S.J.Glatzhofer

Dear Luna, As I sit here, waiting to board my second plane, I can’t help but think about the wonderful adventure I have taken part in over the past four months. If fourteen-year-old me knew that at twenty-three I was going to be away from my family for four months, exploring and visualising the beauty of some of these countries in Asia, I would have been gobsmacked. But here I am, at the end of it all. And it’s rather sad that it has come to an end, four months have flown by (a cliche, but very true). All of the excitement which I was looking forward to when I first travelled here are now all memories. One part of travelling is looking forward to going on tours and doing activities you never thought you would do, and now, I don’t even have that. However, I do have other things to look forward to . Such as publishing my books, which will happen, I am going to be a published author and no one will stop me. I’m also going to run half a marathon. I will be travelling to other places. And I...

Dear Luna, You'd never guess what I did. And no, it's not anything crazy like piercing my eyebrow or tongue or dying my hair bright neon.  No. To be honest, I am sure many people would read this and think, is that all? I thought it was going to be something a lot my grand. To me, it was something I wouldn't not have believed I would have done a year ago, even a week ago.  Whilst planning our travelling adventure around Asia, my cousin and I booked some tours to do for a chance to witness the beauty that these countries held. For Malaysia, we booked the Batu Cave and more tour. However, on the day we were meant ago, my cousin came down with something, we believe it was food poisoning, but thankfully she is all good now. It meant I ended up having to go on this tour by myself, and the day prior, we learnt that this tour was a private one, something we did not realise.  It meant for the next six to seven hours, it was just me and my driver/tour guide. I nearly didn't want ...

Dear Luna, In the United Kingdom, where my family lives, today is Mother’s Day. The day to celebrate the mums who have helped us grow, whether they are related to us or not.  I must admit, as I am travelling and exploring a part of the world where I have never been before, it hadn't occurred to me that today is the day we celebrate mothers in the country I grew up in. I am so consumed by this opportunity of being able to see the beauty of nature in various areas of the world, that I had forgotten the importance of this day.  I know it is a privilege to be able to say that I still have a mum and one who, besides some faults, is kind and does try her best to grow. But looking back at my life and how much my view of my mum has changed due to age does make me laugh and I am sure so many people agree. When we are younger, we look up to our mums and think she is the most perfect person in the world, as she does everything for us. However, as we enter our troubled teenage years, we r...

  Dear Luna, My cousin and I did something rather spontaneous, living in the moment. Of course, what resulted in us doing this isn’t rather nice but still, we can say we did something we didn’t plan to do when we were booking our tickets for our four months of travel. Originally, we were just going to just stay in Manila during our stay in The Philippines. I know, I know, some of my readers might question but why? The Philippines have many beautiful islands, so why not visit one of them? To be honest, I wish we did add that to our trip but truth be told, I don’t really know what happened. We arrived in Manila in the evening, but it wasn’t until the next day that we truly felt uncomfortable to be walking around outside. The eyes of random men glancing at us wherever we walked made us want to leave as fast as possible and stay in our hotel room for the rest of our stay. This is why we decided to go off to one of the islands of The Philippines, to spend some time somewhere else where ...

Today is international woman’s day, and as much as I hate what I’m going to write next but if you are a man who questions when is international men’s day only on the 8th of March. One, you don’t really care about this day, and two it’s on the 19th of November. Now, putting that to the side, today is international women’s day. Celebrating women all over the world, no matter their race, sexuality, religion, and more.  Whenever this day arrives, I often wonder what has occurred throughout my life to make me become the woman I am today. I think about the women who throughout time have helped many of us be where we are now, and how we all are still fighting. Today, as a writer and a reader, I want to think about all of the female characters who have shaped me into me. Katniss Everdeen   At the age of thirteen, I read The Hunger Games for the first time. The character of Katniss was seen as stubborn, but to me, I wanted to be her. She taught me the importance of standing up for myse...

Dear Luna One more month and then all of this is over. In a month, I will be back in The Netherlands and all of this will simply be a memory where I question myself whether or not it was all a dream or was it real. If I am completely honest, the other day, I was looking forward to skipping this whole month and being back home, and yes, I am looking forward to going back home and not living out of suitcases. To be around family. Catching up with my friends. Going to concerts. Partying until the birds decide to remind everyone that morning has once again arrived. To be running for the last train home. To cuddle up with my dog and cat.  But as I write this blog, I realise how much I do not want that.   There is something freeing about travelling. It's as if everything bad that happened to you in your home country never occurred, or it happened to someone else. Those memories that bring a sour taste to your soul do not feel as if they are drowning you as much as before because you...