for some reason, flowers just make me incredibly happy. I love looking at them and being surrounded by them. as soon as spring rolls around I get extremely excited and obviously want to make the most of them content-wise. there's one spot that has been all over Instagram for a few years now especially in spring and its the bulb region in Holland, especially Lisse. I actually went there the first time in 2017 during the summer and even though the infamous tulip fields are no longer in bloom, the area is beautiful. it's close to cities such as The Hague and Amsterdam but very close to the beach too and there are the most beautiful beach clubs and restaurants. 

This year, we planned a little 4-day trip to actually see the fields and visit Keukenhof and I wasn'' disappointed. its actually insanely beautiful and driving around and just seeing miles and miles of pink and yellow flowers is just too beautiful to be real. Because its not even proper tulip season and I'm guessing its a very popular tulip spot some of you want to visit I thought I would do a little guide on Lisse and the fields to make your trip a bit easier.

where the fields are

let's start with the important info: the fields. it's not actually just tulips but also daffodils and hyacinths and later in the year dahlias. as its the bulb region of Holland, there are fields all around but if you are not in the mood to just drive around and search for yourself (you should, its incredible) here are some helpful tips:

it's actually not just Lisse, it's also Noordwijkerhout so don't focus just on Lisse and branch out further. A place to start is around the infamous Keukenhof Tulip garden. You'll find loads of fields just behind in when driving along Loosterweg Noord. Many of the fields can be seen from Keukenhof too and add to their displays. If you want to get away from the crowds at Keukenhof I would recommend looking around Houtvesterslan right behind the Lisse Trainstation. Its a bike lane and footpath so you will have to walk to get there but we found beautiful daffodils and hyacinths.

Another great recommendation is at Oosterduinen. We found miles and miles of little tulips and hyacinths right here. I would also highly, highly recommend driving around Noordwijkerhout either by car or by bike just to find one you like. There are also amazing ones if you are driving from Noordwijkerhout to The Hague.

Dos and Don'ts

As beautiful as the fields are there are not there to just look beautiful. They are there so new breeds of Flowers can grow and the bulbs can be sold to people all around the world. its a business and peoples work so please respect that. Dutch people are very friendly but don't walk into the fields without permission by the owners. You can stand right by the fields which is what I did and get a beautiful shot but you will have germs on you that can kill the plants and therefore kill a farmers harvest and income. I learned from a very lovely couple I met at a hyacinth field that they grow them for four years before the bulbs are big enough to be sold. They are farms where you can book in for a shoot such as FamFlowerFarm but if you can't get hold of the owners please just stand next to it and don't just walk into it.

Keukenhof

If you are coming to Lisse I'm assuming you might want to pay Keukenhof a visit. It's a huge garden with endless displays of tulips and its beautiful. it's open every year from March to May before it closes again and gets replanned and replanted for the following year. At its busiest around 60.000 people visit it daily so if you are planning to go I would recommend booking your tickets in advance so you don't have to wait in line to purchase them and I would come early in the morning, as soon as it opens to get the most of the huge landscape and the displays without thousands of people around. If you want to order bulbs, you can order them from different growers and they will be shipped out to you by autumn ready to plant for the upcoming year. 

What else is around

if you are planning to stay in Lisse for more than just one day they are plenty of great things to do other than endless bike rides along the flower fields. the beach is very remote and huge and if you don't fancy and walk or bike ride through the beautiful dunes, I would highly, highly recommend coming to one of the following beach clubs for breakfast, lunch or dinner. all of them are beautifully designed, right on the beach, the food is amazing and you can get tons of snaps for the gram. it feels like being in Mexico or somewhere warm. Tulum Noordwijk, Branding Beachclub and Hippy Fish are my firm favourites. if you need a break from the beach and want to stop somewhere closer to the fields, Como & Co is amazing too. 

Other than Amsterdam there are plenty of bigger cities around and they are all worth a visit. Leiden, The Hague, and Haarlem are just a few.

so here we are; my little guide to Lisse Flowerfields. If you are interested in seeing them you should absolutely do so. It's beautiful and worth a visit no just for the beautiful fields. if you have anymore questions please leave them in the comments and I will get back to you.

❤︎

I'm not going to lie, I love a good plan and I love planning. It just the sweet sense of security and purpose to me when I know where I'm going with life and even if I just feel like I have a tight-knit plan of safety around me. I always had some sort of plan and although I have always thought its for the best, it didn't work out the way I *planned* it to. It was and still is very hurtful but by working through all the emotions I figured out for myself that always having a plan and almost being scared of letting life be, took away the magic. I never did a spontaneous trip, explored what it is that my heart desired or enjoyed being young and not having many things to worry about. 

