summer season is near! Summer is also known as Camping season. A lot of people and families plan their road trips and camping trips across Europe during this season. Last year, we have discussed trying out camping within the Netherlands for starters, before we venture out to a full blown Europe camping adventure that is in our bucketlist. I have posted two experiences we had in different campgrounds like Kemphaan and Hemels. Now, we travelled up north to check two things in our bucketlist.

GEITHOORN

Geithoorn is a small town known for as the "Venice of Netherlands. It has always been in our bucketlist as place to visit in the Netherlands. What makes this town so special, is that the town cannot be accessed by car. It is surrounded by waterways, canals and lakes, which makes the town magical, like straight out of a fairytale book. The layout of the town is not optimized for motorized vehicles, so you have to explore the place by foot. Geithoorn is surrounded by rivers and canals, that most houses have bridges to connect them to the main road. 

We long wanted to come visit Geithoorn, so we planned that this summer, we'll camp there. I was able to book a nice campsite at Camping d'Hof. It was a vacation park which has a small area for tent pitchers like us. The good thing is that they have access to the lake, in which you can park your boat.

Geithoorn is a small town, so it is easy to explore for one whole day. The only struggle is that the town is in between lakes, mode of transportation is only by bus or car. There are car parking spots at the outskirt of the town. One of the top activities to do in Geithoorn is a boat tour or rent a private boat. 

When we visited the town, we rented a small boat for two days and explored the whole town. Most boat rental companies will provide a map of routes you can do depending on the amount of time you rented the boat. Driving the boat is easy to learn, just takes a few minutes to get used to navigating and steering. 

If you do not want to do the boat [I highly suggest you do!] tour, you can just wander around Geithoorn by foot. Explore the different small shops tucked inside the pretty houses, or dine around the restaurants in town. 

CAMPING d'HOF

There were only a few campgrounds in Geithoorn, and most if them have no electricity outlet. One thing we prefer are campsites with access to an electric outlet nearby the tent. Camping d'Hof is the only campground which has electric outlets near the campground. They have two small campground nearby the lake. 

Camping d'Hof is located conveniently south of the main town, in a quiet area with access to the lake. During the summer season, they offer watersport activities and offer gear rentals. We went there during the end of the summer, so we were able to see just a few people trying out kite surfing. 

They have different types of accommodations aside from the tent pitches, like cabins, camping pods and caravan and rooms inside their main building. The place also has a recreation hall and offers laundry service for a fee. They also provide boat rentals, which is essential if you want to explore Geithoorn by water. 

We stayed for 3 days, living our best life in the magical town of Geithoorn. We rented a boat for two days and had the campground for ourselves for a day. It was convenient for we were able to park our boat near the campground. I'll share this video as it best sums up our camping trip.

@carolranas Our last camping vacation this summer in Geithoorn. @imsosh and Dax had so much fun riding the boat! #voorjou #becarol #foryou #teamperez #zomervibes ♬ Love Tonight (David Guetta Remix) - Shouse

Overall, Geithoorn is on top of our list of towns you need to visit in the Netherlands. It is best to visit during the Spring and Summer season so the surrounding nature is alive and thriving. 

Have you been to Geithoorn? Which city one of your favorite in Europe and why?

Summer vacation calls for activities for our hyper children. Six weeks of vacation is a bit long, and we need additional stimulation and activities for our kids this summer. 

1. Museum Hopping (with a Museumkaart)

If you cannot file for a long vacation or you are filling up the afternoons with activities, Museums are your go-to. The Netherlands have an abundance of museums and activities for that matter, notable ones if I may say.

Note that it is a good thing to purchase a Museumkaart, so you can save a lot of money. Admission fees for most of the museums are usually free if you have a subscription/Museumkaart. If you plan to visit 4-5 museums a year, it is practical to get a Museumkaart for the cost will offset the fees to visit to 4-5 museums. 

2. Attraction Park / Theme Park

Weekends or a day or two of vacation leave can be spent on Attraction Parks/Theme Parks. There are different attraction parks you can explore in the Netherlands as well as its neighbouring countries.

Efteling would be one of the most famous in the Netherlands. It has been claimed to be fairytale-like. There are also other theme parks that cater to certain age group of children. For example, the Sprookjeswonderland in Enkhuizen is catered to younger children and Walibi and Toverland is for the older age group. Nevertheless, you won't have any problems for entertainment as in general children loves these places. 

