THE COOLEST THINGS IN LIFE HAPPEN OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE

Let’s face it, Kiki, sometimes you can just be quite a pussy. While some of my colleagues go to that fancy party without any problem, standing at Schiphol with no shaking knees and interviewing the biggest stars in the world without panicking, I’d rather run away really hard from exciting situations.

Why? Because I find it downright terrifying to step outside my comfort zone. Yet, over the past few years, I’ve been able to do quite a few cool things: situations where just the thought of it made me spontaneously feel a panic attack coming on. And yet: I survived. Not only that, in hindsight, these were perhaps the coolest moments of my life. I’d love to share them with you.

1. To Los Angeles

I have a fear of flying. And that’s downright shitty as a journalist. When I was invited by a film company to Los Angeles this year for an interview with some American stars, my heart skipped a beat, but my stomach turned. 14 hours alone on a plane?! On the train, I call a friend in all my misery asking what I should do. When I get off, a middle-aged woman hands me a note. ‘Often people regret the things they didn’t do, not what they did do,’ I read. ‘Go for it girl! And be proud of yourself! Just like that.’ Dear lady from the train, I don’t know who you are, but you are a heroine. Thanks to you, I went. And it was totally awesome.

2. Hitchhiking to Berlin

I don’t speak a word of German, was raised with the rule ‘don’t go with strangers’ and yet I got into the car with about eight different unknown people on my way to Germany. Hitchhiking to another country with a friend was clearly bucket list material… And something about pushing boundaries.

3. Diving

This summer, I took a private diving lesson in Curaçao with my friend S. I’m terrified of deep water. Sharks. Jellyfish. Shortness of breath. Panic. Basically everything related to the sea. For ten minutes, I cursed the entire ocean out of fear and then I found peace. I dove for three quarters of an hour - at 12 meters deep - without looking up for even a second. When we came back up, I of course spent a good hour just crying about this ultra-cool experience.

4. Approaching superstars on the red carpet
The bold have the whole world. Let me tell you, I’m not really bold when it comes to these kinds of things. When the European Music Awards were held in Amsterdam last year, I stood with sweaty armpits at the red carpet. Journalists, fans, bloggers, other press: it was a loud shouting fest. My mission: as Katy Perry you walk by, call her name and wave her to the camera. My god, she walks past. I shout. She’s leaving… Wait. SHE’S COMING BACK. I shout again. And yes, SHE’S RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. AND TALKING. Mission accomplished.

In short, if I had avoided these ‘scary’ situations, I would have missed all of this. And perhaps more importantly: I wouldn’t have been so proud of myself. We are all sometimes afraid, insecure about our abilities, panicking over the smallest things. But really, do something every month that scares you and you will grow from it. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Because outside of that comfort zone, that’s where the magic happens.