Why a vacation in your own country is what you want

Everywhere sand, beach, sea, and a little house to enjoy. We have a constant supply of fine coffees, and the grapes, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries fill the table. Let me sketch a casual hot Thursday at our pop-up editorial office a.k.a. May's beach house. It's a twenty-five minute drive from Amsterdam. And now that I'm here, I actually never want to go home. I will, really, May, no worries. This brings me to a rather important point: why a vacation in your own country is what you want.

1. The climate. No joke, it feels Mediterranean. Admit it. Forgive me if it pours in August and you stayed home based on this piece, by the way. But it was the driest June in yeeeears (minus the sheep shearers' cold), in May we were at the beach and April wasn't bad at all.

2. Saving euros. Honestly: if you visit a faraway place, you spend quite a bit of money. I do. Now, I don't want to place the Netherlands in the ‘cheap’ category, but the temptation to ship a thousand shells is not there, and you have no idea where to put them when you get home. True story.

3. You don't give up anything during those scarce vacation hours. Normally, you stink for a day or two in an airplane or at a stuffy airport, now you race in a car to your destination in a few hours.

4. Still some books in his backpack, shipping the toiletry bag from left to right to get the zipper closed, yet again a few kilos over the max... With a vacation in your own country, you can take whatever you want. Unless you have a cycling holiday on the agenda. Nah, I didn't think so either, no.

5. At home in front of the TV. Or in a beach house, that's fine too. But you don't get that fear of missing out when you secretly want to binge one evening The Handmaid’s Tale , which is super relaxing and really deserves the label free.

6. You know what you eat and you don't secretly munch on a scorpion in disguise or a gi-gantic octopus from the clothesline. That could just happen in a place outside. It happened to me, Octopussy was thrown from the clothesline onto the grill and it tastes different. You do have time to explore all the sites and sit at a different restaurant every evening. You can visit Italy, Greece, and Lebanon in one week. Benefits, I said, right?

7. Our country is beautiful, you just need to know where you want to go. Of course, you can go to the Seychelles, or take a round trip to Bora Bora, but why would you if you haven't checked everything off your list in Holland yet? Therefore: more tomorrow, with insider tips that will make you never want to leave the country. You didn't think I would leave you to your fate, did you?