3. Camping by the beach, forest or lake

This is one of the reasons that moving to Europe was a good idea. Long gone are the days where you are holed up in hotels in big cities for vacation (which is typical in Asia). Here in Europe, there is an abundance of camping grounds and parks where you can explore different cities and their respective nature reserves. 

Camping is mostly for the whole immersive experience. Some people may not prefer it, for their idea of a vacation is to have convenience and not to have any more stress. I mainly view camping as practicing some life skills and immersion with nature. I never imagined myself enjoying camping (partly because hotels are too expensive and restrictive). It makes sense now to have a Eurotrip (Europe roadtrip) for it is convenient to visit different countries for the duration of your trip.

Do you have other suggestions for activities for this kids summer vacation?

A tired parent would love to read it in the comments below! 

I will share another camping experience with you last 2021. Per my last camping blogpost, we were taking it slow and trying out camping in different sites in the Netherlands before our camping tour to Switzerland for summer. As I was researching camping places (which is different from vacation parks), I leaned towards camping sites that are within arms reach to attractions. Our yearly Efteling visit was crossed out as an option this year for we were there last summer, so Kasthuevel campsites were out of the options.

I have Billybird Park saved on my list in Google for amusement parks to see in the Netherlands. There was a new camping site opened just beside the park, Camping Hemels. I found out that you get free entrance to the park once you booked a slot in the campsite.

CAMPING HEMELS

Camping Hemels is located in a small town in the south of Netherlands. The campsite is located adjacent the park, which is convenient if you have a kid. What is even more exciting is that they have access to a lake, which was shared with the park. 

The campsite is divided into sections, for the caravans and pitchers and for the glamping tents. If you must know, glamping means camping out without the worry of bringing your camping equipement, as it has been provided at the site. It is not similar to a hotel/house but you have a cozy room inside a big tent, which has been all arranged for you. Bathrooms are still shared and communal. 

One more striking advantage of Camping Hemels is that during the summertime, the restaurant/bar in the site holds themed nights for its guests. They have campfires/BBQs by the lake, DJ party, paddle boarding by the lake and other activities which makes the stay more pleasant, if ever you got bored of all the rides/entertainment in the park.

As for me, it was perfect. My husband can work by the lake with a beer on hand, while mommy and the kid enjoys the park, and vice versa. It is a win-win situation for everyone. It is a bang for your buck because you get entrance to the park included in your stay.

The only con I think is that our pitch tent was squeezed in between caravans, I guess we were the only small family camper who pitches their own tent, as most of the guests there were seasonal caravan people. But I really didn't mind because our neighbor that time were too kind. Our neighbouring caravan did not mind conversing in English and even introduced us to the mouthwatering Bosche bollen, which is by the way the renowned dessert of the region we were staying at. They drove to get it at the famous town in the city, brought it back and shared with us. Isn't that the sweetest?

BILLYBIRD PARK HEMELRIJK

Billybird Park has a lot of locations across Netherlands, one of them is in Volkel, just beside the Lake Hemelrijk (hence the name). The location is massive, yet the attractions were pretty basic. 

The park is divided into three parts, the attractions/rides, the indoor playground and the waterpark. The waterpark is a massive inflatable area which you pay a separate entrance fee. It requires one to have a swim diploma before entering the waterpark. The indoor playground is a big two level ball pit. It conveniently has a small cafe for parents to sit on and have coffee while watching their kid play. 

The attractions/rides were basic, the typical ones you will see at a playground.  One unique thing about the park is that most of the rides were mechanical and manually driven. It was really a delight because you won't worry of electrical machinery breaking and you have control of the speed. The downside is that the driver (aka the parent) gets more tired than the kid, especially when the kid wants to go more rounds on the ride. Let me share a video below of us having fun at Hemelrijk.

Overall, we had fun during our camping trip to Camping Hemels and Billybird Park Hemelrijk. I am loving the idea of nature and camping especially after moving here in Europe. The pandemic is sure opening up creative ideas for us to explore the Netherlands while being safe with social distancing and stuff. 

What do you love about camping? 

Share it in the comments below!

Filipino cuisine is so diverse. As the Philippines consists of seven thousand islands and more, and depending on the region you grew up with, each have their own version of Filipino dishes. I grew up in the main island of Luzon, at the southern part of it. My mom, who usually cooks our food grew up in the Bicol region where most of their dishes are coconut cream based and spicy. My dad, who also cooks from time to time, grew up eating fish. You now have an idea of what I ate growing up.

