Highs and Lows of 20th Year - Part 2

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows. Much of this list again focuses around traveling, our favorite thing to do:

• 20 years of living in Europe!
• 20 years of living car-free
• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: Belgium - Belgian Nash Hash in Ardennes, back to Brussels for BMPH3 Xmas Party Weekend; Denmark - Melissa tagged along on Jimmy’s business trip to Odense, weekend in Copenhagen with hashers, great Copenhagen H3 trail through a beautiful cemetery; England - weekend in Penzance to see Veronica off from Land’s End, day trip down the Thames on the Waverly Steam Ship, night on Camilla + Tristram’s farm, City H3 Away Weekend in Bournemouth with great trails; Germany- dancing on bench at beer festival in Munich, great trails at German Nash Hash in Bad Tolz; Netherlands - Panorama Mesdag; Naturalis; going on Bootjuh with Reinhardt + Inga; great FILTH trail; Paris - 5 wonderful nights in a studio in Montmarte courtesy of a kind harriette, Notre Dame, introduced to searching for Invaders (mosaic street art), great Paris H3 trail, lots of wandering; Scotland - Burns Night Hash Weekend with Glasgow H3 in Dunoon, 2 nights with Mirka in Stonehaven with nice long walks and a hash with Mearns H3, 2 nights with Marianne + John in Aboyne with cycling and hiking; Shetland - Simmer Dim Hash Weekend on summer solstice with amazing trails and fun party
• Jimmy Travel: Aix en Provence - train across France, fun with colleagues after business trip; Brussels - finding another spa; The Hague - snuck into NCIA Christmas Party and managed to remember most names; Wales - new festival tent for Lovetrails (music and running festival), 27k trail much better than last year
• Melissa Travel: England - visiting Veronica in Exeter, hashing with Isca H3 in Exmouth, Totnes Christmas Market, spending 2 nights at Sally + John’s; Netherlands - spending quality time with Georgia, Johanna + Terri, special tour at Mauritshuis; Scotland - visiting Ashlynn in Glasgow and seeing her perform twice with water; staying with her in Bonnybridge for dogsitting; another fun visit to Gillian’s in Edinburgh
• Family Travel: England - met Veronica at the Scottish border at the end of her ride and spent 1 night in Carlisle for celebration dinner; Scotland - 3 nights in cabin at Glen Tanar Estate for David + Tamsin’s wedding, hike around Loch Kinord and Falls at Burn O’Fat, family photography team
• Veronica Travel: England - camping under apple orchard trees in blossom, cycling in the Yorkshire Dales, girls trip to the Cotswolds, backpacking and photography trip on Dartmoor, week at Dreda’s farm, visiting Fiona in Nottingham with Ellie, gave seminar at UEA, RGS Conference in Birmingham; France - Food + Communication Conference in Lille; Scotland - Lois’ wedding, seeing Sam in Edinburgh
• Ashlynn Travel: Berlin - visiting Soso and Nick; DJ on Tour - Berlin, Italy; Italy - 3 nights in Tuscany after festival; Scotland - Glencoe with Maya and Til; Loch Tae with Fletch; free accommodation in Skye for one week
• Melissa/Veronica Travel: England - met up in Lincoln for 2 nights, Extreme Rock ‘n Roll Circus
• Veronica/Ashlynn Travel: Scotland - backpacking in the Cairngorms 
• Family: together again for Christmas in London; fun shows including naughty panto; Boxing Day breakfast on 40th floor; birthday high tea on 38th floor of The Gherkin; climbing up and over the 02 Arena (pictured); Jimmy being dragged on stage at Shitfaced Shakespeare and dressed as a Ghostbuster
• Jimmy/Melissa: cool art exhibits; tour of Big Ben; thrilled that our rental agreement has been extended two more years; discovering Hackney Wick; seeing more of the girls
• Jimmy: exciting things happening at work with DIANA OS; reaching Eurostar Club Level unlocks making travel nicer; having the time to add new features to Harrier Central; organizing London Marathon Beer Stop; cycling into London with Veronica; pulled off organizing a great away weekend despite only a small group of helpers
• Melissa: finding a partner in crime (Liesl); great day hikes with AWC London; seeing Veronica speak at the RGS; new TV
• Veronica: surviving her fieldwork 2,014-mile cycle ride, meeting lots of cool people along the way, and the kindness of strangers; family at beginning and end of the ride including a surprise by Ashlynn; 5 years of Coves to Cliffs; book club; Rugby World Cup with Annabel; speaking on main stage of Royal Geographic Society (RGS); conferences; Wicked double feature; fun dating with new confidence; another year with zero flights; nice not having to move; enjoying English cheese; Swiftageddon; spending lots of time with friends; skinny dipping in the Serpentine; introducing Andrew and Hannah to the hash
• Ashlynn: getting her Master’s degree; starting a label with new best friend; lots of DJ gigs; releasing first compilation; playing after all-time favorite producer and watching her dance to Ashlynn’s set; DJing at festival with 100,000+ attendees; DJing at festival with Veronica watching; full expense paid trip to play at festival in mountains of Italy; releasing first track and hearing it on NTS Radio; live performances including with water and singing; Stranger Things Live; dogsitting; teaching biology online; first play in Glasgow
• Visitor count up since moving to London: Ashlynn; Carolyn + Zach; Fenella + Matthew; Kelly, David + Madeline; Phil; Veronica; Vivynne + Tony

 

Highs and Lows of 20th Year - Part 1

Hard to believe that we’ve lived in Europe for 20 years as of November 22, 2025. Once again, the four of us weren’t together then, but were reunited for another Christmas in London. We reflected on our year on December 29 at a Vietnamese restaurant called Sprigs. As usual, here are our lows first:

• Political situations
• Climate change
• Ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine
• Immigration rhetoric from Labour Party
• Missing Kati
• Jimmy: drama at work distracts from the mission; manager leaving; spending six months of coding to rebuild  Harrier Central due to tech changes; running injuries at end of year
• Melissa: continued lack of discipline to update this blog; Georgia passing away; missing a Eurostar journey due to own stupidity; receiving call from a crying Veronica; missing King’s Day festivities in Holland due to catching Covid 
• Jimmy + Melissa: finding mice in our flat; lack of communication from Brett
• Veronica + Ashlynn: too long since visiting Holland
• Veronica: having her heart broken; Leah leaving Exeter; endless transcription of interviews with farmers; feeling a bit lost about food post her epic cycle ride; UK higher education system in decline
• Ashlynn: drama from middle-aged white men in the music scene; having to move from her nice flat in Glasgow; ongoing Ciaran drama; visa stresses; ongoing health issues with medications not working; tour in Japan cancelled; jobs in her field requiring a driver’s license; data hiccups for thesis; bickering of new roommates

Highs and Lows of 19th Year - Part 2

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows. Much of this list again focuses around traveling, our favorite thing to do:

• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: Belgium - Belgian Nash Hash in Ardennes, Higgin’s 60th Birthday Hash Weekend in Brussels; Canterbury - City H3 Hash Weekend, Opee hosting cocktail party and laying amazing hash trail; Cornwall - seeing Veronica graduate in Truro Cathedral, hearing her interviewed on BBC Cornwall Radio; Germany- crazy New Year’s Eve in Berlin, Opee haring Berlin H3 New Year’s Hash, craft beer bar tours, transforming into a sexy mermaid in Hamburg for Interscandi; Netherlands - finally getting our Dutch visa status sorted, fantastic museums, Reinhardt + Inga’s 40th Birthday Hash Weekend, staying with Terri; Portugal - long walks around Porto, DIVA Bubbly Hash Weekend in Coimbra, Opee haring in yet another country; Shetland - Simmer Dim Hash Weekend on summer solstice; US - great time catching up with family and friends in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, celebrating Buddy’s 85th birthday
• Jimmy Travel: Brussels - finding an affordable hotel with a spa near headquarters; Florida - first Thanksgiving with Buddy and Deb in over 30 years; Wales - Lovetrails, first music and running festival, 27K trail run was most intense run of his life (even harder than a marathon)
• Melissa Travel: England - visiting Veronica in Exeter and Carlin in Winchester, hiking holiday with Camilla in Shropshire; Scotland - visiting Ashlynn in Glasgow and Gillian in Edinburgh
• Family Travel: Croatia - fun hash cruise to lots of new destinations, waterfall and waterpark trails, good food, sea organ, photo ops, wild swimming
• Veronica Travel: Croatia - slow travel by train to family holiday included overnights in Munich and Vienna; England - cozy shepherd’s hut for New Year’s, five-star hotel in Newquay to celebrate Brett submitting his PhD thesis, Oxford, seeing old BSN friends Ellie and Fiona in Bolton, lambing at Dreda’s farm, E+S Retreat in Falmouth, visiting Peak District and Brighton with UEA friends, many trips to London, cycling to Penryn with Brett, graduation ceremony in Truro, exploring new parts of Devon on hikes and cycling trips, camping with Annabel in North Devon; Germany - visiting Brett in Hamburg, 100K cycle ride and bike camping using a Swapfiets (rental bike); Holland - summer school in Utrecht; Paris - visiting Brett, celebrating 5th anniversary, Disneyland Paris; Scotland - meeting up with Ashlynn in Glasgow during visit with David and Tamsin in Aberdeen, seeing the king 
• Ashlynn Travel: Berlin - visiting Soso and Nick; DJ on Tour - London, Perugia (Italy), Rome, Rotterdam, The Hague, Warsaw, Zurich; French Polynesian Islands - staying on same island as parent’s honeymoon, scuba diving with dolphins and sharks on 24th birthday, hiking, snorkeling, running, rooftop bar; London - Soso coming along, watching parents dancing at gig; Split - mini-romantic getaway with Felix
• Melissa/Veronica Travel: Bath - Christmas Market; Bristol - Clifton Suspension Bridge; Devon - South West Coast Path hike
• Veronica/Ashlynn Travel: Croatia - afternoon in Zagreb; London - swim at ladies’ pool at Hampstead Heath lake, dog café, cycle ride on Christmas; Slovenia - hiking around Lake Bled and Vintgar Gorge
• Family: seeing Wicked together both on West End and on the big screen; setting up our love tree and celebrating Christmas together in our own home in matching PJs
• Jimmy/Melissa: moving into our dream flat on the Thames, which is very entertaining; happy to see girls more now that we live on the same island; going to two of Ashlynn’s gigs; Sally and John moving just two hours away; London theater; hashing
• Jimmy: used to dream of living in Manhattan for two years, but now never wants to leave London; fun going off-piste when speaking at conferences; first London Gay Pride and going to gay bars with friends; doing a sub 8-minute per mile half marathon; listening to Ashlynn playing live on the radio while hashing; City H3 = spirited running, London H3 = tranquility; having the time to work on Harrier Central again 
• Melissa: finally feeling settled, meeting another American trailing spouse in our building, art exhibits, receiving an incredible photobook from Terri and getting to meet up with her several times in London including when she and Max joined for Opee’s Halloween hash trail, Ashlynn surprising me for my birthday; interesting plays and walking tours with AWC London
• Veronica: being surrounded by supportive people for my fieldwork trip (family, supervisors, research group, Brett); good friends at uni; nice house and not having to move this year; trying new creative endeavors; seeing lots of shows; passing my upgrade; seeing flaming tar barrels on Guy Fawkes Night; Lindsey Stirling concert; Sustrans and live radio interviews; Coves to Cliffs; nude photo shoots; organizing a collage session for department; successful funding bid to organize conference; aerial classes; watching Bake Off with friends
• Ashlynn: proud to raise funds for trip to Tahiti and be featured in diving magazine; lots of great music experiences, learning how to make music, playing back-to-back with numerous favorite producers, being asked to co-run favorite label and starting a new label, lovely people met on tour, fun weekends with touring artists in Glasgow; Nick visiting; running fastest 5K since 13 years old; amazing flatmates, carving pumpkins, Christmas dinner; Tami, new best friend; first time living in Glasgow and not working in hospitality; Kelburn Festival; Halloween party
• Visitor count way up since moving to London: Ashlynn, Brett, Carolyn + Mike, Georgia, Gerlof + Floris, Holly + Drake, Jim, Johanna, Leah, Lisa + Mark, Matthew, Sally + John, Silke, Soso, Tim + Angel, Veronica  

 

Highs and Lows of 19th Year - Part 1

Hard to believe that we’ve lived in Europe for 19 years as of November 22, 2024. Once again, the four of us weren’t together then, but were reunited for our first Christmas in London. We reflected on our year on Boxing Day (December 26) at a restaurant with quite a silly name: Mr. Lasagna. As usual, here are our lows first:

• Ashlynn generally not feeling like her old self
• Buddy’s “ball gladder” scare
• Global election results moving far-right
• Climate change
• Ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine
• Continued issues with visas and passports
• Being stuck in the lift for two hours
• Jimmy: less than positive experiences at the start of the year at work; feeling more sluggish than one year ago; Jim leaving Europe; Harrier Central concurrency issue hard to solve; cracked ribs from fall on trail in Croatia
• Melissa: suspected hairline fracture of arm from fall on trail in Croatia; lack of discipline to update this blog; dealing with a 14-year-old TV; Carlin and Kent moving out of England
• Jimmy + Melissa: cranky downstairs neighbor; not being allowed to light Hanukkah candles in our flat due to strict no flames rule; still too many boxes after unpacking
• Veronica: having to remove 10 ticks on a single day; Brett moving away again; struggle to find funding for PhD fieldwork; huge increase in cost for website hosting Coves to Cliffs blog; watching both the Netherlands and England lose in Euro 2024; downfall of Twitter; missing aerial convention
• Ashlynn: wake-up call to academic life; CRIOBE shitshow and lack of supervision in Moorea; toxic relationship; being sexually harassed by close friend in Moorea; sea snails dying which messed up data collection; not feeling well enough to work as a bartender; lack of help from doctors and therapists; social life going downhill; suffering from staph and strep at the same time

 

High and Lows of 18th Year - Part 2...

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows. Much of this list again focuses around traveling, our favorite thing to do:

• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: Ardennes - Belgian Nash Hash, Melissa’s first midnight naked run; Brussels - celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary at a seafood restaurant and rooftop bar; Cornwall - helping Veronica move to Exeter; Frankfurt - German Nash Hash, hashing along beautiful trails through the vineyards along the Rhine River; Littlehampton - first British hash away weekend, amazing trail in Arundel; Milan - amazing spa amongst ruins; Netherlands - Eurohash at the castle, pleased to be able to help, Red Dress Hash in nearby Baarlo with lots of community support; South of France - Terri’s incredible 60th birthday party
• Jimmy Travel: Cornwall - sunny day in Falmouth visiting Veronica; Frankfurt - surreal to be DJing in a bar overlooking the Rhine where 40 years earlier he had been on a boat with his sister
• Melissa Travel: Cornwall - extra long hike on the South West Coast Path with Veronica; Milan - nice hike at Lake Como, amazing exhibit at Pirelli Museum; Winchester - Christmas Market with Carlin
• Family Travel: Northern Ireland - hiking on the Causeway Coast, Bushmill Distillery Tour, Giant’s Causeway with prohibited swim, great Thai food, Titanic Museum, arcade in Portrush, Red Dress Hash in Belfast (photo above)
• Veronica Travel: Aberdeen - Visiting David and Tamsin in their new house; California - epic photography-focused road trip with Brett through Death Valley and Sierras, Thanksgiving with Brett’s family, seeing family in Bay Area, Mitchell and Leslie’s wedding, celebrating four-year anniversary in Mammoth; France - fun times with Brett in Paris and Lyon; London - visiting Mommy and Daddy, seeing Moulin Rouge and Hamilton; Netherlands - being with Kati, moving the metal table off the balcony, introducing Brett to how the Dutch celebrate New Year’s, Castle de Haar; Norwich - Peter and Bekkah’s wedding, visiting UEA for the first time since graduation in 2019
• Ashlynn Travel: Berlin - visiting Bjarne and Soso; Bulgaria - amazing solo travel after mediocre festival; Cornwall - visiting Veronica, seal sanctuary, swimming in a tide pool and camping; Istanbul - Bilge showing us around his hometown; London - with Sophie, Ely and Ciaran; Scotland - camping and surfing, snowy cottage getaway with James
• Jimmy/Ashlynn Travel: Portrush - paddle boarding into a cave
• Jimmy/Veronica Travel: Cornwall - hashed with Truro H3 following by insane Sunday roast
• Melissa/Ashlynn Travel: The Hague - having a drink at the Boardwalk Hotel in Scheveningen, where we first stayed when we moved to the Netherlands
• Jimmy/Melissa: Good fortune of friends helping with our move (lifting boxes and furniture, loaning a car, cleaning our bathroom); Hashes coming to our rescue in Brussels (while commuting) and in London (while living out of suitcases); moving to London; subletting from Andrew, whom we met in 2006 when he was just six years old; getting a permanent job with workable pay; hashing three times a week in London; finding a dream flat; being on the same island as the girls and knowing we’ll see them more often
• Jimmy: when you go through a stressful time, it can pull a couple apart or it can pull a couple together and realizing that it’s made us even closer; DJing at the underground pub at Eurohash; after 25 years of back problems, finding a stretch that resets his back
• Melissa: creating an inventory for The Hague Hash Museum; enjoyed long walks across London; many cool art exhibits in London and Rotterdam
• Veronica: moving in with Brett in Exeter; starting a PhD; good friends in Penryn and Exeter; trying new disciplines at the Aerial Convention; lots of camping and hiking on the South West Coast Path; Tunes in the Dunes Festival; seeing Twelfth Night at Minack Theatre; getting stronger due to working out, bouldering and aerial; life drawing, sculpting and modeling; nude photo shoots; beach fire pit; Brett’s birthday dinner in a castle; first gallery display of my photography; lots of live theatre; graduating from master’s with a Distinction; sea swimming with friends
• Ashlynn: meeting Ciaran; Kelburn Festival with Ciaran and friends; Ciaran’s surprise tickets for Dog Lover’s Show; Iris, the puppy; bartending at the Old Hairdressers; DJ career taking off including Co-Clear DJ gig and DJing back-to-back with Ciaran at Nice & Sleazy; accepted into master’s program plus getting grant funding for my research; family atmosphere in my flat; ran 32K Ballbreaker Hash in Belfast and going to a club afterwards with Hashers; graduating with a First Class Bachelor’s degree
• Melissa/Veronica/Jimmy: visiting the Tate, incredible immersive 1984 play in Hackney Town Hall, Halloween Hash in Hampstead Heath
• Visitors in Voorschoten: Alan, Ashlynn, Brett, Simon, Veronica
• Visitors in London: Ashlynn, Brett, Jim, Veronica

