Hi there and welcome to my website. My name is Roselinde and I’m a freelance storyteller and web consultant from the Netherlands with an endless curiosity for the world. I’m based in Amsterdam and besides writing, taking photos, travelling, and generally living on the internet, my passions include visiting botanical gardens and trying new ice cream flavours. If you’re curious about what exactly I do for a living, check out my work with me page.

My motivation for exploring unknown places and discovering new stories is to continuously seek other perspectives. This way, I make sure to experience different cultures, which helps me keep an open mind. I’ve been sharing that personal journey on my blog for about 10 years now. You won’t mind if I take you along for the ride, right?

When and why did I start my blog?

I started blogging in 2010 and began sharing my adventures in the Netherlands and abroad for the very first time. It didn’t take very long to get hooked. I received my first DSLR camera as a birthday present and simultaneously discovered my passion for photography. We went on family trips in Europe and beyond and, of course, I always had to take my camera with me on the road.

After blogging for a few months, I received a ‘WordPress Freshly Pressed’ status in December 2011 and June 2012. I started getting views and comments from people all around the world. That’s when I realised that anyone could start their own platform and reach others with their stories, which motivated me to keep on going. Now, I can’t imagine not having this creative corner on the internet to connect with friendly strangers like you.

Moving to Amsterdam

Then it was time to grow up and head off to university. I moved from Breda to Amsterdam and obtained my Bachelor of Arts in June 2015 by studying Liberal Arts and Sciences at Amsterdam University College (AUC), majoring in the Humanities. My main topics were digital anthropology, new media, and visual culture. I wrote my thesis about mobile snapshots and their influence on traditional ideas about photographic time and space.

That summer, I attended the Beijing Normal University Philosophy Summer School in July 2015, and it was one of the best experiences of my life! As the academic cherry on top, I was one of the first student speakers at the Magna Charta Universitatum annual conference (2015) in Bologna.

The Gap Year?

Then I hit the first season of my quarter life crisis series and couldn’t decide what I wanted to do next. I was pretty sure that I wanted to continue my university studies. But I also wanted to travel and escape the classroom. Explore the world before I became a ‘real’ adult (spoiler alert: that never actually happens). I decided to take a gap year to figure it all out, before I went back to university.

While I worked a few part-time jobs to pay for my room, I connected to the We Are Travellers team and went on my very first press trip. I was absolutely fascinated by the whole experience. More press trips followed and I slowly morphed into one of those millennial travel bloggers that use way too many hashtags in their caption.

Becoming a Cultural Analyst

I spent the summer of 2016 going on even more adventures. But, as I had promised myself, I returned to the University of Amsterdam to become a cultural analyst. Of course, tourism is fun, but what truly intrigued me was understanding how cultural processes shape our lives and societies. I realised my passion for travel came from this same fascination: the places where we live have an enormous influence on the way we think. The way we think determines the way we behave and build our cities. And travelling might just be the best way to encounter other ways of thinking.

I realised my passion for travel came from this same fascination: the places where we live have an enormous influence on the way we think. The way we think determines the way we behave and build our cities. Naturally, traveling is the most inspiring way to encounter other ways of thinking.

So What About Now?

I graduated in 2018 and work full-time as a freelance digital creator and storyteller. I identify somewhere in-between a cultural analyst and travel writer and recently founded Globonaut, an independent storytelling platform where a crew of curious explorers share their ways of seeing the world. We would love to hear yours too, so do check it out.

If you are reading this, it probably means you’ve taken the time to scroll through my blog, so:

Thank you very much for visiting and don’t hesitate to connect!