IF YOU WIN THE LOTTERY…

With the new year, the State Lottery has also taken place again. I have never bought a ticket because I can't handle the disappointment when I haven't won, but I know enough people who do participate. “The possibility to win 30 million in one go is worth that one-time 30 euros to me.” That's the kind of reasoning you get. Of course, you never win that, never, but still, one can hope.

Now there are always many delightful stories around the draw of people who just missed out. For example, there is an English couple who thought they had bought a ticket via the app and when the draw took place, they were totally euphoric because the winning numbers were their numbers. But, as it turned out, a mistake in the system meant that the transaction was never made, so they had no ticket and also no 40 million pounds. That must hurt so much.

In the Netherlands, a similar case. Kamal Maihousane from Sittard, 21, had been participating in the Postcode Lottery for three years and when the grand prize was drawn there, he thought he was suddenly a millionaire with his four tickets. But while the rest of his street was cheering in the street, it was silent for him. What turned out; exactly this month he had too little money in his account, causing the direct debit to not be paid and thus he had no tickets. No payment means no prize, so says the Postcode Lottery. But just think about it, you have been playing every month for three years with four tickets and that always goes well, you just never win anything, but in the month that the GRAND PRIZE falls in your street, you don't have enough funds in your account. The irony is really so painful.

To spare myself all that misery, I don't participate. Period. But I can dream too, so let's say I just wake up one day with 30 million in my account, what on earth are you going to do with that? Just the interest per year is hard to figure out. So let's all let go of our sense of reality for a moment and list the five things we would buy or do first if you wake up with 30 million. Here are my things:

Buy a huge canal house in Amsterdam with multiple apartments in it so all my friends can come live with me and I can keep my current house for sentimental reasons.

Buy a business class world ticket, with at least the Maldives, Japan, Australia, Hawaii, Sint Maarten, St Barths, and Antarctica on the route.

Fly business class to New York again, with an empty suitcase, sleep in the Edition Hotel, and embarrassingly go shopping a lot. But really, seriously a lot.

Take an incredibly luxurious vacation with my dad and sister and also pay off their mortgages so they can live for free where they currently live forever.

Something with charities and something with animals.