happy new year everyone, on to 2026!

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year! I wish you all a happy, healthy, and productive 2026.

May the coming year bring you lots of positivity and good vibes 😊

I don’t know about you all, but 2025 flew by for me.

In the first half of the year, I had my job at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management alongside my studies, so that was a very busy period. In March, I also went to Morocco and Athens, and I participated in my first ski vacation. Before that, I had never seriously skied, so it was a great learning experience.

In May, I went to France for a wedding, to Enschede to participate in a student running event, took part in the half-marathon walk for children with disabilities, and toward the end of the month I started my blog and went to Prague.

In June, I spoke at the annual event of Cliëntenbelang Amsterdam on the topic of ableism and the importance of (political) activism for people with disabilities. Then we had the Red Line demonstration for Gaza and the Night of the Refugee back to back. There was also the end-of-year conference of the NCDR, and a lot of parties and nights out in between. All in all, a chaotic and busy first part of the year.

In July, I focused more on my blog and on myself. I was going on exchange in September, so I wanted to slow down a bit. At the same time, it was full-on summer, and I decided to make the most of it. Of course, with society being the way it is, I encountered plenty of strange situations along the way. Some I wrote about on this blog; others I didn’t get the chance to document.

Around August, I took a small break from writing. I was a bit tired and needed to recharge. My fire was flickering, and I needed to stabilize it and feed it so it could keep burning brightly.

In September, I went on exchange to London. It was a very busy but fun time. I did a lot of things — from partying and networking to studying and running. I really made the most of my time there. I made amazing friends, had a lot of fun, and learned a lot. Studying anthropology for a term was especially interesting.

I also grew a lot from the experience. It’s amazing to realize that you can move to a completely different country and build a life there. It does wonders for your self-confidence and self-worth to know that you can create a community wherever you go.

Time flew by, and before I knew it, it was time to head back to Amsterdam. It felt bittersweet. I made friends I will miss a lot, but I also missed my friends and family back home. So I returned to AMS on December 13 with mixed feelings.

Right after coming back, I hit the ground running — literally and figuratively. I went running on the 14th and 15th, and on the 16th I went to parliament in The Hague to hand over the manifesto.

Then, on December 17, I went straight into a family ski vacation…

And that was 2025. A very busy, but also fun and rewarding year.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what 2026 has in store. I’ll do my best to make it just as fun and meaningful as 2025 😊

This blog also made a huge leap forward this year. It started around June and already has 593 members and 35 posts.

Thank you all so much for joining this blog and accompanying me on this journey.

I hope you’ve been enjoying my ramblings and have found them useful.

On to 2026!

Yours,

Ihab