Highs and Lows of 18th Year - Part 1...

My apologies once again for the lack of posts. Not only have we been moving around a lot until just recently, we still don’t have proper WiFi in our new flat. So, I’m once again going to take a big jump ahead in our timeline and will start with our Highs and Lows of 2023 and then pick up our story in January 2024...

Hard to believe that we’ve lived in Europe for 18 years as of November 22, 2023. Once again, the four of us weren’t together then, but were reunited for Christmas, this time in Glasgow, and have decided to change the timescale of our annual highs/lows to the calendar year instead. Usually we make our list while enjoying a meal at a restaurant, but we reflected on 2023 after our Christmas dinner at Ashlynn’s flat before heading to a family gathering with her Scottish boyfriend. As usual, here are our lows first:

• Saying goodbye to Kati and the Netherlands
• Climate change
• Train strikes
• UK visa stress and cost for all four of us
• Israel/Palestine Conflict
• T*%@p running for dictator
• COVID disrupting Melissa’s 60th birthday celebration
• Broken down ferry transporting us to Scotland from Ireland
• Missing Jimmy and Chloe’s wedding in Jacksonville
• Attacked by millions of flying ants on hike in Ireland
• Jimmy: disappointment in Port XL Program; disastrous DJ set at Imperial College starting too early for dancing; winge-y City H3 hashers whining about how he lays trail
• Melissa: tough adjusting from a Dutch village of 25,000 to the insanity of London; living in a dollhouse for 1.5 months; everything’s just a little bit harder in London; deafening noise in the Tube; having to step down as Religious Advisor for the FILTH; missing BMPH3 Christmas Party Weekend
• Veronica: having to leave Penryn; unfulfilling master’s degree and emotional rollercoaster of doing a second master’s dissertation; long distance relationship with Brett and the realization that being apart could last for years; flat tire and difficulty finding vegan food in California; constant sewage alerts in the sea; stress house hunting in Exeter; difficult conversations about the future; experiencing US Black Friday
• Ashlynn: Missing Iris, the dog; dream hospitality job shut down; academic strike causing long delay in getting grades; breaking up with James; missing Sophie; not exercising good work/life balance; marine biology imposter syndrome; no chance to scuba dive
• Jimmy/Melissa; moving chaos; living out of suitcases; Victorian plumbing; saying farewell to the FILTH Hash

Highs and Lows in 17th Year - Part 2...

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows. Much of this list again focuses around traveling, our favorite thing to do:

• Jimmy/Melissa/Veronica Travel: Drenthe - took lots of hikes when Brett and Kati joined us for a stay in a lakefront chalet with a hot tub; driving across the Afsluitdijk, a major dam and causeway; Liege - the Zombie Hash was once again a weekend event and included running through an abandoned train repair depot and dancing on the hostel’s rooftop terrace
• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: Ardennes - Belgian Nash Hash; Germany - Red Dress Hash in Stuttgart followed by German Nash Hash in a proper medieval castle; Glasgow - finally getting to visit Ashlynn and see her flat and university as well as see her bartend and DJ at BAaD; Slovenia - stayed at a spa hotel at first DIVA Hash Weekend featuring bubbly rather than beer; Tallinn - first Interscandi Hash Weekend; Zagreb - great time meeting up with hashers while exploring Croatia’s capital with Reinhardt and Inga
• Jimmy/Veronica Travel: Liege - scouting trail for Zombie Hash during August heatwave
• Melissa/Veronica Travel: Paris - Opera House, National Archives, good hostel experience; meeting Brett’s mom
• Jimmy Travel: Liege - first, and definitely not last, Beer Marathon; London - awesome run on King’s Day
• Melissa Travel: Edinburgh - finally getting to visit Gillian, who moved back to Scotland in August 2019; so great to get to catch up with lots of walking and talking; Falmouth - seeing Veronica’s new house; visiting St. Michael’s Mount; first hike on the South West Coast Path; two-person play in an intimate bar; London - exploring my third National Trust Site within two weeks with Camilla; Winchester - visiting Carlin and Kent; lots of long walks; watching Queen Elizabeth’s funeral from Winchester Cathedral
• Veronica Travel: Exeter - visiting Brett over Easter; camping on Dartmoor; taking Brett to an aerial class; hiking on South West Coast Path; parading around Exeter in graduation gowns despite skipping the ceremony; visiting Dreda and agricultural show; spending a night with Andrew in London; Interrailing- sunrise in Menton; snow on mountains in Innsbruck; hiking in the Calanques of Marseille; Texel - bikepacking trip with Brett; Paris - meeting up with Brett in Roscoff and later exploring Paris together; eating lots of baguettes and pastries; many long walks
• Ashlynn Travel: Berlin - visiting Sarah and seeing Bjarne; London - staying with Sophie; going to Brighton for New Year’s Eve; Thailand - Bottle Beach hike; Chaloklum, Chalok Bar; night scuba diving; matching tattoos; learning how to ride a scooter; drupella, a coral-eating snail; Thai food; doing science she enjoyed; sunshine and being outside all the time; meeting Mia and James; 10 days of fun diving; barefoot lifestyle; bioluminescence; out of body barracuda experience
• VACCINES!
• Being together for the first Christmas since 2018 
• Ashlynn surprising Veronica for her 25th birthday
• Family dinner at Aloha in Rotterdam to celebrate Veronica being awarded funding for a second master’s and PhD in UK
• Dance parties
• Bootjuh: fun rides with Andreas and Gina, Brett and Paul, Anna and Theo, Matthew and Sanne, and for FILTH 200th
• Jimmy/Melissa: FILTH H3 200th Hash Weekend was a big success; Opee’s Carnival Hash trail in Tilburg followed by crashing a house party; Rotterdam Rooftop Days; adding Dark Side of the Moon trails to the FILTH
• Jimmy: “It’s been a tough year, but the family is my fortress”; happy that Melissa and Phil have become good friends; DJing German Nash Hash from 11 p.m. until 4 a.m.; PortXL was fun; not getting the NATO job; nice overnight visit by Brett while Veronica and Melissa were away
• Melissa: long walks with Terri and Sally; lots of great art exhibits; Terri joining us for Gay Pride
• Veronica: growing her business and making money; getting accepted to a PhD program; moving to Falmouth; starting second master’s degree; first presention at academic conference; wild swimming; first solo camping; restarting aerial classes; meeting new friends; roller disco; meeting Saffron, her PhD Supervisor, and the PhD girls (other students she supervises); shooting film; writing Coves to Cliffs blog; David helping her move to Falmouth; volunteering at community farm; bioluminescence; volunteering at ESOF Science Festival in Leiden; Brett visiting Holland multiple times  
• Jimmy/Veronica: being part of Sleeping Beauty, the Pantomine; dance party after the panto 
• Melissa/Veronica: King’s Day and Trevor Noah Live in Amsterdam; cycling to the puzzle store; seeing a lamb being born; many farm visits to see lambs and piglets
• Jimmy/Melissa/Veronica: Floriade, the giant horticultural show; Castle De Haar near Utrecht; relief that when we finally did get COVID, it was mild; Jimmy haring Gay Pride Hash and finding the best spot to watch the Gay Canal Parade; tour of Noordeinde Palais, the main Dutch working castle, and dancing in the ballroom
• Ashlynn: Knockengorroch Festival; End of the Road Festival; hosting Slow Foam on Subcity plus lots of Subcity events; camping trip; visiting James in Leeds; hosting dinner parties; passing all of the Dutch residency exams; visits from Sophie, Soso and Bjarne
• Jimmy/Veronica/Ashlynn: Walibi World, an amusement park
• Veronica/Ashlynn: skinny dipping at Vlietland on Veronica’s 25th birthday
• Visitors: Theresa and Kevin finally visiting; Phil and Brett being in town for the panto; hosting hashers for Gay Pride and FILTH 200th

Happy New Year! Here’s hoping 2023 is full of many highs!

