I spent the first half of the week co-hosting the ReConnect retreat in a beautiful forest estate in Hilversum, about half an hour away from Amsterdam. Kathleen and I welcomed eight UX research leaders—brilliant, generous and dedicated—to work on strategy, unbothered by as few commitments and daily frictions as possible, in a conversational space that nurtured trust, honesty, and connectedness.

I’m still marvelling at the breakthroughs and groundedness of clarity achieved. As coaches and facilitators, it’s what we design for, and dearly hope for… and it’s always an honor to witness the thrill of the realizations. This retreat is particularly gratifying for me because the participants are also industry peers. I also benefit from being uplifted, connected and inspired!

Prior to Hilversum, Kathleen and I had lunch in Amsterdam, where we also caught a retrospective of the Austrian filmmaker Ulrich Seidl at the Eye Filmmuseum. Seidl creates films of seemingly ordinary individuals, people who try to, in their own ways, make something of life in a late-capitalist society in which meaning has been replaced by consumerism. Indeed, that description is a perfect expression of what I saw…

After the retreat, I spent a few days in Katwijk aan Zee, near Leiden, with an AQ colleague. We took in the beach, checked out a windmill museum, and hopped over to Rotterdam to visit the Depot of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, the “world’s first publicly accessible art storage facility”. I’d gotten a combined ticket that included museum entry, a tour of some of the storage rooms and dinner. I’m so fascinated by this place.

On the weekend, we moved to Eindhoven for Dutch Design Week. I’d visited in 2024 and was looking forward to the injection of inspiration. We primarily toured the grad shows and it didn’t disappoint. One more day would have been nice, to visit some of the other sites, but it’s time to go home.

It’s been a huuuuuge week.