Tonight I Leave with the saddest story ever
Oh boys, I'm Leaving, everyone's favorite. Because on one hand, they do something we would like to do but don't dare (so jealousy) and on the other hand, it's a ‘shitshow’ and a ‘what have we done wrong in our lives to deserve this?’, making you sit hungrily on your own boring bench and crawl into your bed, intensely satisfied with your decision to stay in your own country.
What has I'm Leaving brought us?
The Meilandjes (oh, how young Martien was), the Scheetjes, that lovely couple that had the brilliant idea to start a pancake restaurant in Gambia (no one was actually waiting for that, really no one) and were happy about it everywhere. And of course Emmy, who left for a French castle without her Rutger and managed everything on her own, putting buckets under leaking roofs and closing a door to a room where the roof had collapsed. Emmy, you are on our visiting list as soon as Covid is out of our lives. What always charms me is the optimism of the people. Half in a slum in Gambia is ‘nice and local’, a dead mouse is at least no longer alive, a big puddle of water in front of the house is still that swimming pool at the door, and a house with only four walls offers a lot of perspective.
In this series, I am especially looking forward to Marc and Madelon, who are going to close the series. They were at Jinek yesterday and the fun part is that Marc has been the program manager of I'm Leaving for years. You might think that after seeing so many, you wouldn't think of all success stories: I'll skip this one, but Marc went. With Madelon, his beloved, who lost her son a few years ago due to the consequences of an epileptic seizure. Marc's father and brother have also passed away, so their B&B will be called Tres Hombres, named after these three men.
Marc broke down a wall causing the whole house to almost collapse (looking forward to it, sorry Marc, but it must have turned out fine) and their tagline is to create a child-unfriendly boutique hotel. Brilliant term. Children are not sent away, but don't expect trampolines and fish sticks.
Marc and Madelon, I like you.
Getting in the mood? Take a look at this trailer with an overview of 15 years of I'm Leaving.
Guaranteed laughter.
Image: AVROTROS
