I’m Lianne van der Horst and about 26 years ago I was born in Schiedam, where I have lived most of my life and gathered a fantastic group of people around me. I had a good time here and enjoying my first beers. I am therefore regularly drunk with my soul under my arms from Café van der Wal. I was not unhappy at all, but it felt like I was missing something.
Traveling somehow always was something that belongs to me in life. The great unknown is something that really draws me. From the first time Australia in 2006 with my mom, I shouted very loudly that I would ever come back here. My dream was to work at a smoothie bar on the beach. In 2014 I did a half year internship in Bali and then flew to Australia for 2 weeks to see if I still had that feeling. And damn boy, it was! In Bali I learned to surf and realized more and more that I wanted to see much more of the world. And preferably in places where the sun is shining and the sea is blue.
Back in the Netherlands, I completed the Leisure Management course and was able to work as an assistant store manager for the O’neill brand in the Koopgoot in Rotterdam. With great pleasure I was allowed to do this for a year and have made good friends. During this time I had been living with my father for a few years and I didn’t spend a lot of money, so I was able to save. On a quiet day at work, a happy bunch entered the store telling me they had cancelled everything and would be going on a world trip together soon. I told them that I wanted this too badly but had to collect the balls and money to take the step. They then told me to just do it! *
On November 1, 2017 I boarded the plane with my first destination Bali, a safe start which felt good immediately. At the time I was not feeling very well, so I decided to stay in Bali for two months. Here I tried to help as many victims of the then erupted volcano Agung. After this time in Bali I flew to a friend from the Netherlands in Bangkok for New Years Eve. From here I travelled through Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Java. I made the trip through Java with my father.
A year passed, after which I flew back to the Netherlands. I immediately found out that I wanted to leave again, the only thing was the money, which was all gone. With a Working Holiday visa for Australia in my pocket, I flew to Sydney two weeks later and jumped on the ferry to Manly. Here I ended up living, surfing and working at a smoothie cafe on the beach for 9 months. Funny how it eventually turned out.
In January 2019 I met a boy at a barbecue on Bondi Beach through a good friend. At first glance a cock of rose water with glasses, orange blouse and a smooth chat. He had just arrived in Sydney and didn’t know that many people. While the juice from the kangaroo meat dripped from the corners of our mouth and we were slightly tipsy, we decided we should see each other again. After a lot of beer, conversations and surfing, we then did farmwork together for three months. After this we made a trip to Hawaii and Indonesia where the well-known spark has passed. After denying a lot of butterflies, I seem to be a star in that, Thom and I now live together in Australia!
* Remember that happy bunch I talked about earlier? I ran into it on a secluded beach in Nusa Penida, Indonesia. Linda & Hylke of the travel blog Travelloose now live in Sydney and they are our best friends here. Life is a great mysterious adventure and that is exactly what makes it so much fun!