 

Highs and Lows of 17th Year - Part 1...

Can you believe that we’ve lived in the Netherlands for 17 years as of November 22? Once again, the four of us weren’t together then, but were reunited for Christmas. Ashlynn requested that we eat at Oudt Leyden, our favorite pannenkoekenhuis (Dutch pancake house) and Veronica suggested that we reflect on our Highs and Lows there on December 28. As usual, here are our lows first:

• The sting from the loss of our extended family
• Putin attacking the Ukraine causing global inflation
• Train strikes messing up travel
• Climate change!
• Roe v Wade being reversed
• Disappointed in the Democratic party
• Continued incompetency of British government
• Cold homes
• Wordpress
• Jimmy: repeatedly hearing how great his business idea is but no one is willing to pay for it; running injuries; having to walk a hash instead of running the ballbreaker; slow uptake for Harrier Central; misses going to the spa; poor scheduling of Zombie Hash which resulted in no zombies participating; not being able to help Veronica move; missing King’s Day
• Melissa: saying farewell to Going Dutch, essentially killing the magazine since no one was willing to take it over; lack of financial stability; uncertainty surrounding staying in Holland; having to fight my way upstream to get to Jimmy on crowded German train; losing public transport card during hash 
• Veronica: downfall of Twitter because of irrational Musk; film camera breaking during Interrail trip; van breaking down on the highway on the way to graduation; Lake Como tourist chaos; jellyfish sting; COVID-stress  before the panto and then getting COVID after the panto; missing Brett; suboptimal food environment in Falmouth since it’s in the middle of nowhere; closing my business and stopping working due to UK student visa requirements; Ashlynn not being able to come to panto
• Ashlynn: BAaD falling apart severing her work family; leaving Thailand; continued Bilge drama; missing Sophie; infections; Mia living so far away; Stereo Club Night shitshow; Cameron; last nights in Bangkok; living someplace where the sun sets at 3 p.m. 
• Melissa/Jimmy: meeting a very fun American couple that lives around the corner, but go to sleep by 9 p.m.; being given notice that we have to vacate our rental house by July 2023
• Veronica/Ashlynn: visa stress; RStudio

Highs and Lows of 16th Year - Part 2...

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows. Much of this list again focuses around traveling since we all managed to have some adventures this year:

• Jimmy/Melissa/Veronica Travel: Ardennes - the Zombie Hash expanded to a weekend event and included running through an incredible abandoned sanitarium
• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: Ardennes - attended the BMPH3 Replacement Christmas Party Weekend with fun trails and an amazing party DJed by Opee; Berlin - Cold War bunker tour; meeting up with Bjarne; Prague - great seeing hash friends from around the world for the first time during the pandemic; hike around Cesky Raj; Svijany Brewery tour; hashing across Charles Bridge in red dress; patternoster (coolest and most dangerous) elevator; rooftop terraces; Vienna - celebrating Melissa’s 58th birthday
• Jimmy Travel: London - meeting up with Brett; Borough Market; hashing near Camden
• Melissa Travel: US - two productive weeks of helping Ann after losing Dad; spending time with sisters and Dad’s best friends; afternoon with Darlene and Mike
• Veronica/Ashlynn Travel: California - cocktails with Grandma; driving lessons with Brett; seeing Auntie Eden, Auntie Leigh, Monique and Sarah; getting to know Cousin Nick; exploring San Francisco; Exeter - being together for Christmas, especially important so soon after Ashlynn’s breakup; fashion photoshoot; Dartmoor and other Devon hikes; spontaneous New Year’s celebration with Exeter neighbors; Glasgow - COP26 Green Zone; life drawing session; lockdown embroidery projects
• Veronica Travel: Arizona - staying with Rachel, a childhood friend from North Carolina, in Tempe; hiking in the mountains; California - spending time with Brett’s family in San Diego; meeting Siena, and scuba diving and tidepooling with her; seeing places Mommy and Daddy went when they lived in San Diego including hashing with San Diego H3; 4th of July on the Bay (felt very pre-COVID); amazing epic road trip with four camping trips in the Sierras; wild swimming in Alpine lakes; daytrip to Mexico; meeting Brett’s friends at Nick and Meghan’s wedding; Exeter - spending weekend at Dreda’s farm and meeting Veronica, the cow; hikes on the South West Coast Path, camping in Devon; Scotland - visiting Edinburgh and seeing Sam; hiking with David and meeting Tamsin; meeting Ashlynn’s friends
• Ashlynn Travel: Germany - Berlin and Luneburg with Soso; celebrating 21st birthday with Soso and her flatmates; Namibia - spending so much time out on the water and with Heaviside dolphins and lots of humpback whales; morning runs with Antonia; so many flamingos; witnessing a NGO detangle seals from plastic; being involved in a successful humpback stranding; most amazing hike up Spitzkoppe; rooftop tent camping with Antonia; game drives in Etosha National Park; spending time with lions at sunset; watering hole at night; UK - surprising Sophie for her 21st birthday in London; daytrips and hikes in Edinburgh with friends; Edinburgh Fringe
• VACCINES!
• Dance parties: virtual, of course, and international; being together for King’s Night; extra special because Jimmy, Ashlynn and Veronica all DJed
• Bootjuh: new floor, taking Kati out with us; discovering new canals; good social-distanced fun with friends
• Airfryer: not a waste of money after all
• Jimmy/Melissa: Christmas dinner with Sally and John; New Year’s Eve with Carlin, Kent and Mark; Beery Christmas Advent Calendar; Untapped app; transforming into beer snobs; 28th wedding anniversary dinner in Naarden with Ashlynn and Carlin; photographing Celine and Richard’s wedding; helping with demolition at Reinhardt and Inga’s new house
• Jimmy: happy to run a trail marathon with no pain; super happy to be involved with WorldStartUp / Impact City with Climate Action Center; finally found his tribe; launching Harrier Central; haring Eurohash Ballbreaker in Prague which was both the best run and worst run at different moments; best co-haring team on Eurohash Trail 11; leading half of the pack by accident onto private property
• Melissa: long walks with Terri, Carlin and Sally; awesome urban art walks in Rotterdam and Utrecht; grand opening of Art Depot; cool exhibits at Kunsthal; becoming Customer Service and Brand Manager for Harrier Central
• Jimmy/Veronica: visiting Keukenhof Gardens with limited crowds; playing with Hasselblad
• Veronica: volunteering at Floating Farm and Invisible Foods; self-portraiture; writing Coves to Cliffs blog; starting Impact Communications, a consultancy firm; not having to move back alone to the US in the middle of the pandemic; being in love and living together; scrapbooking and creating first zine (self-published magazine); learning how to make film contact prints; wild swimming; panto rehearsals
• Ashlynn: COVID-19 lockdown with Clifton House flatmates—like a family; good times with Bilge; Citron, the racing bike; running in Glasgow; Kelvingrove snow; River Kelvin; Subcity Radio community; live music gigs in Glasgow; bartending and hanging out with friends from BAaD; field trips; cool dissections; new flat with Ellie; being an adult, living an adult life; going to the pub; studying at the Learning Hub; solo hikes; Guy Fawkes Day with friends at Necropolis; nice cinema dates; getting accepted to University of Glasgow’s Thailand Expedition in June 2022; community dinners with Char; hosting Sophie for one week and Soso for two weeks; DJing the Freshers Fair
• Visitors: Steve and Tim, our only intercontinental visitors, each for two nights after Eurohash; Carlin stayed with us for close to one month while waiting for her UK visa

Happy New Year! Stay Safe!

Highs and Lows of 16th Year - Part 1...

