Rooting in the Breeze

Sunlight is a miracle, Spring is beautiful, and they make the rest of the world’s troubles vanish for a moment.

I moved to the Netherlands in the greyest November in over a decade. The winter was milder than Ohio’s, but the rain and clouds and bleakness of it all made it difficult to really embrace my new environment. But since my last update, Spring has come in full force – daffodils, cherry blossoms, tulips, and unfortunately early mosquitos. I’ve been continuing to follow the wind, which has been anything but still, despite efforts to establish routines and structure in my life here.

I have been able to find so many wonderful people and places, in just a short time. After finding my community in Columbus, I knew I had a special ability to bring people together – but this past year has confirmed it. I’ve really felt like I’ve been living my value of experiencing all this life has to offer, including but not limited to, these incredible new adventures:

• 🌷 Tulip Fields
• 🏹 Archery Lessons
• 💃🏻 Queer Parties & a Punk Concert in an Amsterdam Squat
• 🎥 Music Video Shoot Extra
• 💼 “Business Opportunities”
• 🧗🏻‍♀️ Rock Climbing (obviously)
• 👷🏻‍♀️ First Drag Performance for a Friend’s Birthday
• 🛼 Amsterdam Night Skate
• 🦪 Oyster Harvesting in Zeeland
• 🏠 Making My House a Home
• ✈️ Planning a 65-Day Round-the-World Trip 🤭

First, work stuff! I’m in NL on a freelancer visa, so I can’t apply for jobs here, but can make money as an independent contractor. My business website, although bare, exists now (hcc.us.com), but I’ve not put a lot of effort into securing contracts. However, I am incredible, and other people have already seen that in my short time here. Specifically, my friend Annie who runs the Nieuwe Vide Artspace in Haarlem, hired me for a community development project that I’m really excited about! So for now, I’ve got one part-time source of income, and that’s a fine way to slowly return to “full work” mode.

As I expected, freelancing and/or lacking the structure of a full-time contract job is Not the most friendly to my ADHD. Working from home is more difficult when your bedroom is your only space and you’re your only boss. So I’ve not made the progress I hoped I would by now on many personal & professional projects, and the lists keep growing with my ambition and interests. But I’m happy with making some progress, and know that things will get done in due time.

In addition to my cosmic luck landing me a part-time work contract, affordable and registerable housing, it also brought me to a wonderful new therapist, who has been invaluable in maintaining my wellbeing here. Between these things and a solid group of friends, I really feel like I’m past my “setup” phase, which is both relieving and a little scary (what comes next??). Which means it’s the perfect time for another massive trip!

A couple months ago, a breeze picked up that eventually turned into a gale, taking me back out of the Netherlands for 2 months, on a round-the-world trip of my own making. It started as an offer from my mom for free flights/hotel to Hawaii in June. I’ve got complicated feelings about the impact of tourism and exploitation of native Hawaiian communities, but those feelings are only going to get more complicated as climate change and global inequality progress, so I decided I’d join. Hopefully, I’ll be able to engage with some levels of community and/or sustainable development during my time there.

Anyway, did you know you can get a flight from Honolulu to Sydney for only $130, if you aren’t picky about dates? And well, I have a friend near Byron Bay (Ballina) who’s already offered to host people, as well as friends in Sydney and Brisbane. Oh, and that’s not too far from Shanghai, near where my friend from college recently moved to work at a British University in Ningbo. And well…since a grad school friend was already planning a trip to see me in NL in July…I decided to meet them in London so we could see a bit of the UK together, before I return home.

Finally, I had already made plans to take a train down to Luxembourg in May to see a colleague from OSU, and a friend from Amsterdam said they’d be staying with grandparents in Granada, Spain, and anyone could visit, so the trip finally grew into this enormous (but low-cost 😅) adventure.

May 17 – July 20

Luxembourg -> Granada -> California -> Hawaii -> Sydney -> Ballina -> Brisbane -> Shanghai -> London -> Edinburgh -> Glasgow

I really wasn’t expecting to be leaving the Netherlands again so soon, and especially not for this long. But in the spirit of going where the wind takes me, I had to take this opportunity while I have it. I see no reason to wait and plan, when there’s so much uncertainty in the world, and I’m not getting any younger.

I still feel like I’m floating a bit, but I’m glad for the routines I’ve been able to establish, as I have something more concrete to return to after this trip. I’ll keep up my weekly archery and climbing sessions, occasional parties and new experiences, and hopefully grow my work to a more sustainable basis. I don’t know that I’ll ever return to a single full-time job again, and think I’d be happy doing a variety of projects/contracts for the future. In typical me fashion, I am interested in (and good at) too much to stick with just one thing, and I like the idea of keeping a variety, potentially including (but not limited to):

• Queer-centered Travel/Tours (in NL/US and beyond, as my travels give me more connections around the world)
• Part-time teaching (remote in the U.S. or in NL)
• Business consulting (ideally community-oriented projects like with Nieuwe Vide)
• Community-building and/or Activism projects (a bit more difficult to make money doing these, but they’ll always be important to me)

Anyway, that’s it for now, but I’ll be making more travel posts very soon to keep everyone updated on my new adventures!

Until next time!
💜Ada