Sometimes I feel like there's only one way to live thats acceptably: go to school, get a job, buy a house, get married and have kids. that's it. but what's in between? why do so many feel like there's an invisible deadline fast approaching? I know I always have been an avid fan of living slow but being present in the moment and letting go of always planning and just being instead still is a journey but I would love to take you on that. So let's talk; why it's okay to not have a plan?

the comfort zone

I would say that I do have a comfort zone I don't leave often enough and all the planning and doing and going forward with it just makes sure that I never have to leave it but what for? why do I find it too challenging to be challenged and not knowing what happens? maybe its because I like playing by the rules and I always have. It scares me to let go and dabble into what's out there but whenever I have let go, I found myself in the best situations which made me grow into who I am today. Letting go of plans makes you move out of your comfort zone into the unknown and its okay to be scared and be aware of the anxious feelings but letting that stop you from living life to the fullest also is not the right way to go. it's still incredibly hard for me but I'm on a very good way.

the pressure

I love social media if I wouldn't this blog would probably not exist but with people, including me, sharing pieces of their life online, I can feel the pressure to live life a certain way. I'm well aware that those shared perfect photos are just tiny little snippets and mostly only the very highlights of one's life but I can put pressure on you to achieve certain things in a certain way or at a certain time. it almost seems like announcing a pregnancy at 20 is received differently than announcing it at 26. same with a degree. graduating within your 20s is celebrated but received totally differently at let's say 37. the degree is the same, the effort is and the worth of it too. 

so there is that pressure and leaving it behind is super tough but wouldn't life be so much easier without it?

life is what happens

there is the very famous saying "life is what happens whilst you are busy making plans". how true is that? making plans and manifesting ideas is very important and it will always be a part of my persona and the way I want to live my life but all the planning and pressuring myself is doing more harm than good to me especially if I feel like I'm missing out on the beauty of it all. I want to see the world, live somewhere else, find my path and just be present in the moment. I just have to let life happen.

what for?

as I said, plans can be amazing and essential to living a fulfilled and happy life but the pressure will take that away. and what for? why plan and pressure when it brings you down and makes you upset? there's nothing worse than looking back at everything and wishing you did something else. event though I believe everything happens for a reason and have been there and it's painful to realize that you essentially wasted time on something that did you bad instead of chasing your dreams and letting go. there's just this one life and I better live it to the fullest.

my outfit

Coat: H&M

Dress: Zara

Tights: H&M

Bag: Primark

Shoes: Dr. Martens

Headband: H&M

Sunglasses: H&M

well, there's nothing I would want to do more at this very moment than typing this post up from London and not about London being back home. it sounds so cheesy and I usually am not like this but I feel like where my heart belongs and I hope I can make it my home at some point in my life. in the meantime, I like flying out to London as much as I can. I have to make it out there at least once a year. not only am I completely in love with London but my boyfriend is also which makes me really happy. it was our 5 year anniversary in February and we thought we would treat ourselves to a trip away, just a short sweet one to get away from day to day stress and routines and there was only one place we wanted to go: London. 

because it was just a few days just for us two, I didn't get photos for a few posts but enough to share them with you. as greeting from my favourite city.

where we stayed

we decided to stay in a hotel and not an Airbnb this time and opted for Notting Hill as one of our favourite spots in London. I found the beautiful Kensington court hotel. it looked beautiful online and did not disappoint in real life either. it's a beautiful boutique style hotel located in a beautiful townhouse just minutes from Westbourne Grove and Bayswater station. it was furnished and decorated beautifully and the staff was so lovely and comforting. everything was perfect for our little stay and I would absolutely stay there again. I fell head over heels in love with their bathroom style and they even had rituals products in it. it made for the comfiest sleep and they were much needed as my boyfriend and I both caught a horrible cold before. 

where we ate

I'm beyond sure there are many super fancy places in London and I will probably take my sweet time and test them all at some point but for now, it's the simple things that make me happy. We started with honest burgers and had more than one doughnut from doughnut time but the OG is just too good to be true. we had delicious pizza from franco manca and I brought back about 20 Malteser easter bunnies. to me, there nothing quite like a pret porridge and I also had my Wagamama katsu curry at some point. there's too much I want to eat and enjoy and I had the best time doing just that.

what we did

usually, when I do a city trip I like to make sure to see and do most. I love sucking it all in and really be on the go all day long. because I have been to London quite a few times, we decided to take it very easy this time around. we were so lucky being greeted with sunshine and not having the slightest bit of rain. we basically just wandered, did a bit of shopping, eating and exploring. I'm not really into seeing the big sights cramped with tourists anymore and when we actually went to Oxford Street to shop, we went early in the morning and did a long and beautiful walk through Hyde Park back. we just walked and window shopped through Notting Hill, dreaming about the houses we would buy if we had the money. it was really just a break from it all. one of our favourite past times when in london is a bit of puppy watching whilst drinking tea. it's beautiful. 

what I loved most

I really shouldn't moan because we haven't had a proper winter this year and global warming is a very scary thing that has to be targeted but seeing spring arrive was just magical. Germany's climate is a bit harsher and it takes longer for blossoms and little green spruces to appear. it all seemed to be so much greener already and then we also stumbled upon blooming trees already. we saw beautiful pink trees and my boyfriend was convinced they were some sort of cherry tree, also beautiful camelias and magnolia trees with big buds about to pop open. it made me so incredibly happy. I can't wait for spring to arrive.


I hope this little London post made any sense but I just wanted to share my trip with you and I hope you enjoyed it. do you have any trips planned? let me know.