During the Fall of 2017, I was fortunate enough to spend a semester in the Netherlands studying in Maastricht. Along with class, travel, and plenty of biking, I made it my mission to document my trip in my sketchbook. This opportunity allowed me to curate my experience and chronicle my memories while abroad. It also allowed me to explore a medium that I wanted to improve in, marker and pen. Along with this first goal, I challenged myself to fill at least one page per week, experiment with sketchbook design, and practice drawing architecture.
First Impressions
I started off strong, writing and drawing multiple times per week. All of the new places, experiences, and people gave me plenty of material to work with. First and foremost, I made note of the thousands of bikes I encountered. Everyone and their grandma happily zip around town in the expansive bike lanes that run parallel to the streets. I knew that in order to truly get the Dutch experience, I needed to find a bike and fast.
After landing in Schiphol Airport and spending a day in Amsterdam, I took a train to Maastricht. This two hour train ride took me through the Dutch countryside and deposited me in the heart of Limburg. For those who don't know, Maastricht is on the very southern tip of the Netherlands, located on the border of Belgium and about 20 miles from the German border. I immediately fell in love with the old-European building style and wanted to explore every street, alley, and park.
Maastricht, The Netherlands
The first week before my program started allowed me to explore what Maastricht had to offer. You can guarantee I ate frites at every opportunity and took my time familiarizing myself with the funky street layout. This was to be my home for the next four months.
Travel
Living in the heart of western Europe gave me the opportunity to hop on a train and travel to a different country every weekend, and much to my wallet's dismay, I often did just that. My first large trip was to Berlin. After nine hours on a bus, I spent a week with my program visiting the many historical sights Berlin has to offer. The Reichstag was by far my favorite stop and the view from the roof was even better.
Hotel Adlon, Berlin
My program also took us on a Dutch culture trip up the west coast of the Netherlands. We traveled over much of the Delta Work dikes, stopped in both Zaanse Schans and Delft, and finally ended up in Rotterdam. Delft was by far one of my favorite "local" trips. We were given the opportunity to paint a tile with the traditional blue glaze, and you know I put my art major to work.
I got an opportunity to spend a weekend in Paris during the month of October and little did I know that it’d be one of my favorite cities. The atmosphere, the food, spending time with my friends, and oh my god the museums, all added up to an amazing couple of days. One of my friends took us on a tour of the university she was studying at and then the showed us her favorite sandwich shop. I visited Montmarte and the Notre-Dame de Paris. And of course, I had to stop by the Louvre.
The Louvre, Paris
In November, there was an international leadership conference being held in Brussels and a few students from my leadership program here in Denver were presenting. So obviously I had to go and support them. Seeing everyone travel from their programs to Belgium gave me one of those “I can’t believe I have this opportunity” feelings. While sitting in a coffee shop, surrounded by a few close friends, drawing a random building from a side street in Brussels, a wave of gratitude just overwhelmed me. I’m grateful for the relationships I’ve built and the experiences I’ve had, and hope to continue doing fun things with fun people.
Brussels, Belgium
Going Home
Overall, I had some amazing moments during my four months abroad. This was just a snapshot of what I documented in my sketchbook. Through this process, I not only improved in a medium that I still use today, but also documented a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
I can’t pretend that I didn’t struggle though. Towards the end of my semester, I was TIRED of the constant gloominess. I realized that the sun plays a very important role in my general temperament. But, I guess I came away with more self-awareness and an unwavering desire to never live in the Pacific Northwest.