Wow...

... has it really been 5 going on 6 years that I started this blog? Damn! I was going through my history and saw that on May 15th, 2005 I created this weblog. I had just left KLM Ground Services and started at Air France Consulting. I would be based in Amsterdam. After a training period I was to go in a team of South-America/Caribbean Specialists. But then they lost a big client and I was no longer needed in that group. So they placed me in a team of Asia Specialists. At that point my only knowledge from Asia was a backpacking trip I did throughout Thailand. The team consisted of Margriet (Grietje) who was a Senior Consultant/Master Black Belt. Brenda was a Lead Consultant/Black Belt and I was to be a Junior Consultant/Green Belt. Winfred (Freddy) was a Flex Consultant/Project Champion... so only when he was needed he did a project with us abroad. But mostly he was working out of the Amsterdam office and he was our contact person at 'home'.

Grietje & me just after arrival in Guangzhou

Brenda & me in Seoul

Grietje & me in at the maglev train station in Shanghai



Freddy

Rickshaw fun in Beijing

Brenda & Ryan @ Toronto restaurant

All I wanted to do was document my experiences for my family and friends in Holland as well as Aruba for them to see what I was up to. I never had the intention for it to be what it is today with readers from around the world.

My weblog was then called "Flying High With Both Feet On The Ground" as some of you readers may recall. I had the urge to document everything and take pictures of everything for my blog. Thank goodness I am over that! I only publish what I want the world to see. What is private, I keep private. I also respect people's privacy. I always ask someone if I may post a picture or their name and if I have an embarressing story to tell about someone else, I change their name. The name of my blog changed several times as did the look. But the essence is still there. Uhm... that would be me of course :-)

At that time my buddy Lesley was working for easyJet! OMG! what a long way he has come!

easyLes

And all of that reminiscing makes me wonder how and when you readers out there discovered my blog. I know there are many 'silent' readers you never hear from, the readers who prefer to send a private email rather than comment directly on the blog and those nakmes that regularly keep popping up in the comments section. Just out of curiousity really.

Time does fly. Good times, sweet memories...