The start of June was still grind season in Spain: studying 10+ hours daily combined with marathon preparations. It was amazing! I enjoyed every single second of it even though it was tough to get up early and stay motivated from time to time. But in the end, it was discipline and routine that dragged me through. As a reward for my hard work, I booked a skydiving jump on the last day of my stay there. An amazing experience!

Back in Belgium, I had to present and defend the Blockchain Project I had been working on for the past month. The presentation in the morning went smoothly, which gave me even more motivation for my first marathon in the afternoon. It was extremely hot that day and thus I decided to run on heart rate rather than on pace. The parkour was very calm and there were less than 100 participants. The result: running solo the whole time. But I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way! Enjoying the suffering all on my own. My parents and brother were biking around and supplied me with water every 2–3 kilometers and more importantly a boost in motivation. I finished in 3 hours and 26 minutes. Happy, but not completely satisfied. I still had some energy left after the race, so that is promising for my next marathon!

The next week was filled with job interviews from various companies, of which one lasted 6 hours long. Luckily I had studied a little bit for this one since it was pretty technical as well. I pushed all my interviews in this week because I won’t be home until the end of September.

The last week of June, vacation started. First up in the running: a road trip with my girlfriend through Luxembourg. This one really surprised me beyond my expectations. We slept in the trunk of the car or wild camped along the way in some very beautiful locations. During our trip we canoed, hiked the Müllerthal Trail, visited a castle and chilled at various lakes and rivers. What truly amazed me was how calm and not (yet) touristic everything here was. On some occasions, we were the only people there with no one around. The whole world seemed ours.

After the road trip, I went straight to the “Rampage Open Air” festival with some of my friends. It was my first time there and I loved it with every cell in my body. Loud drum and bass music mixed up with amazing friends and some magical festival vibes. My body was overwhelmed with feelings as if I experienced the satisfaction from all the hard work over the past year in one single moment in time. My brain rewarded my body for all the effort I had put into myself. It felt like a reality check that I am indeed on a trajectory to living the life I thrive to achieve. And I am enjoying every second of the path along the way as well.

There was no time to come home and relax since I had to pack my bag again for 4 weeks of traveling through Montenegro, Albania & Greece. The first 3 weeks were with my Scouting group. This was my final year and final camp, and I’m extremely happy that I got the chance to go abroad to finish off my scouting career. We traveled by public transport which in itself was already a challenge in these countries, let alone in a group of 13 people. We started off with some bad luck: the luggage of 2 people was lost. But we didn’t let this ruïn our mood, and 3 days later they were delivered. We wandered through the — often untouched — nature and hiked over the Albanian Alps from Montenegro to Albania. Along the way, we encountered various lakes, glaciers and extraordinary viewpoints. For most, this was their first time hiking in the mountains, which also meant that they had to discover the boundaries of their own bodies. The group atmosphere was encouraging and in the end, nobody complained and most pushed their limits beyond their own expectations. After the heavy work, it was time to relax in Albania. We traveled through Skhöder, Tirana and Berat and checked out the area. The land is filled with beaches at lakes, rivers and the Adriatic Sea. The nature is truly amazing and the cities are clearly developing towards a more touristic future, but the crowd is not there yet. The locals are super friendly and welcoming and they break the stereotype that characterizes the Balkan region (as a Western European).

After 3 weeks my girlfriend came over. She joined the group for some days and then we continued our vacation when the others left for Belgium. We headed south towards Sarande, Albania, at the border with Greece. Suddenly the streets were crowded and it felt like being in another country. Overcrowded beaches filled with tourists and street shops on every corner. But once you go 5 km further everything goes radio silent again. Empty beaches with hidden bars and a handful of people. Truly amazing. We were headed towards Corfu, but forest fires broke out and were visible from our shore. Instead, we went to Igoumenitsa, Northern Greece, until the fire was under control. Our campsite was ON the beach. We even stumbled upon a holiday in a small village with a parade and fireworks. After a couple of days, we finally headed for Corfu and got a taste of this amazing island as well. We rented a boat to discover even more beaches, wandered around in the cities and talked for hours and hours. We spent every second we were there, together.

