Happy New Year everyone! I can’t believe this will be my third year living in Curaçao. I have this tradition every year, a tradition of reflection. Usually my husband and I will go through our camera roll month-by-month and talk about everything we did in the year. We talk about highs and lows, things we learned, goals we achieved, and aspects we’d like to work on.

I wanted to share a recap of my 2025 as it was a year to remember. From taking my first cruise, visiting Disney World, and traveling to Italy to more serious events like our dog, Basil, passing away. Even though I post highlights of my travels and living in Curaçao, I think it’s important to also show some of the more real side of my life. So without further ado, here’s what I did in 2025:

Table of Contents

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December
• Looking Ahead to 2026
• Kat’s Final Thoughts

January

The year always starts with my husband’s birthday. He’s a New Year’s baby and he won’t let me forget it. For his birthday, we didn’t do anything. That’s always his request. He does so much every week and I drag him to stuff on the weekends so his sole wish was to do absolutely nothing. So that’s what we did! We just hung out at home and watched TV.

I mentioned before that Fora is my host agency for my travel business, and a lot of the community know me as the advisor living in Curaçao. As a result, I get a bunch of people each year who reach out to me to let me know they’ll be on the island and want to meet up with a fellow advisor. In January, I met up with Kelsey (@catchkpifyoucan) while she was on a brief port stop. We had lunch at Kome (I will never turn down a chance to have their brussel sprouts) and chatted about travel, food, and the island experience.

Also this month I finally tried out Villa Vis in Jan Thiel, a waterfront seafood restaurant that’s similar to the popular De Visserij. This is the type of restaurant where you can see the fresh caught seafood in the display (like at a supermarket), tell the staff how many kg of fish you want, and let them know how you want it cooked. During our visit, we got fried shrimp, funchi, and swordfish (I think) all served with lime wedges. We also got a couple rolls of fresh sushi, which was my personal favorite. This place was no frills, first come first served seating overlooking the Spanish Waters. It was excellent for a casual seafood date!

February

February was a busy yet exciting month. I had been looking forward to taking my first ever cruise and, to be completely honest, a little nervous about traveling by myself. Before cruising, I thought I would be scared of being in the open ocean with no way to escape, but I realized that you really don’t think about that when you’re on the ship.

First, I flew to Miami. I’ve written about flying to Miami a few times on the blog, and what the lounge inside the Curacao airport looks like. I planned to stay a few nights in Miami to take care of a few errands before hopping on the cruise ship. On my list was to get a new phone, pick up a Kindle, explore more of Miami, and do some clothes shopping. Why wait until Miami for the shopping? Because nearly everything in Curaçao is imported, marked up, and expensive. Anything that gets shipped to the island is subject to duties (anywhere from 9% to 20%) so it’s cheaper to pick stuff up when you’re already traveling.

The cruise itself was a success. I traveled as a solo passenger with Virgin Voyages and loved the experience (it was adults-only!). I published a blog post every day I was on the cruise so you can read a play-by-play of my first cruise experience. After the cruise, my husband flew to Miami to meet up with me for the second part of our trip. We rented a car and drove to Orlando for a week at the Conrad Orlando and a day at Disney. The trip was a lot of fun, and we loved the Conrad.

March

March was a cool down month. We had a busy February and by the end of our trip I was aching to get home, back in my comfortable bed cuddling with the pups. The month was pretty low key with a couple of beach days and some dates with friends. This is the month we started to notice Basil peeing funny, so we took him to the vet and switched him to kidney food.

Another Fora advisor, Bri (@jetsetta.travel), came to visit Curaçao this month. We had been chatting on Instagram for a while and she let me know she’d be on the island. It was so nice to meet her in person since it can be a little isolating living on an island. There are always advisor events and site visits going on in the US, but I can’t get to them! So when advisors reach out to me, it feels like I’m actually part of the community which is nice. We had a lovely brunch at BijBlauw and chatted about travel (of course).

