Welcome to Toeps Rewind, 2024 edition. It’s an annual tradition on this blog — except last year, when I spent most of my time complaining about life in this post. In March, I did write something that resembled a year-in-review, here. But I ended 2023 feeling a bit lost, and I can already tell you, that feeling didn’t entirely disappear in 2024. Anyway, let’s start at the beginning.

January began in the Netherlands. I saw my friends, took photos, worked on websites, and had book-related meetings. Looking back now, the photography, in particular, feels almost like a different life. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, of course, but the seemingly random list of activities above is, in reality, deeply interconnected: I work with my friends, I build websites for people I’ve previously photographed, and so on. The longer I’m in Japan, the harder it becomes to make new connections like that. “Well, then you should just make those connections in Japan!” you might say. Sure, but that’s a bit more complicated…

In the Netherlands, I used to stay mostly at Riemer’s place, with the occasional few days in a hotel in between. The Hampton by Hilton in Utrecht was always one of my favorites, and during the pandemic I would often spend a few days there to recharge. Unfortunately, prices have since returned to pre-lockdown levels, so these days I tend to head to Almere instead. (Cheaper hotels? You’ll find them in Almere!)

Mid-January, I flew from the Netherlands to Marseille to meet François’ parents. It was special to see where he came from, and it felt like I suddenly understood him so much better because of it. After a few days in Marseille, we took the train to Lyon, and from there, we also made a trip to Disneyland.

From Disneyland, François took the train back to Marseille, and I took the train back to the Netherlands — or at least, that was the plan. But, of course, it didn’t go as smoothly as I’m used to here in Japan. My train was delayed by three hours and was eventually canceled, and the next train was completely packed. In the end, Riemer came to pick me up in Brussels.

Back in the Netherlands, I photographed Aafke and her husband, who had just created a new podcast series (*Monsters in het Bos*, more info here!). They needed press photos of the two of them together. Maan joined in for the shoot, and Charlotte, as always, took care of hair and makeup.

And then came a small (well, actually big) bucket list moment: I gave a talk about autism for… Disney! It was an event about inclusivity, organized by Disney Benelux. A year earlier, I had already visited their office, but for the longest time, I thought it wasn’t actually going to happen. But it did!

After my talk, the audience could ask questions. One woman asked what Disney meant to me personally, and well, there I was, tearing up. But they all thought it was beautiful—genuine and pure, I believe.

Damn, I shouldn’t make every month this long, or this year in review will turn into an entirely new book! Speaking of new books… In February, I put the finishing touches on the English translation of my book, This autistic girl went to Japan. To promote the book, I did several interviews with Japan-related YouTubers, like Nobita and Yllah.

February was packed with fun! François and I went to see Taylor Swift and Queen (with Adam Lambert) in concert, I lounged on Elyse’s couch watching reruns of K2 zoekt K3, hit the town with Iris—who used to work in styling but was back in the country for a few days as a KLM flight attendant—shopped my way through thrift stores, and spent a weekend at Fujisan and Kawaguchiko with the babe.

In March, Elyse and I went hunting for early-blooming sakura trees to take some promo pics for This Autistic Girl Went to Japan, as the translation had just been released! As a thank you, I also snapped some profile pictures of her.

Also in March: I met with an autism researcher, for whom I would later write three articles. François and I went out exploring, including a visit to the flea market. And I took walks through the city, simply to enjoy the vibe.

At the end of March (or maybe officially the beginning of April, since it was Autism Awareness Week), the Italian translation of my book, Ma tu non sembri autistica, was released. You’ll immediately notice that the cover is different — that’s because my Italian publisher, Il Margine, always uses the same format for its covers. They found this photo of me on Instagram and asked if they could license it. Of course!

Unfortunately, in March, the Starbucks in Keio-Hachioji, the station closest to my house, also closed. Well, actually, the entire shopping center shut down due to structural issues. It still hasn’t reopened, and there’s no information about if or when that might happen. As an autistic person who values routines and familiar places, this was definitely a bummer. But where one Starbucks closes, another one opens…

Sakura, sakura! In April, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom everywhere, so I decided to take a few shots. Though, the local bike path might not have been the best spot for that…

The great thing about sakura season is that it always brings lots of friends and acquaintances to Japan. (Though, that’s also the downside — not the friends and acquaintances, but all the other tourists. Aargh!)

This year, Ella, who had interviewed me for her YouTube channel a few years ago, came to Japan with her family. Ella, who is not only autistic but also has some mobility needs, had seen my posts about the Help Mark. It’s a tag you can attach to your bag to let other travelers know you might need assistance — kind of like the sunflower lanyard in parts of Europe. I picked one up for Ella and dropped it off at her hotel. A few days later, we went to DisneySea together.