It’s hard to believe that we’ve lived in the Netherlands for 16 years as of November 22! Once again, the four of us weren’t together. Nor could we follow our tradition of eating at La Lanterna in Scheveningen where we ate on our first night all those years ago, because restaurants nationwide were closed by the time Ashlynn arrived home for the holidays. Instead we made the list of our highs and lows over the last year while eating a homemade Italian meal on December 22. As usual, here are our lows first:

• Not getting to see Grandpa one more time; losing Grandpa and extended family
• Continued hassles of COVID: Ashlynn getting COVID and having to self-isolate for two weeks; Americans being blocked from entering the Netherlands caused extra visa stress and expense; Veronica’s graduation ceremony for her master’s degree and Frozen, The Musical in London being cancelled; Ashlynn’s field trips being cut short
• Travelling during COVID: missing spending Christmas together; constantly changing mask and testing rules as well as costs; Namibia going RED leading to Ashlynn's return flight to be cancelled and Melissa having to spend two days trying to get her home; too complicated to visit Ashlynn in Glasgow or Veronica while she was living in a lovenest with Brett in Exeter; no family trip to Prague; stress of getting US vaccinations accepted into Dutch CoronaPass app
• January 6 domestic terrorist attack on the US Capitol: witnessing potential fall of American democracy
• Incompetency of British government
• Jimmy: high level of drama with major customer but too much commitment to walk away; computer dying; broken Hasselblad with costly repair; breaking finger while working on Bootjuh’s floor
• Melissa: not being able to visit Gillian; Carlin moving away
• Veronica: crashing drone; injured wrist; lack of respect (and response) from PhD programs and job applications; overwhelming climate anxiety; having to spend two weeks in Exeter flat alone; ending up in a long-distance relationship; missing aerial class; unpublished work due to “busy” academics; scary encounter with cows while camping
• Ashlynn: first (and hopefully last) heartbreak; breaking up one day after quarantine ended and then having an exam the next day; insomnia; Bilge drama; realizing the world is shit and science industry is disappointing; continuing problems with head: headaches and disassociation; dating useless men
• Melissa/Jimmy: hash weekends in Belgium and Slovenia being postponed yet again; major drama with Amsterdam H3; German train strike; grim dorm in Prague for Eurohash
• Veronica/Ashlynn: dreaded Dartmoor hike with an iPhone and running shoe lost

Highs and Lows of 15th Year - Part 2

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows. Perhaps it’s not a surprise that unlike past years, much of this list does not focus around traveling:

• Jimmy/Melissa/Veronica Travel: Holland - Veronica thought it would be too sad to celebrate Christmas 2019 at home without Ashlynn, so we rented a cottage near a national park and brought Kati along; Paris - introduced Brett to the hash cult with a fantastic three-night stay for Paris 1000th Hash Weekend in early March just before all the lockdowns
• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: Brussels - attended our first BMPH3 Christmas Party Weekend with great trails and an amazing party; Holland - explored a near empty Amsterdam on a two-night stay; Switzerland - wonderful five-night stay with Jim and Nina with lots of hiking followed by one-night stay in Basel
• Jimmy Travel: US - good meetings before the rush to escape before the travel bans were enforced
• Veronica Travel: Holland - cycling with Brett to Amsterdam for a two-night stay, sunrise at Museumplein; UK - Expedition Society trips to Cheddar and Wales; exploring Southwest Coast Path, Exmoor and Dartmoor with Brett
• Ashlynn Travel: Cairns - Tropic Days Hostel, camping, volunteering at Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, diving on the Great Barrier Reef, exploring Queensland; Czech Republic - hiking in Velka Amerika, exploring Prague; Germany - visiting Bjarne and Soso in Berlin, going to the Baltic Sea; Vietnam - loved Ho Chi Minh City, fantastic food, friendly people
• The White House Commune: brought two unknown boys into our house and it all worked; King's Night disco; outdoor movies; family lockdown hashes; Cruesli; 120+ vegan dinners together; Lekker Lockdown Cookbook; boat rides
• Proud Parents: so happy that both girls have embraced being hashers and have not only hashed on their own, but have brought their boyfriends along; went on a double date with each girl for the first time; proud new owners of a floating bathtub; celebrating 2020 Election victory with our Dutch neighbors; dining twice in a glass greenhouse
• Jimmy: Zombie Hash Awarded the Best Trail of 2019 for BMPH3; multinational defense innovation is finally picking up; IT knowledge has expanded significantly so reinvigorating old skillsets; DJing at HUB Christmas 2019 party; managed to make Voorschoten interesting for hashing
• Melissa: working with Terri after becoming Editor of Going Dutch once again; honing my superpower—controlling the weather while hashing; Lockdown Puzzle Project with Veronica; video calls with long-lost friends; walking the dunes with friends and Kati; making up for my high carbon footprint last year by not flying once 
• Veronica: achieving a Distinction at University of Exeter; moving in with Brett, first in Holland and then in Exeter—living in a love bubble; “best way to influence a meat eater is to go on lockdown with him”; learning drops at aerial class; self-portrait photography project; learning to develop film; six-course meal at Riverford Farms; learning how to bake bread; setting a birthday hash in Exeter for non-hashing friends
• Ashlynn: working as a bartender and waitress on a tropical island paradise in the Great Barrier Reef; falling in love for the first time; Rummikub; playing on Adam’s radio; starting University of Glasgow with nice flatmates 
• Visitors: most of our planned visitors had to cancel, but we managed to host Jim several times from Switzerland; spent a fun day with Gillian visiting from Edinburgh

Happy Holidays! Stay Safe!

 

Reflections on our 15th Year - Part 1

It’s hard to believe that we’ve lived in the Netherlands for 15 years as of November 22! Once again, the four of us couldn’t be together. Nor could Jimmy and I even consider following our tradition of eating at La Laterna in Scheveningen where we ate on our first night all those years ago, because restaurants nationwide have been closed since mid-October. For the first time, we had a “virtual” dinner together. I made salmon lasagna for me and Jimmy, while Veronica made homemade pizza for her and Brett, and Ashlynn had frozen pizza (she had just arrived back in Glasgow). So we were able to make the list of our highs and lows over the last year together. As usual, here are our lows first:

• No idea when the four of us will be together again
• Having to cancel our family holiday to California for Grandpa’s 80th and his and Grandma’s 40th anniversary due to coronavirus
• Political train wreck in both the US and UK
• Anxiety over life uncertainty
• Continuing collapse of biodiversity, natural ecosystems and the climate that sustains us!
• Horrors of George Floyd's death amid systemic racism
• Jimmy: best analogy of work situation—juggling ever more balls but instead of catching them, still getting hit in the head; brand new iPhone11 being stolen in Paris; having to escape from the US due to COVID-19 before seeing Buddy and Debbie; cancellation of FEATS and panto
• Melissa: being so far away while Grandpa battles cancer and Leigh got divorced; inadvertently causing Brett to be named Moist Incest in Paris
• Veronica: two broken Nikons; academic burnout; not being able to see friends; missing aerial class
• Ashlynn: missing spending Christmas 2019 with our family; having to cut Vietnam trip early; having a long-distance relationship means having to say goodbye over and over; uni being 100% online; not being allowed to have visitors in residence hall
• Melissa/Jimmy: hash weekends in Holland, Belgium and Slovenia being cancelled; not getting to bring Ashlynn to University of Glasgow; cancellation of Election Breakfast; Jimmy working most weekends since April

Reflections on our 14th Year - Part 2...

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows. Perhaps no surprise that much of this focuses around traveling:

