2025

I don’t know. I just wanted to write a silly year overview, but nothing fancy comes to mind. Here are six themes in no particular order.

Volleybal

In the beginning of the year, I was a party with a lot of people who play volleyball. As you might know, I am quite tall, so I got asked a lot about volleyball too. At some point it became apparent to me that it was not so much that they wanted to convince me to join, rather it was myself who wanted to be convinced to start playing volleyball.

So since March, I’ve been playing volleyball. There was some drama involved, but I found a nice club in the end and I’m happy with my progress (although it goes much slower than I hoped for in March).

Seriously running again

Because of the drama of volleyball, I was reminded again of the beautiful sport of running. Since you can do this totally on your own at any moment of the day, there is simply no need for drama. You just go for a run.

Halfway June I started to seriously train again. From running 0 kilometers in January (still recovering from a broken foot), I went to running 4 times a week in December, completing a total of 851 kilometer, which included personal best times on 5K (20:32), 21.1K (1:46:19) and 15K (1:06:07). The last one also includes my fastest 10K, according to Strava, but I like to only count chip-times of full events.

Still wearing radical shoes

I’m still almost exclusively walking on barefoot shoes. In the last month, I’ve been wearing ‘foam shoes’ on some days now that I am transitioning into running 4 times a week, and I still wear foamed running shoes, but most of the time I walk on 4mm soles, meaning: almost nothing.

I radicalized even more when this summer I finally got a pair of Vibram 5fingers, yes, the one with individual toes. I bought it so I could use them for walks in the forest, when nobody would see me, but I got over that shame and now wear them in daily life every once in a while because they Just. Feel. So. Good.

Sold my car, back to trains

At the end of June I sold my car. With my new job in the centre of Amsterdam, I was using it less and less, and since I’m politically against cars, it made sense to let go. (Also, owning a car is expensive.)

I’m back to having an NS WeekendVrij card, like I had before covid happened. I also have a Veloretti Ace 2 (e-bike) now, which makes my 11km + 11km commute much easier. (Keep in mind: I’m also running 4 times a week, plus playing volleyball. I feel like I am allowed an e-bike).

Reading and writing

My recap of 2024 was based around notebooks, as I was just into forming a new habit of keeping a Bullet Journal again. Over the last year, it changed form a bit – I don’t use it as to-do manager anymore, it’s more of a life log – but I still do it. I’ve used the mentioned Black B6+ up to May, and switched to the unused Port Red B6+ in June.

Because of that, I know exactly which books I’ve read in 2025. Here’s some titles: Mystiek lichaam by Frans Kellendonk, Silo: Wool, Shift, Dust by Hugh Howey, Vallen is als vliegen, Manon Uphof, The Sluts by Dennis Cooper, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, Apocalypse World by Vincent and Meguey Baker.

Playing a lot of RPGs

That last title is actually a game. In the last quarter of 2025, I started to play tabletop roleplaying games again on a regular basis. In fact, I run a game every week now. Apart from playing them, I also get a lot of joy out of just reading these books, not necessarily for the rules, but mostly because they contain a lot of setting and are designed to tickle your imagination.

Games I played or ran in 2025 are: Mothership, Pirate Borg, Kids on Brooms, Dungeons & Dragons, Daggerheart, The Electrum Archive and Moonlight on Roseville Beach. And if reading is a form of play: Mausritter, Apocalypse World, Brindlewood Bay. I just want to do this more in 2026.