We also tried out a relatively new restaurant in Jan Thiel Beach called Agave. I had seen the construction over the past few months and was so excited for a Mexican restaurant to open up. We met up with our friends for a double date night and had a delicious dinner. Agave is tapas style Mexican cuisine right on the beach by the beach tennis court. Beautiful ocean views and rainbow string lights made it a perfect date night spot.

April

In April, I focused a bit more on home life. I got really into gardening and my plants were blooming this month. Even though Curaçao is extremely hot, I like to experiment with which fruits and vegetables will grow here. They’re mostly in the shade. This month I had a bountiful harvest of cherry tomatoes, birds eye chilis, and snacking peppers. Also in the garden was basil, rosemary, and mint, which I also harvested. We ended up making homemade pasta, marinara sauce, and meatballs with the ingredients – all from scratch!

We got the news that Basil had been diagnosed with kidney disease and the only course of action was managing the disease as there was no reversing. My husband and I made more of an effort to take him on car rides and leashed walks. Looking back, I’m grateful for that as I have heartfelt memories (and pictures) of those days.

Our friends invited us over for dinner to celebrate Easter. Jeremiah and I tried, and horribly failed, to make bunny cupcakes but it’s the thought that counts, right? We didn’t realize a lot of places would be closed on Monday after Easter, so we drove around with 2 miles (!!!!) left in our car trying to find an open gas station. It’s funny to laugh about now, but at the time we thought we were going to push our car home.

May

My month of May was spent mostly planning the big trip for June, but when I wasn’t planning you could find me tending to the garden. We did a lot of home cooking this month! Since we had picked fresh limes from the garden, we made Pad Thai from scratch which was amazing. We also made mango and sticky rice, but we didn’t use our own coconuts because they’re a pain to open. I made kimchi jjigae multiple times, and Jeremiah made Kitchen Sink cookies.

Mother’s Day was this month, and Jeremiah got me a lovely bouquet of roses. He then took me to try a newish Italian restaurant in Punda called a Roma. This restaurant sits right on the waters of Waaigat overlooking the lights of Pietermaai. I made the mistake of wearing a loose dress, and let me tell you it was breezy over there. The lit up heart made for the perfect backdrop on Mother’s Day.

The food at a Roma was pretty good! Since we would be in Italy the following month, the dinner made me even more excited for our trip. We ordered bruschetta (seasoned tomatoes on bread) and carbonara supplí (fried rice balls) to start which were pretty good, though the bruschetta portions were small. The supplí had a gooey cheesy center and the rice was seasoned beautifully. For our mains, we wanted to try a pizza and a pasta. I ordered the capricciosa pizza and Jeremiah ordered the gnocchi sorrentina. Both dishes were really tasty! For dessert, I had to order the tiramisu, and to my surprise it came deconstructed. The staff didn’t explain what I should do other than “put it together” so I did my best and it tasted like tiramisu. My husband got the gelato affogato which he said hit the spot. Overall, a delicious, yet pricey, Italian restaurant with beautiful water views.

June

June was a huge travel month for us. We had two weddings to get to, on top of exploring the countryside of Tuscany and enjoying a romantic time off the island. Prior to our trip, I was dealing with potential thyroid issues. Basically, the doctor ordered me a blood test and my levels came back just at the cusp of hypothyroidism but not technically within range. I had to take another test to double check the results, which was the same, so the doctor didn’t do anything. The good thing is, I didn’t have to pay for any of the doctor’s appointments or blood tests because I have an SVB card (universal healthcare). The bad thing is, the doctors are not very proactive about treating ailments here. Even though I explained I have a number of hypothyroidism symptoms, they didn’t want to take action until the numbers were within range.

Besides the doctor’s appointments, we were just getting ready for our big trip. I’m sure you’ve seen some of my Italy blogs already. In fact, I still have a number of them on my list and in my drafts to publish! We flew from Curaçao to Amsterdam to Bologna in KLM’s Business Class and then rented a Mini Cooper Convertible to drive to our hotel in Tuscany. Our hotel in Tuscany was the gorgeous Castelfalfi, which we absolutely fell in love with. We spent a few days in Florence to attend my friend’s wedding, and then we headed to Rome for the rest of our trip.