Filipino dishes have been receiving some recognition in the world now. A lot of it comes from the Filipino immigrants who shared the Filipino cuisine to their community, and a lot of it have been fully embraced and appreciated. Some Filipino dishes have been in the top 10 dishes to try in the whole world. As someone who is interested to get to know Filipino cuisine, Here are some Filipino dishes that are very tasty and easy to recreate at home if you are interested to take a peak into our cuisine. 

1. Adobo

This is a dish we inherited from the Spanish occupation. They imparted the Adobar technique and we Filipinos, turned it around and have been one of the pillars of Filipino cuisine. 

There are a lot of ways to cook Adobo, again depending on what you prefer and depending on the region. It is simple to make. You need your meat of choice marinated in soy sauce, vinegar, black peppercorns, garlic and bay leaves. Marinate the meat at a minimum of 30 minutes before cooking (overnight is still the best for the flavours to get to know each other). To cook it, you let everything simmer until your meat is tender or the marinade completely evaporated and the fats/oils have rendered out, all depending to your liking. 

2. Sinigang

This Hot Sour Stew/Soup dish is one of my all-time favorite dish. I have introduced this to my son, and he loved it as well. Sinigang is a Sour soup traditionally made with tamarind that gives the sour taste. When I make Sinigang, I keep it simple and I use a packet flavoring to save some time.

Sinigang is easy to make. The basic process in any Filipino cuisine is to stir fry the aromatics first, typically garlic and onion. You put in a protein source of your choice, the most common ones are pork, shrimp and salmon belly. Then you add water to make it a soup and let it simmer until the meat is cooked. You also add vegetables that you like while it simmers. Traditionally, these vegetables are spinach, string beans and radish, but you can experiment with others like okra, or root crop like yam/cassava, etc.. Don't forget to add the tamarind and tomatoes for the tart and sour component. To taste, you can ad salt or fish sauce.  

3. Lumpia

Who will forget everyone's favorite (even the Western palate) Filipino dish, the ever famous Lumpia. It is another dish that have been highly influenced by the countries that colonized us (directly or indirectly). 

It is somewhat similar to the Egg Spring Rolls, which every other Asian country has their own take. Filipino Lumpia have been a staple at parties, any type of parties at that matter. It is simply fried spring rolls which contains ground meat, carrots, onions, salt, pepper and egg wrapped in my a lumpia wrapper. There are also different variations of lumpia, but the basic one is the fried spring rolls. What makes lumpia stand out is the dipping sauce. Some prefer the sweet chili sauce while most like the spiced vinegar dip. 

4. Pancit

Same as Lumpia, this noodle dish is quite similar to Chow Mien/Lo Mien. You can make it using different types of noodles: egg noodles, glass noodles or a mix of both. Personally I liked the egg noodle type. There are also different ways how to cook pancit as well, based on your region of course. 

Pancit consists of noodles, meat and an array of vegetables. The variation of pancit in the Philippines are endless but all of them are delicious. Some comes with soup (sotanghon), some in a banana leaf (Habhab) and some with a wierd yellow sauce that reeks a fishy smell (Palabok, pictured above). 

5. Silog Meals

I do think that the Silog Meals are comfort food for Filipinos. There may be a lot of breakfast options in the Philippines, but the Silog Meals are the most common dish Filipinos eat for breakfast.

Silog basically means "SInangag" or simply garlic fried rice and "itLOG" which is just fried egg. The combination of silog meals are endless. Any protein of your choice can be made into a silog meal. Typical ones would be Tocino (TOCILOG), Longanissa (LONGSIOG), Bangus (BANGSILOG), Corned beef, spam, leftovers, etc.. A silog meal will not be complete without a dipping sauce, and Filipinos love a spiced vinegar dip with a garnish of garlic and shallots. Just writing about it literally makes my mouth drool.  

I understand that most Western people does not appreciate the true Filipino cuisine (aka the Greasier and spicy ones), but a lot of immigrants with Filipino blood have tried recreating these comfort dishes in a way that their international community can appreciate. I keep cooking and serving Filipino dishes, even though I'm not a confident cook myself. I would like my son to be exposed to these things I enjoyed back home that reminded me of my childhood. I want him to have a glimpse of our Filipino heritage, even a watered down version. Culture awareness is a first step towards keeping our heritage alive, so I may fail at imparting the Filipino language to my son, at least I can expose him to the food culture I grew up on.

Have you tried recreating any of these dishes? 

Let me know which one is your favorite in the comments below!

You can feel that love is in the air as you notice your surroundings being splashed with the color red. Red have long been symbolised as passion which is also equated to love. As the love season aka "Valentine's Day" is quickly approaching, I'd like to share something I wrote that can help partners know how they can express their appreciation to their loved ones effectively this love season.

