At first, it may sound a little contradictory. Theme parks are busy. Travel can be unpredictable. There are queues, crowds, delayed trains, packed itineraries, noisy streets, overstimulating environments and the occasional moment where everything feels like a lot. Not exactly the picture most people have in mind when they think of zen and yet, travel and theme parks can be surprisingly grounding experiences. In fact, they can pull us into the present moment in a way everyday life often fails to do.

There is something about saying goodbye that never really gets easy even when you know it is coming. Even when you understand the reasons. Even when part of you knows change may eventually lead to something beautiful. Goodbye still hurts. It asks you to loosen your grip on something you loved, something familiar, something that felt safe.

Last week I heard a story. A story about someone who went to a theme park for a multi-day stay and did absolutely everything on the first day. Miles and miles of walking. Ride after ride. Pushing through tiredness. Ignoring the signals their body was giving them because they were excited, happy and wanted to make the most of it all and because of that, they were sick for the rest of their stay.

When you’re planning your next park adventure, you’ve probably seen both terms thrown around: theme park and amusement park. They’re often used interchangeably, yet they’re not the same. And if you love parks as much as we do at Dutch Theme Park Network, you’ll know: the difference matters  especially when you’re choosing where to go next.

No one is born a good travelers and definitely not good theme park traveler. That comes from experience, from forgetting to check opening hours and arriving two hours early to Efteling, from realising your battery hit 3% right before your Lightning Lane window or from learning (way too late) that sunscreen in Orlando is not optional.

Traveling right now seems to come with a question that pops up more and more often: is it still safe? I get that question a lot and even more frequently now. With my plans for a US road trip and a European rail trip, I hear it from both sides of the ocean. People in Europe look at my US plans as if I’ve completely lost my mind. Meanwhile, people in the US ask whether Europe is still safe to visit. And the funny thing is: when you point that out people look at you full of wonder: "Naturally my side of the ocean is safe. Why wouldn't it be?"