I fulfilled my dream of visiting Amsterdam

Hello, my name is Rafael, I am currently 30 years old (almost 31), I am a great admirer of Alan around the world and of his work, of the material he creates and for a long time I have wanted to share my story with you, since in some way it was thanks to him.

I was born and raised in a small town called San Felipe, in the state of Yaracuy, which is in the central west of Venezuela. Since I was a child, I was curious to know the world, to explore, to know what was beyond what I knew. However, the situation in my country in recent years, the economy of my home and other factors made it simply impossible for me to dream of being able to take a plane one day.

When I was 22 (2015) I moved to the city of Valencia, in the state of Carabobo to finish my studies. At that time I had a strong desire to learn English, and I became obsessed with the idea of ​​taking an intensive course in London. I read about its history, its important people, its culture, and I was simply fascinated with everything England had to offer.

Now comes the funny part.

My love for London and British culture remained intact, but it wasn’t until 2016 that this changed completely. A cousin who always listened to me talk about history, art and culture, one day sent me a video of a boy who was taking a tour of the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Do you remember? At that moment, three things happened that left their mark on me: first, I met Alanxelmundo on Youtube. Second: I saw the playlist he was uploading about the Netherlands at the time. And third: I fell madly and unimaginably in love with Amsterdam. With each video I saw, a genuine love and authentic fascination for Amsterdam and the Netherlands was born inside me. The obsession was so great that I talked to everyone I met about Amsterdam, and told them to watch Alan Around the World’s videos. When I was a little discouraged by the situation in my country, if something happened to me or I was worried, the way to regain a little hope was to go to the YouTube channel and watch videos of the city of my dreams, Amsterdam, of all the wonderful things there, and think that I didn’t know how, or when, or in what way, but one day I would be able to visit it.

In December 2018, after a lot of effort, work and sacrifice, I found myself in the need to leave my country. I was fortunate to move to Chile, a magnificent country where I lived for a little over three years in Viña del Mar. During that time there were many things on my mind, and one of them was more than clear, Amsterdam. A little after a year of having arrived, the pandemic began in 2020; borders and airports began to normalize at the end of 2021, and with a little administration and order I decided to move again, this time it would be to Madrid, Spain, where I currently reside since July 2022. Time went by, my situation normalized, and finally, in July 2023 (last year), after having wanted it so much, I was able to travel to the Netherlands and visit Amsterdam. I was only there for 3 days for work reasons, but I can say that I spent my 30th birthday in the place I had most wanted to visit in the world.

Seven years have passed since I first saw Alan’s videos, and I have never stopped being fascinated by how wonderful this city is. Its streets, its museums, its canals, its history, and all of that came to me thanks to him.

By the way… My full name is Rafael Morales Bereslew, my mother is called Tania Bereslew Rodriguez, and my grandfather’s father was called Vladimir Bereslew Stekin, who was born in the small town of Uzice, about 200 km southwest of Belgrade, in Serbia. This weekend I am traveling to my grandfather’s homeland, and I will spend my 31st birthday in his hometown. Indirectly, these ideas also come from Alan.

Good luck travelers, hugs.