As it states, people with this love language craves physical connection. Physical intimacy and touch is an example of a way to show your admiration. They love to be hugged, kissed and hold hands with. A simple endearing touch means the world to them. Set a place and time for physical intimacy for your partner this Valentine's Day.

2. Words of Affirmation

This love language prefers words or verbal communication as a way of expressing appreciation and love. They prefer frequent "I love you's", compliments and verbal encouragement. In the digital age, this can also mean sending texts and replying to their messages as an indication of admiration. Don't forget to shower your loved one "I love You's" and tell them what you love about them this Valentine's Day.

3. Acts of Service

People with this love language prefers actions for "action speaks louder than words". It means going out of your way to do things that will help your loved one. They like helping and being helped as well. By taking initiative and doing things that will make your beloved happy or help them in is a sure way of expressing your love. This Valentine's Day, it is best to plan ahead a pamper session or take/help in some tasks from your loved one. 

4. Gifts

This love language is straight forward, giving thoughtful gifts is the way to show love and appreciation. People with this love language likes to receive physical and tangible things as a sign of appreciation. They say that they are the easiest to please. But thread with caution because you need to make sure that gifts should be meaningful and well thought of, expressing how well you know your loved one. This may be the easiest yet trickiest to pull this Valentine's Day, you need to pick out a gift that would best reflect what your partner wants, or a thing that they need the most.

5. Quality Time

People with this love language craves undivided attention. They love to spend time with you and doing things together. Making time and devoting it with them is a good way of showing appreciation. Setting aside time for an activity that involves the both of you is a nice start. Making time for each other is important, even just doing trivial things. So this Valentine's Day, set the whole day devoted to activities that both you and your partner enjoy. 

You can take this Love Language Quiz for starters, to gauge what your love language is and how it translates to the kind of love you appreciate/crave. Once you know what your "Love Language" is, you can ask your partner to take the test so you can have a better understanding on what experiences they prefer to receive back. 

Below is an infograph from this site that sums up how you can effectively express your affection to your loved ones based on their love language:

I hope this guide helps you determine how you can effectively express your love towards your special someone this season of love. 

What is your love language? 

At the start of the year, I made a list of 21 things I plan to do for 2021. I plan around holidays and seasons. I may not be able to squeeze in a lot of things (coz I sure do want to d a lot of things!), I am happy I am able to do new experiences despite this pandemic. 

I would like to share the 21 things I did (it doesn't have to be too big or exciting) last 2021:

1. Snow in Netherlands

It was our first time experiencing snow. We were too excited! In January, we had 2 days of light snow. It was a big deal for us because me and my husband grew up in a tropical country, and we have never been to a country with snow. 

The first wave, we anticipated and planned around the snow forecast, which lasted for two days. Then, we had a week long of snow right when springtime came. It was bizarre and was very exciting as well. Since it was a week long snow, the lakes and canals froze which sent all the Dutch into a skating frenzy! It was a whole new experience of euphoria.

2. Dax moved up to Group 1

My son started Kindergarten as soon as he turned 4. This mommy have been in an emotional rollercoaster. It is true that days pass by fast that in a blink of an eye, your baby is now a school kid!

In the Netherlands, Education is important that the government subsidises primary education for every child in the country. Every child is required to attend school when they reach 5 years of age. Parents contribute a little, which is helpful even for low income families. One may opt to send their child to peuterspeelzal (play school) as early as 2. They start basisschool (primary school) at 4 years old (Group 1).  This is one of the reasons we decided to uproot our lives from Asia to Europe.

3. Dax is fully potty trained

My son was potty trained just in time before starting Group 1. I observed that he can hold off his pee and recognises when he need to go to the toilet. I started him a few days wearing briefs instead of diapers to familiarise himself. There were a lot of accidents and trials, but we pushed through.

Now, he can pee and poop on his own in the toilet. He still wears diapers at night because I prefer him to get a good night sleep instead of waking him a few times to go to the toilet. There were nights that the diapers were dry, meaning he can hold it through the night, but still there were days that it was full. I am still weighing out when is the time to ditch the nighttime diapers.

4. Cherry Blossoms in Springtime

There are a lot of cherry blossoms spots in Almere, which was a pretty sight. It is also sign that Spring has finally arrived. Seeing the Cherry Blossoms have been in my bucket list since I was still in the Philippines. 