• Family Travel: French Alps - relaxing week in the snow, hot tub and sauna with Vivynne, Tony, Ariana and Max; Switzerland - quick stops at Jim and Nina’s in Geneva and Bill and Nina’s in Lucerne; Scotland - Fringe Festival, Edinburgh Red Dress Hash, Eurohash Cruise exceeded all expectations, dancing for hours, Ashlynn officially become a Ballbreaker, celebrating Veronica’s birthday in Glasgow
• Jimmy/Melissa/Veronica Travel: England - Veronica’s graduation at University of East Anglia, exploring her new city of Exeter, seeing Hamilton in London
• Melissa/Ashlynn Travel: Seoul - cocktails at the tallest building in Korea, holding a raccoon at a raccoon cafe; Melbourne - Penguin Parades, cheap sushi, feeding kangaroos; Sydney - Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk, hashing together twice, more sushi
• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: Manhattan - staying on Times Square; Belgium - Belgian Nash Hash and incredible Zombie Hash in Charleroi; Hannover - meeting up with Melissa and Pieter at German Nash Hash; London - Camilla’s 50th, trekking three days of the Thames Path with Carlin and Kent, Halloween Hash; Slovakia - exploring Banska Bystrica; Stockholm - staying in a hostel on an old boat, hashing
• Jimmy Travel: England - solo running trip in the Lakes District; US - meeting up with various Hash friends while on business trips in California and DC
• Melissa Travel: California - one visit to family on my own and another with Jimmy along for a few days, slumber parties with my sisters; Canberra - visiting Jane, seeing wild kangaroos, hiking, biking and snorkeling; Boston - Urban Art Museum, JFK Library and MIT with Sally, steamed lobster at the Boston Hash
• Veronica Travel: UK - camping in Lakes District and Devon, visiting David in Aberdeen and Ryan and Charlotte in Hastings, exploring Cornwall along the southwest coastal path, Sunburn Beach Ultimate in Bournemouth, exploring Bristol and Exmouth with Brett
• Ashlynn Travel: Cyprus - flown in for an editorial and fashion show; Seoul - hiking, hanging out at 6th Floor, DJing in front of friends, video shoot with friends for favorite streetwear company; Bali - scuba diving; Sydney - Manly, camping with new friends Soso and Riahn, half marathon, DJ course, photo shoots on the beach; Hong Kong - running into and hanging out with old BSN friends; Berlin - visiting Soso and going to MELT Festival together; Croatia - Dimensions Festival with Sophie; England - visiting Veronica in Norwich, London and Exeter, and Sophie in London; Cairns - Tropic Days Hostel, camping, volunteering at Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre 
• Proud Parents: watching Veronica graduate with a First from UEA; so happy that both girls have embraced being hashers and have hashed on their own
• Jimmy: proud of haring Gay Pride in Amsterdam and Zombie Hash, which ended in a cooling tower in Charleroi, Belgium and was the perfect way to celebrate 30 years of hashing (and has since been named the Best Trail of 2019 for BMPH3); still running at the front of the pack
• Melissa: finally seeing Carlin play the harp in a concert, hashing in nine countries, discovering my superpower—controlling the weather while hashing, and establishing date nights with Sally and John
• Veronica: achieving a First at UEA, Grad Ball with UEA friends, third place win at Women’s Indoor Nationals, learning to fly a drone and making some kick ass videos, experimenting further with self-portraiture, internship at Rubies in the Rubble in London and staying with Camilla and Ariana, volunteering at Food Cycle and at organic farms in Cornwall and Suffolk, starting aerial classes and taking a flying trapeze class, cooking for participants at Extinction Rebellion protest in London, successfully avoiding flying, starting a Master’s in Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture at Exeter, joining Expedition Society, first American boyfriend and introducing him to the Hash, meeting new vegan friends through Instagram, uni field trips to farms, veg boxes
• Ashlynn: embracing traveling alone as a backpacker, getting hired as a bartender and waitress on a tropical island paradise in the Great Barrier Reef, first boyfriend, Dekmantel with Sarah, ADE in Amsterdam, upgraded DJ deck
• Visitors: None of our visitors stayed for long, but we were happy to host Phil, Jim, Soso, and Stacie

Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Reflections on Our 14th Year - Part 1

Our 14th Anniversary of living in the Netherlands was on November 22, but for the first time Jimmy and I celebrated alone since the four of us might not be together again until summer. Thus we bypassed our tradition of eating at La Laterna in Scheveningen, because we couldn’t bear to eat there without the girls. We cheated and made the list of our highs and lows over the last year, and then coordinated with the girls on their sections. As usual, here are our lows first:

• No idea when the four of us will be together again
• Lack of time for family holidays
• Political train wreck in both the US and UK
• Jimmy: best analogy of work situation—juggling lots of balls but instead of catching them, getting hit in the head; losing iPhone into Amsterdam canal while trying to remove trash; cracked ribs after falling on Ballbreaker at Belgian Nash Hash; getting lost on Red Dress Hash in Edinburgh
• Melissa: nightmare paperwork necessary for Dutch visa extension; Gillian moving to Scotland and Kati losing her boyfriend; forgetting to get an Australian visa before going to airport; food poisoning in Seoul
• Veronica: leaving Norwich, Aye-Aye and Jason; continuing collapse of biodiversity, natural ecosystems and the climate that sustains us!; Ashlynn opting not to go to uni in Plymouth so they could practically be neighbors; missing Kati after being away from home for eight months
• Ashlynn: pinched nerve in neck; problems with Chinese modeling agency was a sad way to end a fun year of modeling; broken laptop; lack of vegan options in Seoul
• Melissa/Jimmy: Steve and Patti moving back to the US, post-travel weight gain
• Veronica/Ashlynn: first multi-day festival together was cancelled

Reflections on our 13th Year - Part 2...

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows, which is also why it took me so much longer to post:

• Family Travel: Luxembourg - Jimmy was pleased to break 4 hours at 52 years old at his first nighttime marathon, Veronica was thrilled to complete her first half marathon and Ashlynn enjoyed the runner’s high, we all fell asleep at a movie at the contemporary art museum and became performance art ourselves; Madeira - family hike at the levadas for 25th wedding anniversary, swimming with dolphins (Ashlynn became a dolphin!), cooking on the rooftop, diving, stargazing and lunar eclipse; Lisbon - cool art, architecture and technology museum with climate change exhibit, street art, renovated factory complex, power plant museum
• Veronica/Ashlynn Travel: California - seeing Grandpa and Grandma, sleepover with Auntie Eden, hike and pizza night with Auntie Leigh and Uncle Mike, Grandpa performing at the San Jose Jazz Festival, exploring San Francisco, hip-hop dance class, brunch with the gals; London - meeting up with Ariana, seeing Phantom of the Opera
• Jimmy/Veronica Travel: London - Greenwich, seeing Book of Mormon, shuffleboard, mini-golf, London City Hash
• Melissa/Ashlynn Travel: England - uni tours at Southampton, Plymouth and Fallmouth, staying with Andrew and Sally in Bath, staying with Veronica in West London, Kew Gardens, successfully surprising Ashlynn when taking her to see The Lion King; Paris - very cool to visit Ashlynn while she was staying in Paris for a month, awesome light show at Paris’ first digital fine art museum; Athens - so much fun exploring Athens with Ashlynn while she was “on stay” for six weeks
• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: Belgium - another great Belgium Nash Hash Weekend, beerbuster costumes; Warsaw - Ola and Nick’s White Trash Fairytale Wedding from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m., Jewish Ghetto Walking Tour, watching World Cup along the river; St. Tropez - Chris’ 60th birthday party, Kube Hotel pool, more World Cup; Lakes District - training hikes to Helvellyn and Scafell Pike for Melissa and fell running for Jimmy
• Jimmy Travel: US - seeing old friends and the VU Student Television Studios at Vanderbilt Reunion in Nashville, family time with Buddy, Debbie and Johnny, spending time in Manhattan with Peter; Athens - black tie event with posh guys and arm candy ladies, glad that Ashlynn got back from Cyprus in time to have lunch together; Berlin - amazing spa and modern art museum
• Melissa Travel: Brussels - fun weekend with hash friends going to museums, dancing on tables and hashing; Germany - visiting Melissa and Pieter, street fair, Hash-a-thon camping weekend, surviving 40K trail; Nepal - slow as hell but very proud of successfully trekking round trip to Everest Base Camp, fascinating cultural tour of Kathmandu 
• Veronica Travel: Cornwall - Eden Project and Lost Gardens of Heligan; Spain - field course in Almeria, visiting the greenhouses which helped shape interest in food security to concentrate on for her Master’s Degree; Scotland - surprising Lois for her birthday
• Ashlynn Travel: Lisbon - first solo trip, stayed in a hostel alone, Brunch Electronik, aquarium; Kavos - dancing, ocean, swimming, secret beach; Germany - MELT Festival were the four best days, swimming in the lake, Palms Trax’s sunrise set, DJ Boring B2B DJ Haus; Berlin - zoo, lovely time exploring with Sarah, Suicide Circus until 10:30 a.m.; Paris - sweet cocoon studio apartment, exploring on foot and bike, dinners with Tamar, movie night with Alyssa, separate visits of Melissa and Sophie, picnic on the Seine, dinner at apartment with most amazing view of Eiffel Tower; Netherlands - visiting Max in Groningen; Athens - souvlaki, DJ friends, nights out with Ace Models, fun shoots in a carpet store and a bar, hiking the hills, Melissa and Sophie visiting separately; Cyprus - first time flown and put up in a fancy hotel for a job, cool editorial shoot at a villa, going straight to the airport from a club; Norwich - visiting Veronica, LCR, Ultimate Frisbee training, cooking together
• Visitors: Melissa, Pieter and Norah visited several times before moving back to the US including joining us for several hashes and King’s Day in Amsterdam; it was great to get to show my sister Leigh and her husband Mike around Holland for the first time; it was also great to see Darlene and Mike back in The Hague for several days; taking Phil on our famous Rotterdam tour including the best secret bar
• Happy that Veronica was willing to don a red dress on her 21st birthday for AH3 Red Dress Hash that was hared by Jimmy
• Proud Parents: Ashlynn kicked-ass on her A-Level exams and is heading to Plymouth University in September 2019 
• Jimmy: “winning” a NATO Innovation Award and going to Berlin to “present” the solution, hosting several cocktail parties including one for Ashlynn, haring another successful hash at Schiphol, Bonfire Beach Festival, making a 360° Christmas video in Breda, ice skating on Amsterdam canals
• Melissa: starting separate photography Instagram account, Amsterdam Urban Run, training walks with Terri and Carlin, stepping down from AWC Board, carnival in Tilburg, being Religious Advisor for AH3 and FILTH hashes
• Veronica: Ultimate Frisbee tournaments and socials, bookstore walk in London, seeing Much Ado About Nothing at Globe Theatre, high tea with Pamela and Mandy, amazing support from my friends, boating in Leiden, volunteering at Big Bang Festival and Norwich Science Festival, discovering volunteer opportunities at Food Cycle, Cambridge Climate Hack (her team won!), silent disco at aquarium, being back with friends in Norwich, becoming Publicity Sec for Aye-Aye, meeting Andrew from The Great British Bake Off, making lots of soup
• Ashlynn: reading Margaret Atwood books and New Scientist magazine, getting first DJ deck, discovering underground music, graduation boat trip and ball, Super 6 MUN, ECO Committee and Earth Hour, celebrating New Year's Eve 2018 with friends in The Hague

Reflections on our 13th Year - Part 1....

