“The best of…”

Inspiration shot April 2021

We often dread writing updates, social media posts, newsletters or blogs, because we think we always have to come up with something new.
This is such a shame because most of us already have so much good material!
But how do you know what is ‘good’? That’s the great thing about social media: you get direct feedback, in the form of likes, views, comments, and shares.
Need inspiration? Here’s a compilation of my most read and shared posts in the past month.

Real estate and investment advice

After refinancing my mortgages (in Amsterdam for the money?) I suddenly had a considerable sum of money in my account. Those resources are actually earmarked for the construction of the tiny house on my property in Italy, but due to the permits that I need first, it could take another 8 – 12 months.
On a whim I asked on Facebook what would you do if you had  €100,000 available for a year? The responses and advice varied from “do nothing, just leave it safely in the bank, even if the interest is negative”, to Bitcoin, FOREX, network marketing, requests for a personal loan. It was very interesting to read and think about. What would you do?

How are things in Puglia?

All 250 liters of oil have been sold, more than half of the olive trees have been adopted and the requests to witness the olive harvest this November and search for other pieces of land for sale are pouring in. On the other hand, after more than a year, I still have no electricity, the design for the tiny house had to be amended many times and the permit will still take as long as another year. I got many nice responses to this update.
I was so proud to have managed the entire conversation with the ‘geometra’, who regulates the permit, in Italian! One year of DuoLingo, just a few minutes a day did the trick… I am so proud of myself!

Caretaker wanted for my dad in Miami

For over three years now, I have been arranging caretakers for my father (who has Alzheimer’s) in exchange for a three-month ‘vacation’ in Miami.
Since corona, it has been extra difficult, because Europeans are not allowed to enter the USA. I spent two months in Miami at the start of the pandemic. Then I found an American Digital Nomad who wanted to stay with my dad for a while. For the past 5 months, my artist brother @Michaelangelo stayed with my dad. From mid-July, we are looking for a new caretaker, preferably someone who is already in the USA.
By the way, for my father’s 73rd birthday a few weeks ago, I posted some nice photos of us, like this one from 2014, when we walked a part of the Camino de Santiago together.

The writing retreat in Mallorca is on!

Whatever happens in the world, no matter how many tests we have to do, as long as there are planes going to Mallorca the writing week at the end of May in ON! 💪
Does an all-inclusive week of working on your book – or other writing projects – in an authentic village in the middle of nowhere, feel like a ‘necessary journey’ for you?
Read more about this unique experience or listen to the experience of former participant Carole Donkers, who recently published her book ‘Dit is mijn ware Afrika’ (This is my true Africa)