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Good thing that there is a nearby Cherry Blossom field that is just a train/bus ride away from our house. Every after school pickup, the whole family will drop by and visit for lunchtime just to bask under the trees.

5. Tulip Fields in the Netherlands

You can't live in the Netherlands without seeing the infamous tulip fields. It is one of the yearly highlight for the Dutch people. Seeing the massive field of tulips, or even visiting Keukenhoff Gardens, is something of a must-see for everyone.

Since we were in lockdown, we just drove by the tulip fields along Lisse, Hillegom and Noordwijk. We also visited the tulip fields in Flevoland Noordpolder. Keukenhoff Garden was open, but only by appointment with a negative test due to the pandemic rules of limiting people gathering and virus spreading. We weren't able to secure a spot for testing and visit.  We were happy stopping by the side and taking a few photos. Some fields are open to the public, but most of them are on private land. 

6. Koningsdag family photo

As a Netherlander, one holiday that the Dutch takes seriously is the King's Day. Everyone wears orange in celebration. A lot of activities and parties are held, but due to the pandemic, it was all cancelled. 

I planned to have family photos every season at a nice spot in the Netherlands. Koningsdag is right about springtime, so it is the perfect opportunity for our family photo wearing the famous Dutch orange theme. We wish we could experience the festivities around Koningsdag, unfortunately the pandemic has halted all these activities.

7. Scheveningen Beach / Dax Birthday celebration

We went to Scheveningen beach to celebrate my son's birthday. It was nice, but the water is still a bit cold around that time so we did not splash in the beach. I have been wanting to explore Den Haag and the surrounding areas. 

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We opted to have a staycation in Scheveningen for my son's birthday. Good thing his birthday coincided on a holiday. There were a lot of people, but we enjoyed exploring Den Haag.

8. Tax Return

One thing to note is that Netherlands is one of the countries with the highest income tax in Europe. You pay around 30-50% of income tax. Maybe that is one of the reasons the Dutch are known for being frugal. 

The good thing about that is that there are a lot of things you can deduct/offset before taxes so you get taxed less. And if you pay a lot of tax as what was computed, minus the deductibles, one can get a tax return around April/May. We got a significant amount for the tax year 2019 because we moved last May, which was half of the year, yet the income tax deducted was for the whole year. 

9. Tent Camping in Almere and Hemelrijk

Summer is a big deal in Europe. Almost everyone goes to vacation for weeks during the summertime. But due to the risk of being in the pandemic, we decided to stay within Netherlands and opted to do outdoor things.

I may not be the most outdoorsy type of person, but I enjoyed tent camping across Netherlands. I had my fair share of inconveniences, but the trade-off is the excitement from the faces of my son and husband, I think it was worth the experience. You can check my camping experience in Almere in this blogpost.

10. CoViD-19 Vaccine Complete

The pandemic surely knocked us down for almost two years, one thing we are looking forward to was getting our complete vaccination. 

There are a whole lot of debacle around this vaccination that I will not discuss further. Our family has decided to get fully vaccinated and contribute our part in the society despite the fear around side effects long term. In life, you get to choose which risks you want to take, either way the end game is still death. You live with the consequences of those choices until your time of death comes. 

11. Billy Bird Park Hemelrijk and Camping Hemels

I like amusement parks, so when I found a campsite beside an amusement park, I did not hesitate and booked it. It is one of the highlight in our camping experience that the whole family fully enjoyed.

@carolranas Exploring the #netherlands again this zomervakantie… @imsosh #voorjou #teamperez #becarol #foryou #zomervakantie #nederland ♬ swing lynn - lovdfilmz

It was a 4days-3nights camping experience which includes the visit at the park. I will do a separate blogpost about our experience in Billy Birdpark and Camping Hemels.

12. A visit in Geithoorn, Overijssel

Another highlight of our year is getting to visit Geithoorn during summer. We also opted to camp instead of booking hotel/accommodation due to ever changing pandemic rules. We wanted to enjoy the summer holiday despite the restrictions and risks of the pandemic, and being outdoor was our preferred way.

@carolranas Our last camping vacation this summer in Geithoorn. @imsosh and Dax had so much fun riding the boat! #voorjou #becarol #foryou #teamperez #zomervibes ♬ Love Tonight - David Guetta Remix - Shouse

Geithoorn lived up to its reputation. It was magical! You are transported back in time when it was simple and nice. 

13. Buying our first home

One good thing that happened in the pandemic was we were able to buy our first house in the Netherlands. We never expected that we can, the pandemic restrictions brought nice things like waiving of transfer tax on real estate and saving more funds. 

