When Hivefest in Amsterdam was announced last year, I knew I couldn't be there. Even though I had promised myself back in 2017 after Hivefest 2 in Portugal, that I'd be there every year from there on, it just wasn't on the charts. I had just moved my family (consisting of 4 children, my daughter's boyfriend, 2 dogs and 1 cat) from Ireland to Mexico in November 2021, so trying to make it back to Europe was just not an option. I was a little sad to miss it but since I had attended 3 fests before it, I counted my blessings and got over it. So when I heard the news that this year it would be here in Mexico, I was overjoyed. I do live all the way on the other side of Mexico, and the country is HUGE...But no one or nothing can stop me from being there this time around. It's ON! In @anomadsoul's very first Road to Hivefest prompt here, we were asked to share some of our memories of previous Hivefests. So let's get started!

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Hivefest2 Lisbon, Portugal 2017. The year everything changed...

I became a member of Hive (then with the name we don't mention...) in June 2017.
Shortly after that, I picked up on some rumors about an event in Lisbon, Portugal.
Hivefest 2. I had no idea what it was or what to expect. All I know was that there was this little voice in my head that told me that I had to go. No matter what.
So I started working on getting us there. 'Us' meaning my 4 kids, myself, and a friend who was going to mind my kids while mommy was off to see what this buzz was all about. It wasn't an easy task, as I promised myself I wouldn't spend my fiat money on the trip but would try to make it solely with my crypto earnings. So I blogged and traded my butt off, and finally the day came when we hopped on the plane for our trip to Hivefest.

Youngest sprout on the plane. 3 years old at the time, and happy to travel the world. Portugal would be our first of many adventures.

We landed in Faro first to spend one day there, and the next day we were on the bus to Lisbon, where the happening happened.

Just a little alley-way in Lisbon near our apartment. And my eldest son posing hehe. You wouldn't recognize him now!

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of photos of the rest of our trip to Portugal, including Hivefest.
They're somewhere... You'll have to forgive me but since we've moved here, lots of stuff still has to surface.

But what I can say about my first Hivefest, is that it was life-changing for me.
I did well, listening to my gut feeling because it was so much more than I expected it to be.
Meeting so many like-minded people, and people from all over the world was just amazing.
The best energy there ever was.

Alright then. I'll close off the Lisbon chapter with two familiar faces...

@anomadsoul in the flesh

And...well, I'm sure he needs no introduction

Hivefest3, Krakow, Poland 2018

Before my first Hivefest had ended, I had already made up my mind that from that day on, I wouldn't miss a single one. So I waited patiently for the year to fly by in order to attend this one.

I had never been to Poland before and it was a nice surprise.
My bestie from the Netherlands was accompanying me to mind the kids, so they were in good hands while I did my thing.

Sorry but this time as well, I have no photos to show. Believe me, I searched. Just like the others, they are somewhere on 2 USB sticks, in a pile of other USB sticks somewhere in a drawer...
Lack of time...

Well, I have one photo. It's not very clear, which is probably for the best because I had a black eye. More about that later...

Me and 3 German Hivean friends

So...the black eye.
I'll put it simple: I got hit by a car, on my first morning in Krakow. I was making my way to the hotel where the first Hivefest welcome evening was going to be, when I crossed the road next to our apartment, a car came around the corner, and boom...
Long story short: I was lucky, he was an ass who 'didn't see me'. He was texting while driving. I'm quite hard to miss to be honest. LOL.

So black eye and all, and what later turned out to be a broken eye socket, I still made my way to the welcome thing that evening, albeit a little drugged haha.
It didn't change anything. Only a coma could have stopped me from seeing everyone again.
Dedication haha.

Hivefest4: Bangkok, Thailand - The Special One

With a much smaller group than before, this one was even more special than the other two I've been to before. Aside from that, it was also in my most favorite country in the world: Thailand.
(Don't worry, Mexico is a very close second haha)

I had to jump through quite some hoops to make it there, as things were going a bit crazy for me in Ireland at that time, with cars breaking down, new jobs not happening, etc.

But, we made it. Aside from making it to Hivefest, I was looking forward to showing my kids the country I loved so much. Or at least part of it.

So here we go. Our story of Thailand in pictures.

A picture of our arrival in the city

Spectacular view at night

On the day we arrived, we were meeting a friend and her two kids. I had met her in a Facebook group for worldschoolers, and her daughter was going to be minding my kids when I was out that week.
We met up and headed for the food stalls, where my eldest son and I had what we had both been looking forward to for weeks. Tom Yum soup. And yes, it was yummy.😄

But there were also some curious food choices on the menu...

