Our trip to Australia via Singapore has been incredible relaxing and we made so many beautiful memories as a family. During the past six weeks we have not had to worry about many things other then when we would go for a swim, where we would go to explore and what we would eat. It…

Our trip to Australia via Singapore has been incredible relaxing and we made so many beautiful memories as a family. During the past six weeks we have not had to worry about many things other then when we would go for a swim, where we would go to explore and what we would eat. It has been amazing to spend so much time together with the three of us and to spend so much time with Mathilde together. She has grown so much during this trip and has had so many experiences, it’s amazing to have been able to enable her in that way through this trip. And as husband and wife/father and mother, we have been able to focus on the things that are most important to us as a family; each other.

Now being back home after arriving early in a dreary and wet country, coming from sunnier and warmer parts of the world, it’s hard to stay positive and keep that warm and happy feeling we have had all throughout our holiday. After having had a good nights sleep and being together in our own quite and peaceful home again, and by talking about our feelings and experiences of the holiday and return home we start to feel a little better again. We won’t be able to have the sunshine all year round, or the warmt either, while we live in NL. But we will be able to have other things that are unique and special to our life here.

This trip has thought us some important lessons as well about where we want to go in life as a family and what we can do to get there. About how we can make our time in NL be great and what we want to prepare for for life in AUS. Before our trip we were getting bogged down by all the improvements we could and maybe would make to our current house. We treated this house as if it’s would maybe be our forever home, and were thinking of many ways to spend lots of money towards that. However, that was not our intention with buying this house or even by moving to NL. This holiday has been a reality check in that regard and we are happy about that.

There are a few things that we do want to do now we are back, and they are mostly all based on these lessons we learned from our trip. They are roughly the following things listed:

Make our house and its rooms more gezellig:
- Printing photos of our trip will keep our memories alive and will give a warmer feeling to the house. Other artworks or objects can also help towards this.
- Soft furnishings will help to warm up the house and make it feel more cozy. Think about curtains, rugs, lamps, furnishings like a chest in the bedroom or a bookshelf in Mathilde’s room.
- Plants will also help with this. Our time in Singapore has been very inspiring in this regard (for interior and exterior planting). Tropical plants that can do well in our climate and evergreen plants in particular are good to look into. But also orchids are something I want to get for our house.

Spend money on things that will last us, and be critical on the money spend on the house itself:
- Don’t try to redo everything in this house. Work with what you got and improve where possible/necessary in a way that is economical and practical.
- Focus on the living areas and make those work, don’t focus too much on the areas of use (garage, cellar).
- Improve on the garden but don’t do an overhaul.
- Don’t start with redoing work that has been done already. Even if your not 100% happy with the result, first focus on areas that haven’t been touched or finalised yet.
- Discuss more often the state of our finances and our wishes in saving and spending for the future. Where do we want to go and how will we get there financially.

Itinerary for reference (2024)

AMS 10:25 21 Jan (Sun) Amsterdam, Schiphol Intl.
SIN 05:55 22 Jan (Mon) Singapore, Changi
SQ 323 Airbus A350-900 – Flying time: 12hrs 30mins

SIN 21:35 24 Jan (Wed) Singapore, Changi , Terminal 3
BNE 07:15 25 Jan (Thu) Brisbane, Brisbane Intl , Terminal Intl
SQ 235 Airbus A350-900 – Flying time: 7hrs 40mins

BNE 14:45 25 Feb (Sun) Brisbane, Brisbane Intl , Terminal Intl.
SIN 20:35 25 Feb (Sun) Singapore, Changi
SQ 236 Airbus A350-900 – Flying time: 7hrs 50mins

SIN 23:55 28 Feb (Wed) Singapore, Changi , Terminal 3
AMS 06:45 29 Feb (Thu) Amsterdam, Schiphol Intl
SQ 324 Airbus A350-900 – Flying time: 13hrs 50mins