The process was gruesome with a lot of heartaches, but finally we were able to seal the deal. The housing market was so crazy. Everyone is buying yet the supply of houses was scarce. Everyone is overbidding left and right, and in a limited budget range, you get the leftover houses (need of big renovations and questionable clauses). We prayed and believed that if it is meant to be ours, it will come. It did! and in the most unexpected place!

14. Living in Zandvoort by the Beach

We are living our best lives in a small town along the beach, in Zandvoort! We are happy to get a house in here and build our life in this small town. There are pros and cons about living in a small tourist-driven town, yet we are still happy!

We are surrounded with an enormous amount of nature (which the city girl in me cannot believe settled for) and there are a lot of opportunities around. I am starting to love Zandvoort and considered growing old here, just like the other residents.

15. DIY Renovations for our house

The house we bought was build around 1929, which is almost a hundred year old house. It has poor insulation because the technologies on house building back then were outdated now. We did not have the budget to go on full renovation to make the house sustainable and energy efficient, also most of the contractors are fully booked for the whole year.

We sat down and talked about how we will go about on the renovations. We moved during wintertime, and the house was too cold. Slowly, my husband researched on ways how to keep ourselves warm and our house a bit modern. We started renovating the smallest room then proceeded with remodelling the kitchen ourselves. 

16. Sint Maarten Experience

We moved in Zandvoort about wintertime, so we were able to experience the Sint Maarten celebration, Dutch-style. Sint Maarten is quite similar to Halloween, with kids going around houses armed with lanterns asking for candies.

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A post shared by Carol - Pinay Mama in NL (@carolranas)

It was nice because a lot of kids knocked on our door to ask for candies. I did came prepared! Daxton was excited as well. We did not go down and knock on other people's doors because we were not quite familiar with the neighbourhood that time.

17. Kitchen and Room renovations done

As I stated above, we decided to tackle our old house renovation among ourselves. Despite the lockdowns and stores closing at 5PM, we were able to furnish the rooms and almost finish the kitchen.

We went to several IKEA stores to score the best deals, declutter our things, and moved a lot of things around. We were able to finish and paint the walls of the smallest room and also changed the flooring. we slept there for weeks while the other rooms are being refurnished. 

The kitchen was our major renovation project. We pulled out the whole kitchen and plaster the walls, rewired and updated the electric outlets, and put up new cabinets and appliances. It was the project that we are most proud because it turned out amazing! Our kitchen was completely modernised.

18.  Carol learning Dutch - A1

The first half of the year, while we are in lockdown, I kept myself busy by learning Dutch on my own. I bought some books and watched youtube videos to get familiar myself with the language. I am proud to say that I progressed to A1 in just a few months. 

I kind of stopped eventually as my attention have been diverted to other things. But so far, I am restarting learning Dutch as we now live in a small town, where we need Dutch to form ties and mingle within the neighbourhood.

19. First time baking weed brownies

Our yearly tradition here in the Netherlands was to get high on New Years Eve. Since everything non-essential was closed during the holidays, we settled with leftover weed from last year. I tried making weed brownies from it. I used a box mix of brownies and baked the weed to activate the THC.

Taste-wise, it was bleh because it imparted a plant aftertaste. Effect-wise, it took 30 mins or more for the effect to kick in. My husband was plopped in the sofa riding the high, while I was playing with my kid and sweating like crazy. After the celebrations, the effects still wouldn't wear down, so we decided to call it early and slept. 

20. NY Traditions in small buurt

Since we live in a small town, New Year celebrations were quaint and nice. The surprising thing is that everyone went outside on New Years, with a drink on hand, cheering as the fireworks started. I was kind of taken back when our neighbour went her way to go to us, gave us a hug and had a proost despite my lack of drink. It was one nice memorable experience.

@carolranas 2021 have been a bit lonely for we are missing home.. Praying for the pandemic to end this 2022.. #teamperez #becarol #fyp #tiktoknl ♬ Happiest Year - Jaymes Young

21. FAMILY!!! Joel working from home the whole year

It's been almost two years of my husband working at home and seeing his presence often. I kinda hated and liked it at the same time. I am happy that our family was safe the whole year, corona-free. I kind of focused on taking care of the family in this pandemic. 

That's the 21 Highlights of our 2021. Let me share a compilation of it through Tiktok/Reel.

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And if you are also like me, pre-occupied by Tiktok and Instagram Reels all throughout this pandemic rollercoaster, let's give each other a follow, shall we? You can check out my account at @carolranas.