Power of play

I don't know about you, but this has been my most playful year yet. Usually summer is where I get my daily dose of play, especially at festivals. Rolling around in mud, dressing up like a fairy, hugging unicorns and dancing until I faint. Wearing my wedding gown all around town, ordering cake for breakfast, having serious meetings about how to build an entire city out of chocolate. Life is one big play!

There has not been one day this January where I haven't played board games, danced like a maniac, laughed so hard I thought I wasn't going to make it out alive. Then I flew to Vancouver where my friend Funergy introduced me to puppetry. Last Sunday, we were on a mission. We would brighten up the rainy day by playing with sock puppets in a cafe, entertaining all passersby. 

I had never done anything like this before and wasn't sure about the reactions. Maybe people would be weirded out by two grown ups (right!) playing with puppets. Maybe it would be awkward at first. It was an experiment. My inner child got excited and before we even sat down, we were dancing around with our hands in the air, bringing happy looking socks to life. 

The reactions were amazing! Old ladies walking up to the window to cheer, smiles appearing on the face of every person that passed by, lots of thumbs up, men taking their hats off, laughter, selfies and then... People coming in to thank us, to tell us we made their day, to join us in the fun and play with the puppets. A snowball effect of joy! Wow! Four hours flew by and before I knew it, my face was stuck in a smile so big I thought I would never go back to being able to perform a straight face. Which is already a challenge for me. 

And I was right! No day has been the same ever since. A walk on the beach turned into a puppet photoshoot and a sleepy Tuesday morning got all exciting when Funergy taught me how to make my very own sock puppet. There is no way back now! Making people smile has become a daily goal. Which makes me smile. It's contagious. If everyone would have a puppet to play with and get over the first silly very adult feeling of embarrassment, and just play like the big children we are, the world would be a happier, more colourful place. Power to the puppets!

Vancouver Island, let's get married!

I've been living in the beautiful land of Canada for one month now and I fell in love 5692573 times already. Life is good in the summer sun. On my first days in Vancouver I met a wonderful musician who hosted me in his dream house on Vancouver Island. All mountain views and salty air and I felt like home sweet home. Hitch hiking with the most stunning views, collecting stories, living life day by day. 

After years of catching rides and sleeping on couches, I decided it was time to give back to hitchers and create a home while being on the road. Yes, I did what all grown ups do and bought a car. My first old noisy lady of a truck. She's older than the boys I date and huskier than my voice after five days of festivals. But she's a rockstar and goes by the name Patti. Yay to the freedom of driving wherever I want to, sleeping in the back of my truck and going thrift shop crazy because for the first time in my travel life I have space to put things! No to carrying overflowing backpacks, yes to singing along with the radio and sticking my head out of the window like a dog feeling the breeze.

Another big thing happened while I was falling in love with the island: I became a member of the 27 club! Well, not really, because I'm alive and not quite as famous but if you ignore all that and just shout hooray and happy birthday you will see the biggest smile on my face. I bought a present for myself in shape of a wedding dress, ready to be worn all over the country to dance and frolick and who knows maybe even get married in.

As I was driving around in my home on wheels, picking berries while hiking in the forest and swimming in fresh lakes surrounded by mountains and stars, I thought things couldn't get any better. Life was flowing and I happily went with it, saying yes to every new adventure coming my way. So one night I found myself on a beach in Tofino, around a fire and beautiful people, hugging Jess (who I met in Australia three years ago) and celebrating the summer solstice like a dream. I lived in a hippy commune and enjoyed the sweet Tofino life, singing karaoke, dancing to hiphop and soaking up the beach views. 

I heard about a little underground festival on Cortes Island, and my curiosity wins every time. So I hopped on a water taxi and danced, swam, looked at the glow in the dark jelly fish and met the most amazing friends. My energy levels were rising while my voice was fading as I arrived at the second festival that week: Tall Tree. On top of a mountain, waking to pine tree views, laughing, loving, dancing so hard my body is still recovering. 

On the ferry back to Vancouver I felt a rush of emotions. Sadness to leave this island I love, the people I just met and hold close in my heart, gratefulness for everything that happened, nerves for Belgian friends to meet and letters to read, total bliss standing on the ferry deck, looking out over the Gulf Islands and ocean. At that moment a band started playing and people were cheering as whales showed up in the distance.

You know that intense feeling of happiness coming over you for a couple of seconds, leaving you longing to find a way to hold onto it. I think I found the way. Follow your path, do what feels good, be yourself completely, without fear, without judgement, love endlessly and share your smile with everyone. Many will smile back, many will think you're a weirdo. That's where you look at yourself, your beat up truck home, your wedding dress, your husky voice from laughing too loud for days on end and blistering feet from dancing all night, your crazy friends and their happy faces and realise it's fucking great being a weirdo. 

Stay weird, that's how I love you best.

Fresh Canadian adventures

It all started on a cold winter night in Brussels. The dark of day turned into night without anyone noticing. I run on sun energy. My battery was getting low in the long months of Belgian winter. As Patti Smith echoed her songs through the living room, I was dancing barefoot in my head. All snuggled up next to the heater, I decided I was ready for new adventures. The challenge of a settled down life in Belgium had me looking at tickets to the other end of the world. Browsing around the interwebs, I bumped into Canadian working holiday visa stories. The applications were open, right now! With no more than 700 Belgians a year who can get their hands on a visa, and only 40 spots left, I did what had to be done. I spent sleepless nights sending documents, translating resumes, getting all excited for what might happen.

It took two months of patience. In June last year I finally got the email that would be the key to Canada's door of fun and games. One year of working, holidaying, travelling, meeting new friends and exploring that massive country. But when Belgian winter came around again, I fled to sunnier destinations. Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar would be my home until Canada warmed up a bit more. 

On June 8, the sticky 40 degrees of Bangkok made way for breezy Vancouver. My face was glued to the plane window, overlooking snowy mountain tops and patchworks of green. There's nothing quite like the feeling of being at the start of fresh adventures. The jetlag didn't even get the time to kick in, as I was bouncing up and down the walls with excitement. My friend Mike, who goes by the name Funergy, put me on a bicycle and showed me all around his beautiful city. From lakes and parks to hiphop nacho places, improv theatres, makers markets and a daytime rave called boobs & berries. 

Imagine a house full of people dressed up as mermaids and sailors, bowls full of berries, a foosball table with dildos instead of players, a naked man, DJ's in the garden and a day of laughing so much my face still hurts. Oh, Canada! I'm so ready for you!