But nothing beats a good Thai papaya salad. It's my favorite food of all time, and I can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And very often, I actually did do just that haha. That's the one thing I miss being in Mexico...

Of course, Hivefest was and isn't just all about listening to speakers talk about their (latest) projects. For me, the main thing is connecting with others. And the best way to do this, is by participating in all of the great things that are organized in the evenings. Like this bowling competition we had on one of the evenings. I think me and my team were somewhere last on the list haha but that really doesn't matter. It's fun hanging out with like-minded people. It's not all about winning.

@roelandp is a master in organizing these events, so even a cultural experience is catered for every time. Like when we all visited one of the many Buddhist temples in Bangkok. The picture really doesn't do it justice. It was such a beautiful place!

Each year, Mr. @arcange comes up with something fun to do, and it's usually something that gives people a chance to get to know each other better.
This time, it was hugs. Yes, you heard me right: hugs.
The more hugs, the better it was haha.

As you can see in the photos below, Arcange himself is very good at giving hugs. He's just a very huggable person! In this photo, he's hugging it out with @starkerz but there would be many hugs to give out!

Like here, with @blocktrades & his wife. (Who's name I really have to ask this time around because I've been calling her Mrs. Blocktrades or Blocktrades' wife for years now. This year will be the year haha)

You couldn't say that Arcange isn't practicing what he preaches because he had lots of hugs to give out. It's almost like he knew that the next year, there wouldn't be much hugging...
Maybe he's a psychic? Hmmm...
Aside from hugging, he also liked to have pictures taken with most people there.

Unfortunately, there's always the day when Hivefest is coming to an end. But never without a group photo of all the people who are there...

And we can't forget the magical last good-bye dinner every year. This year, we had it on a boat on the river! It was truly magnificent.

We also had a good-bye party after the dinner. Where the hugs continued...
Maybe or maybe not under the influence of the Thai Sang Som...
Like here this lovely hug between @goblinknackers & @stoodkev
I will not go into further details but it was long...haha.

Oh, and the photo quality may or may not also have been influenced by certain drinks...
Sorry. 😁

Now, you'd think that with this, Hivefest would come to an end, and in a way it did.
But lucky for us, some of the people that attended Hivefest decided to spend some time on one of the Thai islands. I mean, it would be a shame to make this huge trip and not make the best of it, right?

The rest of the gang went ahead, while the kids and I stayed in Bangkok for 2 more days.
My friend Michele, who I've known for many years, from when I lived in Singapore, decided to come and visit us in Bangkok so we got to hang out with her for a bit.

But then, it was time to say good-bye to Michele and we were on our way to Koh Chang to meet the others. Paradise!

I'm not exactly sure how many Hiveans decided to go but, of course, there had to be evening 'meetings'...
Like here, when the hug fest, uh...Hivefest continued with the three Amigos.
They just put up the serious face for the picture. They're normally really nice...
@anomadsoul @theycallmedan & @starkerz

Here's just some nice pictures I took of a snorkeling trip the kids and I went on.
We all loved it! It's really a magical place times 100...

And some fishies...

Of course, I managed to mess stuff up again. After that black eye in Poland, I had to break my toe when I was coming up the stairs on the boat. It was slippery. Well, I slipped and hit my foot against the ship's wall...Ouch! Another memory to bring home. So this time around, I'm hoping that all things will go smoothly...

I lived in Thailand (partly) for a few years, and it has always been one of my most favorite places on earth. The kids also loved it there so we vowed to be back one day. But now, we're quite happy in Mexico, and not just because of the upcoming Hivefest here haha.

Yes, even the best of times have to have an end. And again, not without a last group photo to bring back the memories later in life.

Here we are, some of the larger Koh Chang crew. And one stranger in our midst.

Well, I've come to the end of my collage, as you might say.
But there's just one more thing I'd like to share...
@starkerz was worried that I'd post any of the craziness I happened to capture haha.
I never have. What happens at Hivefest, stays at Hivefest. (don't worry, nothing really crazy happened really...)
But I'm sure he doesn't mind me sharing this.
A little explainer: We did eat a lot of burgers in those weeks...
In this little gif I made, he's trying to devour a big hamburger in three bites.
He won the bet but never received the prize. So now I still owe him a Guinness...Or maybe it'll be Tequila. 😆 Not sure what that hand gesture was at the end...🤣 Probably for all the torture from my end.

Looking forward to more burgers soon...

OK, so this was my story about the 3 Hivefests I was lucky enough to attend.

If you're still on the fence, please come to Mexico for this one. You will meet some of the best % coolest people on earth, and you will make connections you've never thought were possible.

I promise,

you will not regret it,

nor will you forget it.

Ever.

See you in Rosarito!