This month, my dad retired. Because of that, he got a present from some dear colleagues, and we were invited to come along. My dad got a day away on the ship Holland. It has been my dad's lifelong dream to sail on this ship, and because of that, he was pretty excited when he heard his colleagues had arranged this for him.

In the morning, at 9 o’clock, we got aboard the ship and left the harbour around ten. After scaring everybody with the way to loud ship’s horn, we went to the island Vlieland. Everything we could think about was taken care of. We got coffee, tea, and pie, and because it was around two hours of a journey, we even got some very luxe sandwiches for lunch.

After exploring the ship, taking some pictures and having an amazing lunch, we arrived on Vlieland. My dad's colleagues even arranged e-bikes for us to explore the island. It was a beautiful day. We had sun for the whole day, and it only started raining when we were back home. On the island, we went to see the lighthouse and the dunes. We saw various animals, went for ice cream, and ended up on the beach with our feet in the water. Which was still a bit too cold for swimming.

Even our way back to the mainland was special. We saw dolphins on the Waddenzee. I have never seen dolphins so close to home, but what was even more special was my mom's reaction. I have never seen her more excited.