Even though we had a packed itinerary for Rome, it was actually the most fun we’ve had traveling together. I let go of the idea of “trying to make the most of our time” by being out all day, and instead we just listened to our bodies. And by that I mean we took a bunch of naps. I used to be anti-nap because I felt pressured to make the most of every second I was traveling, but I realized that made the trip more stressful and less enjoyable. This time, we traveled slower, took breaks in cafes, went up to have drinks at the bar, stayed in for room service when we were tired. It made for a better trip for us!

After Rome, we flew to Boston (direct flights on Delta!) to attend another friend’s wedding. I’d love to say it was good to be back in Boston, but I’d be lying. After so many years of living there, I am over the cold, the chaotic city life, and the traffic. We were only in Boston for a few days though, so we made the best of it, visited some of our old haunts, and attended the wedding. It was a beautiful wedding on a farm, and it was so nice to see some of my friends.

July

I was pretty pooped from a busy month of traveling. When we arrived back in Curaçao, we realized the Panda Express at the airport was finally open and we ordered some food to take home. It tasted like heaven! Dutch Chinese food is just not the same, and Panda Express definitely filled that void of American Chinese food on the island.

Jeremiah and I got pretty sick after returning from Boston. And yes, we blame Boston. We always get sick after visiting there. The first few weeks of July were spent trying to rest and recover. I met up with a friend of mine at Outside In, a cafe inside BijBlauw (it’s closed now – sad!) to catch up and we made a plan to start going to cafes for co-working days. I also got some much needed beach time at Jan Thiel Beach, and visited the farmer’s market to pick up some treats. One day, we tried Rolling Roti for the first time and enjoyed their chicken rotis (a speciality from Suriname!).

Toward the end of the month, I broke out in hives all over my body for about 3 days. It was so weird, and by the time I was prescribed medicine for it, they started to go away. I have no idea what caused it, but it started on my hands and arms before moving to the rest of my body. Thankfully, I haven’t had an episode since.

August

The beginning of this month was very much focused on home life and work. We spent more time with Basil as we started to see his health and mobility decline more. I had been craving tiramisu since our visit to Italy and we found Italian ladyfingers at Carrefour so I ended up making some of my best tiramisu yet. I also harvested more limes from the garden and used them for some taco bowls we made for dinner.

About once a month we’ll treat ourselves with a visit to one of our favorite bakeries on the island, Zeven Oven and Cups. The owner and her team make incredible tasting pastries and a mean sourdough. It’s not the kind of bakery with fancy and neat little French pastries in the display case. Instead, it’s a bit more rustic with cinnamon rolls and cookies on the countertop, tres leches in a mini fridge, and a sandwich bar only open towards the end of the week. The owner clearly loves baking and it shows in the quality of her baked goods. We normally pick up cachitos and a cinnamon roll.

Toward the end of the month was Kaya Kaya Festival, one of the big art celebrations on the island. The festival highlights the intersection of Curaçao music, culture, and art in the Otrobanda neighborhood while aiming to empower the urban community. The festival took place in Otrobanda near Kura Hulanda Village and the bus stop, and it was a huge production. There were multiple stages, musicians, food vendors, craft vendors, and art galleries around the area. Last year, the festival took place on the other side of Otrobanda and it felt more open. I’m not sure if they change locations every year, but we had a great time.

At the very end of the month, the power went out on the entire island for a whole day. For us, it was from 1:00 AM or so until 8 PM the next day. This meant no electricity and no internet. With the little data we had on our phones, we checked Instagram and saw that Number Ten was open for coffee and they were using a generator so we had a brief reprieve from the heat. We spent the rest of the day hanging out with the dogs and giving Basil extra love. That’s island life for you!

