The book

Fifty beats

My book Fifty beats is out now! You can order it on Amazon all over the world. It’s about eternal optimist Elles who’s living her best life in Amsterdam when life shocks her at twenty-six: she’s diagnosed with a severe heart condition. Fifty beats is her journey through life in the three cities that impacted her—Amsterdam, London, […]

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Amsterdam

The battle between body and mind

The Misty Mountain in Surinam looks down on us mystically. She looks tall and fierce and full of confidence, irresistible. She’s been on my bucket list since I’ve known Ashu. His parents grew up in Surinam in South America, before they settled in the Netherlands, and they’ve been telling us beautiful stories about that time. […]

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London

Running fever

I really feel like running today—I hardly really feel like running. Barely awake, I imagine myself effortlessly running at a steady pace in evergreen St. James’s Park with a relaxed smile and healthy red cheeks like the runners that I normally stare at. I want the relief that’s on their healthy faces when they reach […]

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Singapore

The eighty-five-years-old me

It’s a rainy afternoon in Singapore and I’m having a hot jasmine tea — the perfect moment to eat dark chocolate with mint. When I open the little box, my thoughts go back to when I met this amazing woman in the hospital in Utrecht a few months ago. It’s 9:00 a.m., we just finished having breakfast […]

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