Time to look back and ahead.

We’re halfway through September, and summer is coming to its end. This is the time for a recap of the last couple of months.

Most people go abroad when they’re having their annual leave. Even before 2011 started, I decided not to leave the country this year. The budget of this year’s holidays will be added to next year’s.
Instead of crossing the Belgian borders, I had people from outside the country coming over to visit me. It’s nice to reverse things every now and then.

I spent a fantastic time hosting these people. I learned a lot. I played tourist in my own country. And believe me: although being a small country, we have a lot to offer.
I saw that people can really appreciate Belgium and its people. I experienced that we can make people feel at ease. I found out that we are a serving country and that the services we provide are often fast, clear and well organized.
And that there’s a statue of a man on a horse in every Belgian city that you visit.

I spent my summer holidays in the company of some wonderful people that have become my best friends, or even more: family.
We had fully planned, long days and short nights.
I’m enjoying my last week of vacation now, and there’s an enormous difference with the preceding period.
The contrast is probably best explained by the way I experience time. The hours flew by those last couple of weeks, and days were gone in the blink of an eye. Today is not such a thing at all. Minutes seem to be hours, and hours seem to last forever.
There's no plan, nowhere to go to and nothing to look up on the internet.

All I'm saying, is that I spent a wonderful time with you, girls, and that I can feel with every fibre of my being that my friends and family share that feeling.
I’ll have to set my pace and rhythm back to daily routine, but I can assure everybody that I’m already looking ahead.

I can only thank my visitors from the bottom of my heart for spending their precious time with me and for making this summer one to never forget.

I am pretty sure I will see those people again. I’m planning, budgeting and counting the days!