September

September was a really tough month for us. Within the first few days, we had to say goodbye to Basil. I don’t want to rehash all of the sad details here, but if you want to read about it I wrote a blog post about his struggle with kidney disease and how we dealt with it. I’ll just say, he was an amazing dog and we miss him every day.

The rest of the month we tried to take it easy. We went out to the beach, got treats at Starbucks, played a lot of Skyrim to distract myself, and cuddled with Lady and Chomp. At the end of the month, Jeremiah had set up a private beach day for our first wedding anniversary. It was a very romantic day at Landhuis San Nicolas, which you can read about on the blog.

At the end of the month, we stopped by a new cafe and brownie bar that opened up not far from us. They’re called Barlicious, and the owner bakes cakes, brownies, and cupcakes. We actually had their brownies at one of the farmer’s markets and promised we’d stop by when they opened. The cafe was decked out in pink, and it was so cute. They do “croffles” or croissant waffles on the weekends and have delicious coffee. The star of the show is their brownie selection. They offer multiple flavor variations and each of them are fudgy instead of cakey.

October

We started out the month by being asked to foster a dog that was being abused. The poor dog, Emma, was kept on such a tight leash outside 24/7 that it started to cut into her neck deeply. Unfortunately, this is a common occurance on the island. Emma had been adopted as a puppy, and then given to someone when her owners went back to the Netherlands. The new owner severely neglected this dog and kept her outside. We were still healing from Basil’s passing and thought we would try to do something positive by fostering her until she could fly to the Netherlands.

We have never had a puppy or large dog before. All of the dogs we’ve adopted have all been older and smaller, and we like it that way. Emma was a rambunctious puppy and so full of life once she realized she could live off leash and not be in constant pain. Her first night with us, she vomited up bits of a leash or collar, some grass, and plastic. She was a sweet girl, and it warmed our hearts to see her bounce back as her neck wound healed. We brought her to the airport in November where she flew to the Netherlands, got adopted by a sweet couple, and is enjoying her happily ever after.

Also in October, we picked up a blind pug off the streets near the airport. Someone had posted seeing a pug on the street for a few days and no one had claimed him. As former pug owners, our heart broke knowing that a pug was out on the streets fending for himself. We drove around the neighborhood to look for him, but no luck. A few days later, someone from the neighborhood reached out to me saying she found him and was holding him for us. This dog was in bad shape. He was covered in ticks and fleas, had a fresh wound on his side, both ears infected, eyes chronically dry leading to blindness, and patches of missing fur everywhere.

Jeremiah and I brought the pug to the vet immediately to check if he had a chip, and he didn’t. We got him on meds, gave him a chip, and named him Meatball. The vet had told us that the blindness was irreversible, and that we should consider removing his eyes for his future comfort. Long story short, we got him neutered, eyes removed, infections cleared, and today he’s a beautiful happy pug who is learning to navigate our home blind. Plus, his hair all grew back!

Aside from the dogs, a lot happened this month. We tried a new restaurant for our anniversary, a French bistro called Cafe George. I wrote a blog post on that restaurant if you want to check it out! Another Fora advisor, Katie (@traveling_with_katie) came to the island, and this was actually her second time back to Curaçao after enjoying it the first time. We had dinner together at Agave and chatted about… you guessed it, travel. Other things that happened this month: we spent my birthday at Mondi City Beach Club, carved pumpkins (yes, you can get them here), had dinner at Denny’s, and tried out Tony Roma’s for the first time.

November

I needed a break after such a busy October. Emma flew to the Netherlands the first week of November. We spent a lot of the month focusing on trying to get Meatball the help he needed. He had a weeks-long recovery after his eye surgery. I decided this month to start posting more about life in Curaçao on my social media, so I made a video about what seeing a movie is like on the island.

