The day after King's Day 2021...

I felt a slight sense of guilt after roaming the streets of King’s Day and playing Pac-Man with the crowds—this is what COVID does to you.

Guilt. Anxiety. Oh my god…I walked by a group of drunk teenagers—what if they accidentally spewed droplets of COVID that happened to—don’t jinx it!

Well, I was alone (with my best friend, Sony A7iii) roaming the alleys and canals of Amsterdam on King’s Day. And it’s damn nearly inevitable that I’d bump into someone. I can’t hide forever. I can’t stay at home forever.

But there were A LOT more people on the streets than expected—should I have been shocked? Before heading out, I was watching a BBC segment on the COVID crisis in India and what a crazy juxtaposition it was to see—people partying in the canals of Amsterdam like 2019 while thousands of bodies were being cremated in makeshift pyres in Delhi.

I could not that those two contrasting images out of my mind, but this is the world that we live in. One can only hope and pray for better things to come…

King's Day 2021 in Amsterdam...

Crowds of orange flood the canals—clown hats with orange feathers, hoards of past-drunk men trying to sing in unison, Heineken bottles littered on the sidewalks—it’s King’s Day!

Well—in my dreams. I can’t believe it’s Year 2—another year of King’s Day indoors due to COVID. What a great reminder it is to have moved to Amsterdam right before COVID.

Wait…what the hell am I saying? I’m an introvert and would hate to be in the middle of hoards of drunk men dressed up in orange feathers shouting, singing, and pissing on the streets—an introvert’s worst nightmare.

It’s a perfect, sunny, and peaceful start to King’s Day 2021 along the Singel canal. Peering out my window, I see glimmers (not floods) of orange starting to line the streets—two young girls dressed in orange skirts holding hands with papa about to set off on the day’s adventure, a rowing team of 4 slowly gliding across the canals in unison, and the occasional orange sweater or pant. Calm. Peaceful. No hoards of past-drunk men shouting songs and pissing on the streets.

FOMO…some times we fear of missing out on things that would be our worst nightmares. Why?

Well, that’s a bigger question for another day. It would be nice to finally experience a King’s Day in Amsterdam—well once—but until then, I’ll enjoy the tranquility that COVID has brought us. A good reminder to get the hell outta my house now because it’s a bright, sunny, peaceful King’s Day 2021.