TD1: Bye ysselsteyn, hello Belgium

Today, like most days this past week, I was woken up by the construction of two neighboring houses. And by “I,” I mean Charlie (Sjoerd’s cat) and me, Sjoerd left yesterday on holiday to Tunisia with his best friend, and I got to stay in his house until I have to leave.

Last night, I prepared all the tags for the stand and made sure everything was ready to be packed.

I felt quite relaxed, since we’re leaving a day later than planned. Suddenly, I had extra time to pack and unwind. The only thing left to do was ship out Austra’s merchandise, seven big boxes, ready to go.

After slowly finishing my packing, doing my last laundry, and giving Charlie some extra cuddles (while making sure he’s well taken care of), I also prepared some meals for my long drive to Finland.

But first, I’ll drive to Belgium. Near Ghent is the Starstruck bus service, where I’ll stay tonight. That way, I’ll have the whole morning to sort the merch and can leave early in the afternoon.

The bus driver and I will be together for this long journey and an even longer ferry ride (30 hours!). I’m a bit nervous about the boat, but I made sure to bring enough ginger and medication to (hopefully) keep the seasickness away.

When I arrived at Starstruck, the owner opened the gates for me remotely and gave me instructions for the apartment. It’s so kind of them to let me stay here before the tour, there’s a lot of trust in that.

Not long after, a little furry fluff ball appeared, the cutest cat. We cuddled for a bit before I went to bed.Read more