25-year-old Dutchie — Spoiler: I’m not often perched on a boat with sunlight dappling my skin, I’m usually hunched behind my desk in the rainy Netherlands, but we can always pretend… Bio Hello! After a year and a half on Medium, I’ve finally worked up the courage to make my ‘About Me’ page. …

Not everyone needs to be a best friend — We were sold a lot of bullshit about growing up. There’s not really a more eloquent way to say it. They told us how things were gonna be, and we grew up to realise that this is not the case. …

And why it’s different from a regular burnout — We’ve finally started talking about burnouts more. I’ll be honest, a few years ago I didn’t even know what burnout was — and I was even studying psychology! We now recognise the dangers and frequency of burnouts, but did you know there are also different types of burnout? Aside from…

Don’t spend your life waiting for the weekend — I’m scared. I’m scared of spending my weeks waiting for the weekend. I’m scared of spending my life waiting for my next vacation. I see how easy it is to simply slip into the routine, to blink and realise that months have passed by. I’ve watched it happen to myself…

Coming to you from a minimalist’s worst nightmare — I started working in the travel industry in 2018, but even before that I was snared by the travel bug. I went on my first trip alone at eighteen to Nepal for a month, and until 2020 I was always hunting for travel deals. I’m fortunate to have friends who…

I want to be a better friend to myself — Welcome to the year of the boundary Every year, Oxford Dictionary chooses a word of the year. In 2015, it was “Emoji tears of joy”. In 2021, it was “Vax”. In 2022, it was ‘Goblin mode’. For 2023, I bet the word is going to be ‘boundary’. As more than…

Out of office, out of mind — One of the first things we ask a person is what their job is, and that already builds the foundation of how we see them. It’s at the top of dating profiles, no matter the app, and something people will always check. It’s not difficult to see why this is…

How a simple test can tell you all you need to know — I was first introduced to the Soldier, Poet or King test through the number of people complaining that they got ‘King’ when they’re obviously a ‘Poet’. This sparked my interest, so I decided to try the test for myself. I just wanted to confirm my clear status as a Poet…

Lights off, it’s shower time — If I asked you about your routine when it comes to showering, would you be able to run me through it? Our daily showers are a habit so ingrained that we usually go on autopilot. …