You can read my traveling journal for a more in-depth story including lots of pictures and video’s on my Polarsteps: https://www.polarsteps.com/GingerKingB

During these weeks I have analyzed and thought about a lot of things. So I will share some of my thought processes as well.

The most prominently present thought: As a Western European, maybe even more as a Belgian, I am so extremely blessed with the chances and possibilities I currently have in my life. None of this would’ve been possible if I were born somewhere else or if I hadn’t have got the support from my parents as I do. This doesn’t mean that I don’t try my very best and have not put in the effort to get me in life where I am today. But so many other people never even got close to having these chances. Or they do need to put in 10x the work (for less). I talked with multiple locals and every time I felt like I did not deserve to have these privileges. What makes me worth more than them to be in this position?

Something else I noticed over time: I NEED to talk with strangers. Like, it is a basic daily necessity. My day will be good but never complete if I don’t. Everywhere I go I feel the urge to have (deeper meaningful) conversations with people I don’t know, nor will ever know. I always presume everyone has good intentions. Thus if people initiate or respond to a stimulus for interaction, they most probably have good and honest intentions. It impulses compassion and empathy in me. In every one of those conversations I’ve had in my life, I have learned something new: advice, insight into another culture, recommendations for activities, … The longer I was on vacation, the more I felt the urge to have these encounters. It broadens my understanding of human interactions and leads to unpredictable experiences.

Over this period I haven’t had one free day for me-time. And the older I become the more I realize how important that is for personal development and growth. But I was able to asses this in advance and prepared my mind and body beforehand. I knew what was coming and had written down all the necessary things in my diary. But moreover, I was able to coördinate most of the thought processes and analysis of my surroundings during the action. I was able to split up the “problems” into subcategories to either “tackle now” or “I need more time for this, schedule a moment, continue the day worry-free”. I am becoming more and more in control over my mind and body and my mindset is growing stronger by the day.

After all this “relaxing” it is time to make moves again. The journey continues!

Greetings,

GingerKingB

https://linktr.ee/GingerKingB

The start of June was still grind season in Spain: studying 10+ hours daily combined with marathon preparations. It was amazing! I enjoyed every single second of it even though it was tough to get up early and stay motivated from time to time. But in the end, it was discipline and routine that dragged me through. As a reward for my hard work, I booked a skydiving jump on the last day of my stay there. An amazing experience!

Back in Belgium, I had to present and defend the Blockchain Project I had been working on for the past month. The presentation in the morning went smoothly, which gave me even more motivation for my first marathon in the afternoon. It was extremely hot that day and thus I decided to run on heart rate rather than on pace. The parkour was very calm and there were less than 100 participants. The result: running solo the whole time. But I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way! Enjoying the suffering all on my own. My parents and brother were biking around and supplied me with water every 2–3 kilometers and more importantly a boost in motivation. I finished in 3 hours and 26 minutes. Happy, but not completely satisfied. I still had some energy left after the race, so that is promising for my next marathon!

The next week was filled with job interviews from various companies, of which one lasted 6 hours long. Luckily I had studied a little bit for this one since it was pretty technical as well. I pushed all my interviews in this week because I won’t be home until the end of September.

The last week of June, vacation started. First up in the running: a road trip with my girlfriend through Luxembourg. This one really surprised me beyond my expectations. We slept in the trunk of the car or wild camped along the way in some very beautiful locations. During our trip we canoed, hiked the Müllerthal Trail, visited a castle and chilled at various lakes and rivers. What truly amazed me was how calm and not (yet) touristic everything here was. On some occasions, we were the only people there with no one around. The whole world seemed ours.

After the road trip, I went straight to the “Rampage Open Air” festival with some of my friends. It was my first time there and I loved it with every cell in my body. Loud drum and bass music mixed up with amazing friends and some magical festival vibes. My body was overwhelmed with feelings as if I experienced the satisfaction from all the hard work over the past year in one single moment in time. My brain rewarded my body for all the effort I had put into myself. It felt like a reality check that I am indeed on a trajectory to living the life I thrive to achieve. And I am enjoying every second of the path along the way as well.

