Aruba part 2

Well I guess it's time for part 2 of my internship story,

Let's begin with the fact that flying is not my favourite activity because of my terrible fear of heights but well, you can hardly swim across the Atlantic but after a 12 hour flight with a quick stop in Bonaire I arrived at the beautiful sunny island of Aruba where a colleague picked me up to bring me to my apartment for the coming 6 months. On the way there we made a pitstop at a beachtennis tournament where I had my first tast of life in the Caribbean and boy, did I love it.

The first evening I was struggling not to fall asleep at 9 PM which unfortunately failed, so I woke up at 4 AM. I had some days off before I started my internship so the first day I started to explore the island with someone I met the evening before, We drove to Oranjestad still adjusting to the scorching heat but with a welcome breeze. Oranjestad wasn't that big but all the buildings were very colourful and with an awesome view of the ocean and the occasional cruise ship. I heard of a beautiful beach called Mangel Halto further south on the island so I was curious to see what all the fuss was about, so that's where we went next and it really was amazing. The beach was in the middle of a mangrove forest with enough protection from the sun so you could spend the entire day there. It definitely is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever visited, only one on Aruba tops this one but more on that later. It was getting late so we went for something to eat and called it a day, It took some time for me to adjust sleeping in the heat but you get used to it after a few days. The next day I started my internship so I had to get up early but I'm going to tell everything about my first few weeks as an intern next time!

It wasn't easy to start a new adventure like this, it took every inch of myself to get on that plane and fly towards somewhere I didn't know anyone and didn't know where I was going to end up. I was anxious that I was going to be homesick but as soon as the plane touched down that feeling never bothered me for the entire 6 months.

Aruba part 1

Today there's a story ( well, part 1 ) about my internship in Aruba last year, where I had the best time of my life so far.

Let's start at the very beginning, I've always wanted to go abroad and see more of the world and when I heard that you could do your internship abroad I carefully started looking for some options until I stumbled upon a company named Wings Global Media. There was no need to think twice and I e-mailed them that I was interested in a position at their company, after some e-mails back and forth they invited me for a skype interview and from that moment everything was getting really serious but it felt amazing.
Two skype interviews later I was hired! It took a little while for me to realise what actually happened because at first I couldn't even believe it and then it hit me and I was thrilled to do this!
The next step was to arrange everything, which needed quite some effort to do.
I'm not going to tell all those boring details so I'm going to skip to a few days before my departure.

A week before my departure I spent some time with my family as I wouldn't be able to see them for the next 6 months and at the same time I was counting down the days. At this point I also started to feel nervous, as for me going away to a small island 8000 km across a huge ocean for half a year wasn't easy but I was determined to do this and seen from my perspective now, it was the best decision I've ever made.

My alarm woke me up at 7 AM on the 27th of August and with everything packed and loaded in the car I headed towards the airport where my friends and family were waiting and I've never felt so nervous before, we all had something to drink together and then I said goodbye to everyone and made my way towards the gate, still as nervous as a person can be only for it to disappear a little while later. I can remember the exact moment that all my nerves completely disappeared and were replaced by absolute joy and this enormous smile from ear to ear as the plane took off, a moment of pure fucking happiness.

Happy holidays!

First of all I want to wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year, a time for people to enjoy a wonderful time together with their loved ones and the beginning of a new year, a year that I've got big plans for!

I've still got plenty of time before I leave but I've started some preparations already, this week I applied for a Holiday working Visa and an international driving license, not the most exciting stuff but crucial to get into New-Zealand.
The thing I'm looking forward to the most is planning the route I am going to take, but I will come back to that later on. First I need to figure out is if I'm going to work first or start traveling right away, the benefit of working is that I can settle a bit first and and get used to the culture and the people, which isn't a bad idea at all and this way I can fund my trip for later on and get to know some people. For now I hope my application for a Visa will go through but it shouldn't be much of a problem.

My next story is going to be a bit longer as i will tell you all about my experiences on Aruba, and there were a lot!

The Beginning

Today marks the day of a new story, a new chapter in my life that I can share with everyone when I'm old and most importantly, I can tell this story with pride. On the 17th of September I will leave my country and begin my adventure in New-Zealand! Just me and my camera.
I've dreamed about this for as long as I can remember and the feeling is indescribable that I will finally be able to do this!

Last year I did an internship abroad on the sunny island of Aruba for 6 months and it was just amazing, you get to know yourself in a whole different way. For the first time in my life I was actually filled with pride and self-confidence and for me, that's a huge deal. I've made new friends and met a lot of wonderful people. I'll tell more about this in one of my next stories, so stay tuned!

For the people that are interested in my story and my journey, I will post a new story every week. For now it's just going to be about my preparations and travel ideas, etcetera until I'm actually on the plane heading towards Auckland. Replies to my stories are highly appreciated!

Welkom op mijn Reislog!

Hi en welkom op mijn reisblog!

Dé plaats om op de hoogte te blijven van alle avonturen en ervaringen tijdens deze reis. Vanaf nu zul je hier dan ook regelmatig nieuwe verhalen en foto's vinden, en via de kaart weet je altijd precies waar ik me bevind en waar ik ben geweest! Meer informatie over mijzelf en de reis die ik ga maken vind je in het profiel.

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Leuk dat je met me meereist!

Groetjes,

Olof