Hi there, and welcome to our blog. In this post I’ll write about my story. It’s something I don’t often think about, but it’s a good exercise to get to know yourself! So, who knows, maybe after reading this you’ll write your own story.
Usually, Birgit is the one writing the blog posts, but this time it’s all me! That doesn’t mean I’m out of the picture all together, I’m just working more on the technical side of this blog. Anyway, let’s get started with my story.
My story goes back to Bruges, where everything started. It’s where I grew up and it’s where Birgit and I met each other. Before we met, I changed school a few times because I wasn’t the best student. Sitting behind a desk listening to a teacher all day just wasn’t my thing. That’s just me, I like exploring. But before I met Birgit, I didn’t travel that often. Just the yearly travel with the family to France, the Ardennes or Spain was about it. After meeting Birgit, she convinced me to get a bachelor’s degree, which I’m still super grateful for! Thanks to her, I studied Chemistry even though I only had a degree in welding, which I thought wouldn’t be possible.
Anything is possible if you just try
During our studies, we started to travel the world. Even though our budget was tight, we managed to travel at least two times a year. We just had to cut down on other expenses and travel cheap. Traveling just made us happy because we both like exploring and adventures. Of course, we also had to study a lot and go to our classes. But after three years, I received my bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at UCLL. That was an amazing achievement for me.
After this degree, I wanted to study a bit longer, so I decided to sign up for Industrial Engineering: Chemistry. Unfortunately, my math knowledge was too limited, and the classes went a bit too fast for me to keep up. So, I failed that education but that didn’t matter because Birgit said yes! While I studied industrial engineering, she was doing an internship in Surinam. And unsuspectingly, I visited her and popped the question.
Don’t give up because something amazing might be just around the corner
On the 3rd of March 2018 we had our legal marriage in Bruges, our hometown. Then, on the 7th of April, we had our ceremony in the Algarve, Portugal. It was everything I could ever dream of. They say it’s the best day in your life and I can assure you that until now, that’s still true. You can read all about our wedding day in Portugal.
In September 2018 we left on our honeymoon in Aruba. It was the perfect honeymoon destination! A small island with good weather and amazing food. It was also the place where we had our first dive! I’ve been wanting to dive for years, and I finally managed to convince my wife to take a course. Now she’s the one insisting to go diving again. You can read about how we did our first dive and how our honeymoon in Aruba went.
During my college years I had worked as a service agent/technician. After my studies I also worked there for a year while applying for a job in Chemistry. Most companies were looking for more experienced candidates, but I didn’t give up. Eventually, we moved to Ghent because we both landed a job there. The year was 2019 and we all know what happened in 2020. Covid struck and we were tired of working a fixed job.
This is when we decided to study International Business Management at HOGENT. The second semester we had to do an international internship, which meant we had to go abroad during partial lockdown. It was quite hard to find an internship with all the restrictions, but we managed to find one in Lyon, France. So, in March 2021, we moved to Lyon for a few months. It was an amazing experience, and we explored the area as much as we could. You can read about our experience here.
After receiving our degree together, we decided to work together. And by coincidence we stranded back in France, but this time in Morzine, the French Alps. It was amazing to work the same hours because we got the chance to travel around during our free days.
Now that we had our first work experience together, we’re ready to take things to the next level. We’ll try to keep exploring for you and get lost in nature so that you can too! Stay tuned and follow us on Instagram.
