About me

Hi there and welcome to my blog!

My name is Esther, a Dutch girl from a small town with big dreams. I have been thinking about starting this blog for a while and it took me some time to get it the way I want it. I try to update as much as possible, but sometimes life gets in the way a little bit. The main reason I started this blog is to be able to look back later on life and see what my life used to be like. Imagine being an old lady and be able to look back at all the things you did when you were younger!

In this section I will tell you a little bit more about myself. What I do and about some traveling I did in the last three years.

Travel

In the last three years I actually lived in 4 different countries and three continents. Wow, that sounds kind of impressive if you put it that way! Anyway, I graduated from high school (HAVO) in July 2010. Right after my graduation I went to England to work as an au pair and look after three children. This wasn't really in my plans, but after responding to an advertisement in the local newspaper I got the opportunity to do this for the summer holidays. So I stayed there for two months and had a great time exploring new places and getting to know a new culture.

Since I was about 10 years old, I told my parents that when I grew up I wanted to move overseas. I don't know why, but that feeling never left me, so when I got older I actually started to look into it more seriously. When I was still in high school I looked at different possibilities to live overseas, and eventually figured out what I wanted to do: go to university in Australia! And so I did, in February 2011 I left the little town of Vught, to start my Bachelor of Social Work on the other side of the world. I was going to live in Townsville, Queensland and attend James Cook University. I didn't know anyone when I got there and basically had to start from scratch. I already considered myself as being independent, but after this experience I knew for sure that I could take care of myself. Unfortunately I had to go back home after the first year, mostly because of financial reasons...

After this great experience I have been back home for about 10 months. As soon as I got home I applied for an au pair program, to go to the USA. This is how I ended up in San Francisco and I love it! I have been there between October 2012 and July 2014 and look after twin boys, who where 4 months when I arrived. San Francisco is an amazing city with a lot of things to do and see, and I have some other plans to travel while I'm here as well, which is pretty exciting.

Work
After high school I worked as an Au pair two times. One time in England, which was a great experience. The only thing was that is was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, the closest 'city' was a half hour bike ride and it was just one street with some shops. I was 17 at the time, didn't have my driving license and didn't know anyone there. The family was great, but in the end I only stayed for summer.

I also have worked as an Au pair in San Francisco, where I stayed for a year and nine months, looking after twin boys. There are plenty of posts about it on my blog, but I had a great experience and am very happy I did it. Now I'm home I do miss the kids a lot, but luckily there is Skype :)

Source

Family and Friends
When I'm in Holland I live with my mom, because it's never for a very long period of time. I always have plans to move overseas again, so its not worth it to find my own place, buy furniture and all that stuff and then leave a few months later.

I must say that in Holland I don't have a lot of friends left, because in the last few years I have barely been here. Most of my friends are all over the world which is hard sometimes because I don't get to see them too much, and we all have our own lives so sometimes is hard to keep in touch. But I love getting to know new people and off course there is also an advantage of knowing people all over the world ;).

This was a summary of what my life is like, I hope you enjoy reading my blog and if you want to know anything more, don't be afraid to ask!

Xx Esther