Our 13th Anniversary of living in the Netherlands was on November 22, but our celebration was delayed until December 27 so Veronica could join us. As per our tradition, we had dinner at La Lanterna in Scheveningen, the same restaurant where we ate on our first night 13 years ago. Also continuing our tradition, we made a list of our highs and lows over the last year. As usual, here are our lows first:

• Feeling bad for family members: Grandpa due to shoulder problems, and Buddy and Debbie for relationship complications
• Climate breakdown and impending sense of doom 
• White family brownie experience
• White girls’ knee troubles
• TRUMP
• Jimmy: new non-profit, The DIG, struggling more than anticipated; disappointed that efforts at Amsterdam H3 haven’t panned out; lack of time to run the Lakes District; missing disco house mornings when Ashlynn is away
• Melissa: boulder fields in Lakes District; lack of flat in Nepali Flat; getting sick in Nepal; losing Kindle on flight; scared of winding roads in Madeira; missed out on seeing Ashlynn leave to start working as a full-time model; also missed out hashing in Paris and Athens; sleeping on floor in Ashlynn’s studio apartment in Paris
• Veronica: getting her heart broken; leaving London; having to clean-up after sloppy housemates; no longer having an income; snow disrupting trip on sleeper train; dissertation; Brexit; not windy enough to go paragliding in Madeira; dropping her camera
• Ashlynn: wallet being stolen in Paris; missing Kati, friends and family togetherness; life being so expensive, especially food; Kavos complications; deep concern after Indonesia earthquake

Reflections on our 12th Year - Part 2...

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows:

• Family Travel: Paris - Christmas markets, in search of art; Frankfurt - great time visiting Melissa and Pieter, Kati was very well behaved on her first vacation and especially enjoyed going urbexing at abandoned military barracks in Leige
• Jimmy/Melissa/Ashlynn Travel: Montenegro - loved picturesque Budva, going clubbing together, scuba diving, delicious dinners on the beach, napping on a beach bed while Ashlynn studied
• Jimmy/Veronica Travel: England - visited Birmingham when Veronica volunteered at Big Bang Festival, science show in London, Shitfaced Shakespeare
• Melissa/Ashlynn Travel: California - surprising Ann with Ashlynn’s arrival and taking her to Alcatraz for her birthday, multiple birthday parties, hanging out with Dad
• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: England - helped Veronica move to Acton in West London, great fun having lunch with her at GSK, enjoyed staying with Seanette in Richmond, loved seeing Kinky Boots; Belgium - great time at our first Belgium Nash Hash Weekend; Montenegro - enjoyed an unexpected afternoon in Belgrade after a flight delay, lots of fun at the Montenegro Nash Hash with Jimmy laying an impromptu hangover trail; Netherlands - Jimmy running a cocktail bar and being lead hare at the Dutch Nash Hash weekend
• Jimmy Travel: Geneva - incredible to see CERN up close and learn more about the project from a hasher that works there during the CERN Hash Weekend
• Melissa Travel: Grimaud - incredibly relaxing week hanging out with Terri and Chris, amazing boat trip, fun running with Terri for the first time; Ardennes - fun stay in a yurt for a hash camping weekend in the Ardennes mountains of Belgium
• Veronica Travel: Prague - first holiday with boyfriend, visiting the castle, hike in the countryside, amazing vegan Czech food, exploring underground bar and dancing; Lakes District - field course for social research
• Ashlynn Travel: Kenya - safari, meeting sweet Mishel at the school, Scottish dancing, getting drunk, making new friends, trekking in a rainforest in the dark; Disney Paris - fantastic long weekend celebrating Sophie’s 18th birthday; Belgium - Back again to Pukkelpop Music Festival, dancing in the boiler house until 4:00 a.m.
• Visitors: we started the New Year with three of Veronica’s uni friends and later hosted her boyfriend Billy; Anna had the distinction of not only being our first visitor to see a royal, but she saw the king and queen on one day and then the queen again the following day; we were so honored that Melissa and Pieter made a special trip up so we could meet adorable Norah; Jason, Lauren, Coen and Anneka were only with us for 24 hours, but we managed to squeeze in a lot including going to a windmill and Madurodam; it took us over 13 years, but we finally got Steve to join us on a hash on which he loved seeing new parts of Amsterdam; was also thrilled that Darlene could stop by on her way home from Italy; hosting Ola and Nick for Thanksgiving
• We all love our new house!
• Happy to have Veronica home for her 20th birthday and surprising her with going ziplining at Scheveningen Pier
• Proud Parents: Veronica received Cann Prize for best performance by second year student within Environmental Science, Ashlynn received fantastic predicted grades leading to many offers from universities
• Jimmy: enjoying opportunity to solve global scale problem for innovation for defense and security in Europe; surfing and scuba diving with Ashlynn; throwing own going away party; on last day at NATO, walked out of the gate with Lee and Davinder, popped champagne cork and never looked back; leaving NATO = rebirth; discovering art of making cocktails; getting back into his running groove; loves his new iPad; haring Boaty McBoat Hash
• Melissa: helping build part of a meerkat sculpture in Wassenaar, boating with Austin and Hannah, Leiden Boat Parade, Gay Pride Boat Parade, Urban Trail in The Hague
• Veronica: going fully vegan, moving to West London after being offered an Industrial Placement position at GSK, GIS project, Science journal subscription, organized Go Green Week plus first vegan/vegetarian fair at UEA, attending International World Water Week Conference in Amsterdam and seeing the Dutch Prime Minister speak, visiting GSK factories, joining London City Voices choir, Billy’s graduation brunch at the Shard, visiting Kew Gardens, Pimp My Barrow in Norwich, passing all exams, outdoor screening of Grease, sustainability team at GSK, Frisbee tournaments, volunteering at Vegfest in London, exploring London with Billy, meeting Billy’s family and going to his grandfather’s 80th birthday party
• Ashlynn: loving her subjects at school, fun fashion shoots (although orange hair dye did not wash out as fast as anticipated), happy Sophie could watch fashion show at Amsterdam Fashion Week, hosting cocktail party, upgrading to a double bed, rock climbing gym with Jimmy, joining Eco Committee and organizing Earth Hour, getting resolution passed at THIMUN (The Hague International Mock United Nations) and continuing to help next year group as part of Super Six, revision buddies

Reflections on our 12th Year - Part 1....

Our 12th Anniversary of living in the Netherlands was on November 22, but our celebration was delayed until December 22 so Veronica could join us. As per our tradition, we stopped at the Royal Christmas Fair in the city center and then had dinner at La Lanterna in Scheveningen, the same restaurant where we ate on our first night 12 years ago. Also continuing our tradition, we made a list of our highs and lows over the last year. As usual, here are our lows first:

• Having to move unexpectedly out of our house of 4.5 years during the craziest year of our lives
• No family vacation in 2017
• Having to start over immigration process as of July 1 due to our status change; now we can only be self-employed
• TRUMP
• Jimmy: no chance to do a mental cleanse after his job ended by going on a running trip in the Lakes District, couldn’t find a path into the renewable energy industry, injuring arm
• Melissa: regrets not taking a break after stepping down as Editor and before taking on Treasurer position, freaking out about Jimmy’s job situation, washing machine being in the disconnected garage at the new house, Kati being terrified of firecrackers and dog walkers
• Veronica: wishing she had a closer connection with her London housemates, Sherlock ending, missing out on trip to Montenegro with family, no Ultimate Frisbee opportunities in London, missing uni friends, losing a best friend
• Ashlynn: Andrew leaving for uni, not learning anything new in Food Technology course, not as close with her Project Africa friends as she’d hoped once they returned to school

Reflections on our 11th Year - Part 2...

