I am off to Brussels next week.

Hi guys, just to let you know that I am off to Brussels in Belgium next week. I wasn't going to be able to go on a holiday this Easter period, but as you know, my start up has failed and that left me realizing that I can go for a holiday after all. I was looking up flights for next week and it was frightfully expensive as it is the school holiday period in the UK. So I thought, I'd look at train holidays in the UK and they were crazy expensive as well. Then I thought, hey how about Eurostar? I couldn't get hold of any cheap tickets to France but found a super cheap deal to Belgium. We're talking about Eurostar tickets from London plus a studio apartment in the heart of Brussels for the same price as it would have cost me to buy a return train ticket to Fort William in Scotland. At such incredibly great prices, I couldn't say no.

When I was in Brussels 3 years ago

The alternative would have been flying to Croatia, but the flight times were not great - it would have involved getting up very early on the last day to head to the airport at some unearthly hour to fly back to the UK in time for lunch in London. No thanks, that's a terrible way to end your holiday. And besides, the flight to Croatia wasn't even that cheap - it was still about double what one would have paid compared to the non-school holiday period. Furthermore, I know that I can cycle to the Eurostar terminal from my new house in about 5 minutes - ironically, that's where I normally get the bus to Stansted airport as well. But instead of getting the bus to the airport (which can take 60 - 90 minutes), I am simply hopping on the train and arriving in central Brussels. How convenient is that? It takes just over 2 hours to get to Brussels on the Eurostar train - that's super fast.

Well, the key reason why this deal is so cheap is probably because nobody wants to go to Brussels for a holiday in light of the horrific terrorist attacks just over a week ago. But I have been to Brussels before and I really like the city - well I like Belgium very much. I did remember thinking that I would like to return to Brussels and do it leisurely, rather than rush through the city in 24 hours the way I did last time. I want to demonstrate to the Belgians that I still love their country, that I still love Brussels and I am not afraid to visit - I won't give in to terrorism. Mind you, I told my friends that I am headed to Brussels and the general reaction was, "are you mad? It is not going to be fun. There is going to be a strong police presence everywhere, it is going to be tense. There will be delays because of the additional security. Your Eurostar train may be delayed because of the illegal immigrants trying to get through the tunnel." But no, I'm not put off at all. I will go in the spirit of defiance and I'll have fun. I was so angry when I heard about the terrorist attacks, so actually going there might help me make sense of it all as I strive to get a better understanding of the situation.

In Brussels 3 years ago

The fact is, I have Belgian friends and they can't avoid Belgium in light of what has happened because they live in Belgium. Life still goes on in Belgium regardless of what has happened. I'm going to go there and spend my money there to support their tourism industry. One of my best friends in my gymnastics club is Tricia and she's always afraid of hurting herself. I then asked her, "Trish, have you ever hurt yourself doing gymnastics? Like have you ever done something like sprained an ankle, dislocated a shoulder or broken a finger?" It turns out that Tricia has never ever hurt herself doing gymnastics at all, she hasn't even broken as much as a fingernail yet her fear is often holding her back. If anything, when she is afraid, she actually freaks out and makes stupid mistakes. Her fear is not helping her, but working against her. I told her, "sometimes pain can hold me back when I am injured, I am only human after all and when my body feels pain, I can't train - but my mind is another matter, I don't allow myself to give in to fear even if I do feel afraid at times. My body cannot always be strong, but my brain can be."

As someone who has lived in London and Paris, two cities which have been affected by terrorism, I know that I can be blown up tomorrow in central London and feeling fear doesn't change anything. If I am going to get killed tomorrow, then fuck it, so be it because no amount of fearing or worrying is going to change anything if that's my fate. The Admiral Duncan bomb of April 1999 narrowly missed me. I was actually in a tube station when the London 2005 7/7 bomber struck just 4 stations away. Heck, when I was in Istanbul some years back, I also narrowly missed another bomb. But I am too rational to be worried about being blown up by a terrorist bomb - I am a cyclist and I know I am far more likely to be hurt or killed in a car accident than to be caught up in a terrorist attack. The terrorists want to make people like us afraid and I'm showing them my middle finger and saying, "fuck fear, I'm going to Brussels on holiday. Watch me enjoy myself in Belgium, I am not afraid." This is the break I need - it will give me time and space to think about what I wanna do next with my life as I am turning 40 this month. Thanks for reading, merci bien, dank je wel.

I love Belgium very much..