@farahildeblog

How much does a movie date cost where you live? 👈🎥🍿 I’m trying to post more about daily life in Curaçao, and we go the movies 2-3 times a month depending on what’s playing. It’s our go-to date and it’s sooo much cheaper than the US. I forgot to mention that they do discounted tickets on weekdays and you can buy tickets with Fun Miles (which you get when grocery shopping and stuff). Let me know if there’s any other Curaçao content you want to see! Head to Farahilde.com if you want to check out some of my blogs about living on the island 🙂 #curacao #caribbeanlife #movietheater #moviedate #expatlife

♬ original sound – Kat 🏝️ curacao life + travel

I met up with my friend, Ashley, at La Reina and realized that the cafe expanded to an oceanfront restaurant and beach club. It’s about time! I had always thought that it was a shame La Reina was so close to the ocean, but you couldn’t see it. Now, as you walk past the cafe area, the dining room opens up to a gorgeous view of the beach. The decor is Italian Riviera inspired and the menu consists of contemporary dishes like oysters, nicoise salad, steak, etc. I really enjoyed it and went 2 more times in December.

If you’re following me on Instagram or TikTok, you’ll know that Christmas on the island starts early. The Christmas decorations start popping up around mid-November, and keep getting more grand leading up to the big day. Even our Starbucks started their holiday menu in November, but they didn’t have my favorite Sugar Cookie latte. The island was bustling this month because Curaçao’s football team qualified for the FIFA World Cup which was a major deal. It was so nice to see everyone honking, screaming, singing, dancing, and waving flags to celebrate. The schools and government offices even got the day off to celebrate!

December

This month was all about Christmas. Jeremiah and I aren’t usually big into holidays, but this year I decided to really celebrate it. We went to multiple Christmas markets, picked up a fake Christmas tree, bought a few new ornaments, baked a lot of holiday treats, enjoyed the light displays downtown, and much more.

A few highlights from the month included trying out seasonal Triple Treat Box from Pizza Hut (omg this was so good!), having a date night at La Reina and Kome, trying Caleo for the very first time, and watching the new Spongebob movie. Our Christmas day was very chill, and I don’t think we left the house for 2 days straight.

At the end of the month, we decided to celebrate New Year’s by watching the fireworks at Jan Thiel Beach. We had done the firework shows downtown, and we really didn’t want to be far from home this year. I booked us the New Years buffet at Papagayo Resort, and it ended up being pretty lame. The food wasn’t good at all, and they sat us inside stating that beach seating was for large parties only. This meant we couldn’t enjoy the live music. We didn’t see any performances during our dinner, so after eating we went back home and then came back just before midnight. The fireworks show was great! We didn’t need to book dinner to see the fireworks, a lesson learned for next year. That said, I’m grateful to end another year on a beautiful island with my husband and pups.

Looking Ahead to 2026

Well, we’re already halfway through January 2026 and I have to say the year is off to a great start. I’m feeling optimistic that it’ll be a good year. What I’d like to do for the blog this year is focus more on Curaçao, which means writing about more restaurants, beach clubs, and hotels. I’d also love to get over to Aruba and Bonaire and compare all of the ABC islands, since they’re popular destinations to combine.

I absolutely love planning luxury trips for clients, and I’ll continue to do so this year. I especially love when people stumble upon my blog, read about a luxury hotel, and then reach out to me to book it for them. I’m hoping to take a few trips this year that’ll allow me to write about more luxury properties so I can share my experience with you all.

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on the blog? Let me know in the comments down below. If you want to see more about being a travel advisor, living in Curacao, moving to Curacao, luxury hotels, or suggested itineraries, let me know. I’m all ears!

Kat’s Final Thoughts

If you’ve made it this far in the blog, thank you for sticking with me through this long recap. I appreciate your support always, even if you engage from afar. Whether you’re reaching out to say hi, ask questions, or request trip planning, your support means everything to me.

2025 was a crazy, busy year, and I’m grateful for everything I learned and experienced. That said, I’m glad it’s over and I’m looking forward to what this year holds. I’m excited to experience my 3rd year living in Curaçao and sharing my expat and travel experiences with you all. Here’s to an amazing 2026!