There was no time to come home and relax since I had to pack my bag again for 4 weeks of traveling through Montenegro, Albania & Greece. The first 3 weeks were with my Scouting group. This was my final year and final camp, and I’m extremely happy that I got the chance to go abroad to finish off my scouting career. We traveled by public transport which in itself was already a challenge in these countries, let alone in a group of 13 people. We started off with some bad luck: the luggage of 2 people was lost. But we didn’t let this ruïn our mood, and 3 days later they were delivered. We wandered through the — often untouched — nature and hiked over the Albanian Alps from Montenegro to Albania. Along the way, we encountered various lakes, glaciers and extraordinary viewpoints. For most, this was their first time hiking in the mountains, which also meant that they had to discover the boundaries of their own bodies. The group atmosphere was encouraging and in the end, nobody complained and most pushed their limits beyond their own expectations. After the heavy work, it was time to relax in Albania. We traveled through Skhöder, Tirana and Berat and checked out the area. The land is filled with beaches at lakes, rivers and the Adriatic Sea. The nature is truly amazing and the cities are clearly developing towards a more touristic future, but the crowd is not there yet. The locals are super friendly and welcoming and they break the stereotype that characterizes the Balkan region (as a Western European).

After 3 weeks my girlfriend came over. She joined the group for some days and then we continued our vacation when the others left for Belgium. We headed south towards Sarande, Albania, at the border with Greece. Suddenly the streets were crowded and it felt like being in another country. Overcrowded beaches filled with tourists and street shops on every corner. But once you go 5 km further everything goes radio silent again. Empty beaches with hidden bars and a handful of people. Truly amazing. We were headed towards Corfu, but forest fires broke out and were visible from our shore. Instead, we went to Igoumenitsa, Northern Greece, until the fire was under control. Our campsite was ON the beach. We even stumbled upon a holiday in a small village with a parade and fireworks. After a couple of days, we finally headed for Corfu and got a taste of this amazing island as well. We rented a boat to discover even more beaches, wandered around in the cities and talked for hours and hours. We spent every second we were there, together.

You can read my traveling journal for a more in-depth story including lots of pictures and video’s on my Polarsteps: https://www.polarsteps.com/GingerKingB

During these weeks I have analyzed and thought about a lot of things. So I will share some of my thought processes as well.

The most prominently present thought: As a Western European, maybe even more as a Belgian, I am so extremely blessed with the chances and possibilities I currently have in my life. None of this would’ve been possible if I were born somewhere else or if I hadn’t have got the support from my parents as I do. This doesn’t mean that I don’t try my very best and have not put in the effort to get me in life where I am today. But so many other people never even got close to having these chances. Or they do need to put in 10x the work (for less). I talked with multiple locals and every time I felt like I did not deserve to have these privileges. What makes me worth more than them to be in this position?

Something else I noticed over time: I NEED to talk with strangers. Like, it is a basic daily necessity. My day will be good but never complete if I don’t. Everywhere I go I feel the urge to have (deeper meaningful) conversations with people I don’t know, nor will ever know. I always presume everyone has good intentions. Thus if people initiate or respond to a stimulus for interaction, they most probably have good and honest intentions. It impulses compassion and empathy in me. In every one of those conversations I’ve had in my life, I have learned something new: advice, insight into another culture, recommendations for activities, … The longer I was on vacation, the more I felt the urge to have these encounters. It broadens my understanding of human interactions and leads to unpredictable experiences.

Over this period I haven’t had one free day for me-time. And the older I become the more I realize how important that is for personal development and growth. But I was able to asses this in advance and prepared my mind and body beforehand. I knew what was coming and had written down all the necessary things in my diary. But moreover, I was able to coördinate most of the thought processes and analysis of my surroundings during the action. I was able to split up the “problems” into subcategories to either “tackle now” or “I need more time for this, schedule a moment, continue the day worry-free”. I am becoming more and more in control over my mind and body and my mindset is growing stronger by the day.

After all this “relaxing” it is time to make moves again. The journey continues!

Greetings,

GingerKingB

https://linktr.ee/GingerKingB