Amsterdam..

The first city I have officially solo travelled in, the first time I navigated a foreign city's metro system alone, and among many other firsts the first time I slept in a room full of strangers.

This being the first city of my trip meant that I was about to learn a lot. A lot about myself, a lot about travelling, and a lot about this city. It was quite a bit freaky being in a foreign country where they don’t commonly speak my language and there is a huge city full of amazing museums, restaurants, and sights.

An important fact to help understand my mindset throughout my travels is that I was on a very strict budget (50 euros a day), which was to cover all of my expenses including housing and food. This meant that after paying for food and the cheapest place to sleep I did not always have much money left over. So even though Amsterdam is full of these amazing museums and restaurants, I could not in fact afford to go see them. What I could do however was wander around the city and marvel at the leaning buildings and all of the beautiful canals that bisect the city.

After 2 days of seemingly wandering around the canals and bridges, I felt like I had seen it all. I even stood outside of the Anne Frank House while listening to a free podcast (the museum was way out of my price range), but that is when I realized what I was missing… friends. Now something important to note about me is that up until this trip, I did not consider myself as someone who made friends easily or comfortably, this however changed slowly as my trip progressed. As I sat in my hostel room wondering what to do and feeling like I was missing out on having the time of my life, one of my roommates Vicente walked in. Vicente was a guy around my age from Chile and we immediately hit it off. He is also the one who introduced me to the Hostel World group chat, which is basically a chat that is available to anyone who books through them and allows you to communicate with all of the other travellers in the city. After he showed me how to access it I got involved in a group of people who wanted to meet up at a food place called Foodhallen later that night. 

Foodhallen was a really cool kind of food market where there were a bunch of different vendors selling all kinds of different foods and fortunately I had a few bucks to spare to get myself a delicious gourmet hotdog (it was the cheapest thing on the menu) and slowly as the people from the group showed up I got to meet everyone. There were people from everywhere (Greece, the UK, Australia, America, Germany, etc.) and I could not get over how cool it was to be able to talk to these people from all over the world. After a while, we were trying to decide where we wanted to go next when I suggested the only thing left on my bucket list, the Red Light district. 

Some more backstory for you, knowing full well that I was going to stick to my budget no matter what, I also wanted to be able to say that I experienced every place I went to and if that meant that I needed to spend some extra money or try things that are outside of what I would consider the norm, so be it I’m gonna do it.

Now I know this may come off as me being a pervert who wants to see some naked ladies, however, that is only partially true. I may not be a pervert but I felt like the only thing left that I needed to do in Amsterdam was experience the Red Light District and I felt even less of a pervert if I went with other people, so that is what I did. After convincing the 10 or so strangers that I just met to go with me, we were on our way. The Red Light District definitely lived up to its hype, there were naked ladies everywhere, in all of the windows, as well as seemingly endless strip clubs and sex shows. It was all a bit overwhelming to tell you the truth, but I was determined to persevere. We started off slow with a bar that had four shots of tequila for 10 euros which was a screaming deal and after however long it took to swallow four shots I was feeling pretty good. Now at this point in time I could definitely say that I’ve Been to the Red Light District, but I couldn’t say that I have experienced it (if you catch my meaning). So I decided in my new tipsy state that I wanted to see a sex show and I was determined to convince everyone else in the group to come with me (you know, so I wouldn’t feel like a pervert). It didn’t take much convincing, considering nearly everyone else had some tequila in them, and we were on our way. We ended up at a place that nearly cost as much as an entire day's budget, but little did I know that I was in for probably one of the craziest nights of my entire trip. I’d hate to spoil what happened in that show but what I will say is that I left that building with the new nickname “Sexy Boy” and a big smile on my face. I ended off this awesome night with a two-hour walk in the rain at 2 a.m. to my hostel because I didn’t have any data and the buses stopped running a while earlier. The mixture of adrenaline and tequila made it a nice walk and helped me forget about how cold it was and before I knew it I was back in my bed and sleeping blissfully. 

The next few days I spent with my new friends hanging out and exploring the city of Amsterdam including an experience that I had not thought of until my new friends mentioned it, trying out a “coffee shop” where you are able to buy and smoke '“the good stuff” inside, which honestly was very cool even though the weed was not very good. The only downside is that everyone seemed to mix their joints with tobacco and I was not a fan of that in the slightest, it only gave me a wicked headrush that I could definitely do without. While we are on the subject of smoking weed inside; I also went on a nighttime boat cruise through the canals of the city with a fantastic light show. The only downside is that it was absolutely freezing so we all huddled inside the boat and smoked and drank and laughed and had an absolutely amazing time. 

With the end of my stay in Amsterdam brought my first goodbye, to the city and my new friends. It’s hard to explain what it’s like to become such good friends with someone in such a short amount of time, but it is truly amazing. For some reason the knowledge that you never have to talk to these people again (if you don't want to) allows you to be your truest self. Freeing you to be whoever you want, lets you open up without fear of rejection or judgment and ultimately bonds you with each other faster and better than in everyday life back home. The friends I made on my trip will forever be remembered as some of my favorite people I have ever met. Even though goodbyes aren’t any fun, it meant that I was headed to a new place where I could meet even more people and experience so much more. Amsterdam was amazing but now I was off to Belgium and I was hungry for some waffles.