Maan was back in town! This time for an exhibition. The photos from her book The Lost World were transformed into three-dimensional dioramas, displayed in around 40 small glass cases built into the streetlights of Harajuku. I attended the opening night.

With François, I celebrated King’s Day at the best alternative to the Netherlands that Japan has to offer: Huis ten Bosch! I had been there before, but François hadn’t. By the way, he’s never been to the real Netherlands either, so now he’s forever spoiled. I made a short video of the King’s Day festivities, and it went a little viral.

While admiring the view from the Dom (the fake one, with an elevator), our eyes were drawn to three concrete towers in the distance. “What are those?” François asked. A quick search on Google Maps revealed they were the former Hario military radio station. The concrete towers are over 100 years old and were once used to transmit long-distance radio signals. It’s sometimes said that the command to attack Pearl Harbor was sent from here, but according to other sources, that’s not true — so, who knows? Anyway, radio towers. And tall ones at that!

After Huis ten Bosch, we weren’t done with the Netherlands just yet, as we visited Dejima in Nagasaki, the former Dutch trading post.

After François flew back to Tokyo (because of work), I visited the abandoned mining island Ikeshima with Maan and Yves. I had been there a year earlier with Riemer, but Maan and Yves were eager to see it. And honestly, what’s more fun than petting stray cats together amidst the concrete ruins?

May was a relatively quiet month. I walked with Maan along Sagamiko Lake, organized François’ kitchen, and started spending more and more time at his place. I also photographed Deloryan and her husband. (Interested in a shoot like that while you’re in Japan? Check out this page.)

My part-time employee Olga made two videos; one of my house and one of my office. They’re a bit outdated now, but you can watch them below.

At the end of May, I bought a Tohoku Rail Pass again — one of the best deals in Japan, in my opinion (though it’s recently become more expensive). The reason for this trip? The Pokémon GO event in Sendai!

Let’s start June with three cozy snapshots. By listing all the highlights, it might seem like I was constantly traveling (and I admit, it was probably a bit excessive this year), but often I’m just at home, working. Building websites, doing book promo, or dealing with visa and administrative stuff. And after a whole day of sitting at home, I often feel pretty lonely. Sometimes I go for a walk, or to a thrift store or something, but nothing beats just hanging out on the phone with Charlotte for three hours. Or well, seeing each other in person is better. More on that later.

Earlier, I mentioned meeting an autism researcher. In June, he invited me to join his conversation group for autistic girls. I wrote about it in this blog post. June also marked the time I seriously started thinking about moving — partly — to François’ place. I had already set up a small desk at his place, and now I wanted to move the office bed to what was previously his cat room. I decided to ask a moving company for a quote, but when it turned out the bed was from Ikea, they suddenly made it very complicated…

I also planned a trip to Nikko, though I somewhat regretted it. Two days later, I would be flying to the Netherlands, so I was incredibly busy preparing for that. But I had seen a post on Twitter from JR East announcing a one-time Spacia train from Hachioji to Nikko. Normally, you can’t go directly from Tokyo to Nikko; you’d have to change trains. This was something special, so I had to be there! I booked one of the last available seats — a perk of traveling alone.

But I was quite tired, on the edge of sensory overload. It was about thirty degrees, it was crowded, and after one and a half temples, I thought: What am I even doing here?! I quickly booked a return ticket on the regular train.

And then it was time to head back to the Netherlands for a little while. I did an interview for the Psychology Inside Out podcast, had work meetings and caught up with my friends. At Riemer’s, there was a parcel waiting for me: the eleventh edition of Maar je ziet er helemaal niet autistisch uit!

This visit was pretty tough. It slowly but surely became clear that I wanted to move in with François, or at least partly, and that was a game-changer for Riemer. I think he understood it better than I did, but this was the last time I visited the Netherlands the way I used to; where Riemer’s house was my base, with quite a bit of my stuff still there. Well, it still is — shoes, jackets, clothes, underwear. Old years of paperwork. Two KLM trolleys that I’d actually like to have in Japan, but, well, how do you even bring something like that? (You’d think that’s what airplanes are made for, but apparently, that’s trickier in practice, lol.)

The upcoming changes were a sign for Riemer to go in a different direction as well, which I wrote about here. So, while I’m writing this blog, looking at photos, and already thinking about my next trip in March/April, I can’t help but feel a bit sad. The end of an era, or something. But hey, Riemer still came to Japan in October, more on that in Toeps Rewind 2024, Part 2! _{(Coming soon. Ish. Because I still have to write the whole thing, and this one took me an entire day or so.)}