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows:

• Family Travel: California/Bay Area - wonderful time staying with Dad and Ann and being spoiled by their incredible hospitality, exploring San Francisco by foot (Veronica and Melissa walked while Jimmy and Ashlynn ran for half marathon distance, hanging with Monique and Sarah, Marine Mammal Center, sleepovers at Leigh and Mike’s, Golden Gate Bridge photo shoot, helping a lost dog when we visited the nature reserve where Eden works, Melissa staying overnight at Darlene and Mike’s, Ashlynn having a fun test shoot; California/San Diego - staying with Dan and Nancy, fantastic to reconnect with old friends at party at Kathy and Phil’s, Ashlynn’s teenage experience, hashing, aquarium, La Jolla Cove, Balboa Park, Extraordinary Desserts, Jimmy and Ashlynn’s long run; Ireland - Jimmy and Ashlynn diving, Fungie the Dingle dolphin, Ashlynn’s first wreck dive, “Single Pringles in Dingle ready to mingle,” hiking in Killarney National Park, high tea, massages and pools at spa, Jimmy’s coat stolen but recovered, great Irish music, Ashlynn went to Leprechaun Museum and gym on her own, Veronica loved first Outdoor Ultimate Frisbee Tournament at club level and going out with Aye-Aye, great walking tour of Dublin, Book of Kells at Trinity College for Melissa’s birthday; Netherlands - helped organize an incredibly successful Dutch Nash Hash Weekend on sailing ships visiting three cities in three days: Lelystad, Volendam and Amsterdam; loved seeing Jimmy dressed as a pirate as he led the other “ballbreakers” to jump overboard to swim to the start of their trail, dressing up as four mermaids for the big party
• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: Germany - visited Jim and Nina in Bonn, awesome cycle ride along the Ahr and Rhine rivers, great hike up to a beer garden, WhatsApp call with Veronica while she was on a Mozambique beach timelapsing stars; England - hiking 205 miles across Northern England on Coast-2-Coast route with Carlin and Kent, lots of sheep, no injuries or blisters, we never got lost nor did our luggage, fantastic waterfalls and scenery, incredible feeling of accomplishment 
• Melissa/Ashlynn Travel: London - The Woman in Black play, Sky Garden with Camilla and Beatrix, exploring Shoreditch, Vegan Festival, 30% discount at Brandy Melville, great catching up with Camilla and Tristram over wonderful vegan meals
• Jimmy Travel: Berlin - going to Swiss Embassy for panel discussion, Modern Art Museum, typewriter room at hotel; Singapore - solar panel factory, Marina Bay Sands Hotel bar on rooftop, sweating during morning runs, jungle run with professor, out until 3 a.m. at graduation of Executive Renewable Energy Management Course (REM)
• Veronica Travel: London - The Lion King, Sky Garden, spending time with Jason and Adelina; Mozambique - seeing and photographing the Milky Way, lots of diving including with a whale shark and hearing baby and mama humpback whales, illuminated jellyfish at surface while snorkeling, painting school classroom; Slapton - getting to spend really good time with future housemates on Environmental Science field trip, spending time on beach, star photography, beach bonfire; South Africa - safari with seeing four of the “Big Five” (elephant, lion, cheetah and water buffalo, but no rhino), photographer’s dream, amazing safari lodge, passion fruit 
• Ashlynn Travel: Belgium - first music festival at Pukkelpop, camping with friends, dancing until 5 a.m. everyday, the Boiler Room, Dusky; Dorset, England - freedom while staying in an amazing house during four-night geography trip, meeting new people beyond friend group, getting to know Rebecca, hike, all-nighter; London - quality time and shopping with Sophie, seeing The Bodyguard; Tanzania - “I’d give it a 6,” “Same same, but different,” meeting some of the most amazing people, realizing that there are people like her on this planet, being inspired by Joelle, amazing diving including a drift dive, getting Advanced and Rescue Diver, EFR Interactive Course, surviving the long drop, no scorpions, no WiFi or electricity, stargazing, hammock, visiting New Bar, Rhama, teaching at local school, sleeping on the beach with Patrick, happy to have a mattress, staying in a hostel alone for the first time, riding on a motorbike to the airport, NUDIBRANCH! 
• Norwich: Melissa and Carlin helped Veronica move into her new house, exploring Norfolk Broads with Carlin; Andrew staying with Ashlynn in Veronica’s dorm room, showing Sally around Norwich; weekend with entire family, Biddy’s Tea Room, BBQ jackfruit at Bia Kitchen, bar hopping but Skittles drink was gross, Ashlynn enjoyed seeing Veronica drunk for the first time
• Visitors: more summer visitors than any other year; Cisa and Hrvoje visiting from Croatia with their seven-year-old son Legolas, going boating with them in Giethoorn and Leiden; Buddy hanging out with us for a few days; Allison, daughter of my oldest friend Holly, spent two nights with us; Jim popping in from Germany; Melissa and Pieter coming up from Frankfurt for another hash weekend; Bill and his nephew Hagen spent three nights with us; two classmates visited Veronica, she had an awesome birthday celebration with Sam in Amsterdam, she and Freya enjoyed clubbing in Amsterdam; Ashlynn was sick when fellow IMG model Gabi came to visit, but they still managed to meet up with two other models to go pedal boating in Utrecht   
• Proud Parents: girls started The Vegan Princesses Instagram account together; Veronica - got a First, the highest grading classification, for her first year at UEA; Ashlynn - achieving fantastic GCSE results, tying with Veronica
• Jimmy: ten minutes after Melissa fell we knew that she wouldn’t be leaving us; successfully organized REM Reunion with tour of largest Heineken factory, boat trip to wind farm and walking tour of Rotterdam
• Melissa: surviving first time as Religious Advisor at a big hash weekend, ending in the Olympic Stadium at her first Amsterdam 8K
• Veronica: falling in love for the first time, Ultimate Frisbee tournaments and making it to Nationals, dressing up as Darth Vader at one tournament, taking Ashlynn to House Crawl and on hydrology field trip, LCR, moving in with some of her best friends, running for and winning UEA Environmental Officer, Great British Bake Off, Aye-Aye naked calendar photo shoot, interesting oceanography lectures, Mark and David visiting UEA, beautiful revision notes, visiting Bea in Oxford, cycling with David to Amsterdam
• Ashlynn: going vegan, two hours after Melissa fell she realized that possession probably wasn’t real, Mura Masa and Flume concerts, house parties, first editorial, swimming, Project Africa fundraising events, photographing Bye Bye Blue, New Year’s Eve Penthouse Party, Year 11 Prom, burning GCSE notes

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Reflections on our 11th Year - Part 1...

Our 11th Anniversary of living in the Netherlands was actually on November 22, but our celebration was delayed until December 20 so Veronica could join us. First, we stopped at the Royal Christmas Fair in the city center and then, as is our tradition, we had dinner at La Lanterna in Scheveningen, the same restaurant where we ate on our first night 11 years ago. Also continuing our tradition, we made a list of our highs and lows over the last year. As usual, here are our lows first:

• Topping the list by far was Melissa breaking her head. Jimmy was absolutely terrified upon finding her on the bathroom floor. Ashlynn thought she was possessed. 
• Speaking of broken heads, also at the top of the list was the US Presidential Election
• Feeling bad for Grandpa after he broke his leg
• No chance for a vacation with Sally, John, David and Andrew
• Worrying about worldwide environmental disasters, including continual fall as winter never arrived in Holland or the UK
• Jimmy: losing wallet (luckily recovered, but after we’d already cancelled all his cards), work still frustrating, sad that Executive Renewable Energy Management Course is over, missed two opportunities to visit Veronica, no trick or treaters on Halloween, hash politics, driving five hours roundtrip to Belgium to retrieve Ashlynn’s missing purse
• Melissa: freaking out the night before Ashlynn left for Tanzania after finding out that Dar es Salaam is one of the most dangerous cities in the world, Johanna moving, getting a spinal tap hurt like hell, it’s not fun to wake up covered in blood after IV disconnected, hash drama
• Veronica: getting to South Africa and realizing she had no money, computer troubles, Lightroom annoyances, Jason graduating and moving away, losing connection with friends from Holland, light pollution in the Netherlands, long days in the library for exam revision, crappy professors, drama getting visa at Mozambique Embassy in London
• Ashlynn: losing purse at a rest stop in Belgium during a school trip to England, crappy teachers, Sweet 16th was spent studying for GCSE exams, camera stolen in Tanzania, very sick at end of stay in Tanzania including vomiting at airport