The year 2017 - Looking back

Every year, when it's almost December 31th, we all start looking back. Thinking of what happened in the past year, what has changed? Where were we at the beginning and where are we now?

I can say the year 2017 was a special year, so much has happened! A year ago I didn't have 234k followers on Instagram, no YouTube channel, I didn't know about Steemit and crypto's yet and I certainly didn't know I would be able to cycle 400 km through the mountains of Vietnam!

2017 - The SOCIAL MEDIA year

For me, the year 2017 is definately the social media year. In the second week of January my Instagram account exploded after I posted this image.

It got more than 280.000 likes and my account started to grow really fast. I wrote some blogs earlier this year, about the experience:

• Part 1 -- The Beginning
• Part 2 -- Kindness
• Part 3 -- Persistency and Patience
• Part 4 -- Content is King
• Part 5 -- The Future

Half way through the year I started my own YouTube channel: Art with Flo
At first it was so hard to make videos, talk about the process of painting in Photoshop and even show up in front of the camera! Slowly I'm getting more used to it though ;) I'm hoping the grow and improve even more in the year 2018. I'll continue teaching my followers about digital painting, it's so much fun and incredibly rewarding.

Steemit

In June of this year, I started a Steemit account, yay! I immediately found out how warm and caring this community is and I gained some lovely friends. I hope this platform will keep growing in 2018! I can't wait till I can review the year 2018 and look back at all the awesome things that will happen :D

2017 - The PERSONAL CHALLENGE year

The year 2017 was also the year of my personal challenge, cycling 400 km through the mountains of Vietnam for charity.
While the Vietnamese economy continues to grow, a lot of children and families still live in poverty. It's most difficult for the ethnic minorities (about 14% of the population). More than 70 percent of minorities live in extreme poverty.

In the year 2016 I came up with the idea to do something for charity, I decided to go to Vietnam and cycle 400 km with the charity organization Plan. I trained for a whole year and raised over €4000,-
Together with 23 other cyclists we went to Vietnam to see the projects of Plan with our own eyes.

Cycling through the wonderful landscapes of Vietnam and meeting the locals is something I will never ever forget. Looking at the photos I feel like I'm back in the moment, feeling the heat, the pain in my legs while cycling and the wonderful smiles of the kids running along.

2017 - The WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY year

Of course the year 2017 was also full of awesome weddings! As a Wedding Photographer I get to go to the most awesome places and meet lovely new people almost every week! I made lots of pictures I'm proud of, this year. Here are some of my favorites:

2018 - What's to come?

I'm excited to find out what the year 2018 will bring. I'll start working for Dunkin' Donuts in the Netherlands at the beginning of the year, managing all their social media, yay! I'm also really excited where Steemit will go the coming year and how I'll be able to improve my teaching skills ;)
I'll keep you all posted!

Now I wish you all the best for the year 2018! Happy STEEMING!

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