Hi! Welcome back into my weekly diary. In these diaries I try to show you what an eco-positive lifestyle looks like on a daily basis. And as you might have read in my latest post, this is shifting to a new level from this week on! I have moved out (as you will read below) and this makes my life entirely different again. I’m excited! Now, let’s talk about past week.
Thursday
Yesterday was so much fun, but due to the heat I didn’t sleep much. I traveled back from Amsterdam to Enschede by train, the most sustainable option, but I almost fell asleep haha. I worked during the day and at night I had my last handball training in Enschede. It all feels so weird. I will really miss everyone but it’s also time to move on for me. I’ll be seeing everyone from handball again in a few weeks since we’re having a party, so this training was no official goodbye yet. Still, it feels weird.
Friday
Today was a little bit of a quiet before the storm, since I had quite a relaxed day. I shot a video for my Youtube channel, but I won’t be having any time to edit it soon. It will come! I brought some books back to the library and wanted to cancel my account, I’ll open a new account in Groningen! On the way I ran into a friend and we went to her house to play a little cards and chat. I won’t be in Enschede as much the coming year and so it was good to see her. At night I took my parents and brother out to dinner as a little thank you since I’m moving out. We went for sushi at Ginza, they have great vegan options there!
Saturday
My last day at work! Today I said goodbye to my job at Jumbo after 6 years. A weird feeling (again)! It’s all so definitive right now. I got a big box with all sorts of snacks as a thank-you gift. Not everything was vegan, so I gave much of it to my family haha. It’s a big step, this is the first since I’m allowed to work that I have no job. Kind of scary. But soon I hope to find another job in Groningen. The rest of the day was mostly about packing for the big move of tomorrow. But, at night, I also took my dad out for dinner at The Twentse Foodhallen. It’s a lovely place with about 9 different kitchens, one them is vegan! I have a lovely no-chicken wrap and nachos, hmmm.
Sunday
Today is the day! I packed the last of my stuff into our car and went to Groningen. My boyfriend came from his hometown too. Some friends and family helped us to pack everything and to me it all went smoothly. We said our goodbyes and there we were, together! The rest of the night we were busy with setting up all the furniture. It felt so weird but so good too!
Monday
Waking up my new home in Groningen, I felt so excited! We were still busy with unpacking boxes and all that, but we also went to a lot of thrift shops today to buy some of the things we already saw we would need, like a laundry basket and chairs. We were quite successful, but we’re not there yet. Our home is however coming together and I’m falling in love with it already. And I’m so proud: we haven’t bought anything new yet! Only the paint on one wall. At night, we went to dinner in the city center since my boyfriend’s mother gave us that as a present. They were able to make me some lovely vegan options. I wasn’t able to eat everything, so I took home a small doggy bag since I don’t want to waste food!
Tuesday
Doing groceries, it’s a big challenge since I have so much freedom haha! We went to the supermarket and a local bakery today. We bought organic, zero waste and local bread at that bakery! It’s a winner and a great option (unless we’re able to save bread somewhere). Further, we saved a lot of food and the things we couldn’t save we bought organic. I’m content! These are the steps I follow to eat as sustainable as possible. During the day we went thrifting again and bought a secondhand table too from a Dutch secondhand website (something like Ebay). At night we ordered a food package via TooGoodToGo. That’s an app where you can save food, you just get a package full of food that’s about to expire. It was quite a difficult package to make a meal with, but my boyfriend managed to make something great. We did however had to buy some ‘normal’ organic food to make an entire meal, some cauliflower, peas and tomatoes. The package from TooGoodToGo included fennel, red pepper, cake, fruit, bread, cheese and yoghurt. My boyfriend eats most of the non-vegan stuff, but we gave the cake away to our neighbor haha. It was a nice way to meet the new neighbors.
Wednesday
From the rescued fruit we bought yesterday, my boyfriend is making a jam today. Such a great way to save some food! Afterwards we went into the city center to buy some groceries and get some inspiration for the last few things to buy for our apartment. Just before dinner, we went to my boyfriend’s parents. We needed to pick up some things and at home we don’t have internet (which is quite annoying frankly).
Song of the week: Akon – Don’t Matter
Your sincerely,
Romee