July was an incredibly special month—one that left me in awe of all the amazing experiences I had. I’m still in disbelief at how much I packed into those 31 days…From visiting three different countries, hosting six visitors, attending Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, experiencing my first Formula 1 event in the paddock, to dancing for 12 straight hours at Tomorrowland, July was unforgettable! According to my health app, I walked 305,114 steps.

Austria with Sam & Alex

Our girls’ trip to Austria was nothing short of perfect—well, except for Alex’s phone breaking midway through the trip when her reflexes kicked in and she caught an umbrella before falling on a table full of people— but we can just ignore that part. After visiting London, the girls came to Brussels briefly and I was able to show them my neighborhood and a tour of the city.

Then we flew together to Vienna, where we spent a day and a half exploring the city before hopping on a three-hour train to Salzburg. The train ride was breathtaking, with mountains all around. We had schnitzel in our hands at every opportunity (quite literally Sam and I ate schnitzel like 3x in 4 days LOL).

We took a day trip to Hallstatt, the charming town that inspired Arendelle from Disney’s Frozen. Driving through the Lakes District on the way, we were looking out the window at the crystal blue waters (and then I started thinking to myself how I want to come back here).

The highlight was undoubtedly the Sound of Music Tour, where we visited the iconic sites from the film. Interestingly, we learned that while the movie is a beloved classic in the U.S., it’s not popular in Austria. Most Austrians haven’t even seen it! But that didn’t stop us from fan-girling, singing along on the bus, and reliving our childhood favorite.

From starting The Sound of Music on the plane ride at the exact same time to bringing our mattresses into the same room at our Airbnb because we didn’t want to waste a second of our time together, we had an absolute blast. I’ve known these girls for over 10 years, and we talk nearly every day. This trip was a beautiful reminder of how lucky I am to have such amazing friends.

I would also REALLY recommend visiting Austria if you’ve ever even considered it. It was almost if Italy, Germany, and Switzerland had a baby. Boom, Austria!

Milan & Lake Como with Marisa

Ben and I headed out to Milan just a few days after Alex/Sam left! We explored the famous Duomo di Milano, which dates back to the 14th century. There are over 3,400 statues, and Gothic architecture is my personal favorite.

Marisa managed to fly standby to meet me in Milan, and seeing Taylor together was beyond incredible

While I wouldn’t call myself a die-hard Swiftie, I couldn’t pass up the chance to experience the highest-grossing tour of all time. Taylor was an amazing performer, and every moment of the concert was pure magic!

The best part was that I managed to get the tickets on presale, so our tickets were only $105 each. With the Ticketmaster drama in the U.S., people have been paying hundreds of dollars, so we definitely got lucky. I love to see how events are in other countries too. For example, the only food option we could purchase was potato chips? And a bottle of water was literally 2 euros. You would literally never be able to buy a water bottle for $2.10 at any stadium in the US.

Although Milan isn’t my favorite city in Italy (you really only need 1-2 days there), we had some delicious authentic Italian food, amazing coffee, did some site seeing, and took a day trip to Lake Como.

Our original plan to spend the day on a boat in Varenna had to be changed due to a landslide that closed off that part of the lake. Instead, we found ourselves on a small local beach where we enjoyed the best meal of the trip.

Marisa didn’t make her standby flight back to Chicago, so she ended up flying with me back to Brussels for a night (lucky me!) and got to see our apartment.

The Netherlands with Sarah & Zach

After dropping Marisa off at the airport and heading into the office, I came home to find Sarah and Zach had arrived. The ZOBS (Zach, Olivia, Ben, Sarah) Euro trip was underway! We had been talking about this trip for over a year. They started their journey in Italy to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, then joined us in Belgium for a week. We played games, barbecued, and tried new restaurants. They even took some day trips around Belgium, including a visit to the Stella Brewery with Ben while I was at work.

We ended their trip with a weekend in Amsterdam. Although there’s a train, we opted to drive since the tickets were quite expensive. I don’t usually revisit cities (there’s so much world to see!), but Amsterdam is always worth a repeat.

The vibe there is so relaxed, the museums are fantastic, and the food—especially the Dutch pancakes and stroopwafels—is amazing. On Sunday, we visited the famous windmills at Zaanse Schans. Being part Dutch, I jokingly told everyone I was connecting with my ancestry!

A fun side note: After Alex left Belgium, she met her husband for a cruise that ended in Amsterdam. Although she was only there for four hours before flying back to the States, we managed to meet up for a quick hug and a classic Amsterdam canal photo. It was a crazy but amazing moment, especially since we’ve now visited multiple European cities together, starting with our study abroad in Barcelona in the summer of 2017.

Formula 1

This season, Komatsu became the principal partner for Williams Racing, which has sparked a newfound interest in Formula 1 for me. I wasn’t very familiar with F1 before this partnership, but now I’m genuinely hooked! While F1 has always been popular globally, its recent surge in popularity can be credited to the Netflix series Drive to Survive.

I was tasked with organizing an employee raffle to distribute tickets for the Belgian Grand Prix, so I didn’t initially plan to attend. But when our GM of Marketing invited me to the paddock for Friday’s testing day, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. The experience was incredible—I got to meet both drivers, see the car up close in the garage, listen in as the testing engineer discussed performance with the team, and enjoy unlimited food and drinks. Brad Pitt was also in the paddock filming his new F1 movie, but unfortunately, I didn’t spot him!

Tomorrowland

There really aren’t even words to describe this experience. We walked 34,000 steps in one day and danced for 12 hours straight at Tomorrowland (I am ashamed at how much Red Bull I drank that day). More than 400,000 people from over 200 countries came together to celebrate Tomorrowland’s 20-year anniversary edition, which revolved around the theme LIFE.

The organization, the food, the stages, the music, the performers, and the vibes were absolutely immaculate. I never thought of myself as a music festival person, but with Tomorrowland being right here in Belgium and winning “World’s Best Music Festival” for so many years, I knew I had to go.

It was an experience I’ll never forget. I don’t know how people can handle more than one day of it though, because the entire next day I was so exhausted. One of my favorite moments was when Ben put me on his shoulders. I never thought I would get to experience that but he offered, and it was so cool!

Our last visitor for July

To wrap up the month, my mother-in-law visited, and we spent some wonderful quality time together in Belgium! This was her third visit to see us, but her first time staying in our new apartment (yes, I’m a bit obsessed with our new place!). We indulged in allllll the local foods since she can eat gluten and dairy here—something she can’t typically do in the U.S. (don’t get me started on the chemicals pumped into our food in America).

One of her wishes was to visit the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, so Ben took her for a two-day trip while I stayed back to work and take care of Mallow.

On Saturday, we took a day trip to Ghent where we explored the 12th-century Gravensteen castle, went on a canal ride, and had a typical Belgian waffle.

On Sunday, Gina and I spent a full day together at my favorite wellness center, Waer Waters. We relaxed in saunas, hammams, infrared rooms, silent zones, and thermal baths. We also enjoyed hot plunge pools, swim ponds, and jacuzzis. The best part is that no phones are allowed! We were able to fully unwind without worrying about what we looked like. Plus, it’s a unique experience dining in your robe at all the restaurants—it adds to the whole atmosphere of relaxation.

Recap

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! It was a whirlwind of a month, and I loved every minute of it. I’m so grateful for the opportunities I had and the people I got to share them with. But for now, the Ratner airbnb is closed!

We have one more BIG trip on the horizon, and then it’s time for hockey season to kick off, which means we’ll be staying more local to Brussels and Mallow won’t hate us every time we take out the suitcases.