I’d be such a great influencer if I turned everything I’m about to share in this blog into separate posts. “Autastisch Leven audiobook now available!” “Apartment for sale!” But nope, it’s another chaotic, thrown-together mess à la Toeps, because after just a week and a half there’s already way too much to tell.

Yeah, that. It took a while, because even though I recorded it in the studio in Weesp before my book launch, the whole thing still had to be edited. And once the files were delivered, I still had to upload it to CB. But this week it finally happened: my audiobook is live!

I suddenly remembered that years ago, for my first book, I had a collaboration with Storytel. I asked around among some writer friends, and one of them told me it now works through an affiliate company. Basically, I get a link, and if people sign up through that link, I earn money from it. Now, the thing is, audiobooks themselves don’t pay sh*t, so you mostly make them for accessibility (and maybe to reach new readers who might end up buying the book afterward anyway). But if all of you now follow my link, create an account, and enjoy 30 days of Storytel for free, I might actually get rich after all. And of course, you’ll get to enjoy four hours of Toeps in your ears – even more if you go ahead and grab my first two books as well.

I already wrote about it last week: my moving plans. I wanted to put my office/apartment up for sale so I could later buy something closer to home. Last week I was still unsure about the price and the strategy, but after reading some of your comments and sleeping on it, I decided to go for the most relaxed approach: just list it at a fair price and see what happens. We can always lower it later – or not.

I took photos, got the spare key back from Kei (a perfect excuse for a coffee), and sent everything to the real estate agent. This morning I got an email: it’s live! The price in euros is around €32,500 (no, there isn’t a zero missing). Know anyone looking for a place like this? Feel free to pass it on!

Of course, it wasn’t an easy decision to sell my place. Precisely because we’re going for a relaxed approach, I have no idea what I’ll end up with afterward. I can’t go ahead and buy a new office just yet, and I’ll probably be without one for a few months. And at home… it was a complete mess.

For a moment, I really felt overwhelmed. “What am I doing?! What am I even still doing here in Japan?! Everything was so much easier in the Netherlands!” But then I remind myself that for the amount you pay for a small apartment in Japan, you wouldn’t even get a garage box in the Netherlands.

It took until the last day of Golden Week (aka Japan’s spring holiday), but in the end I managed to get François to tidy up the house together. The rug and kotatsu blanket went away (a kotatsu is a table with a heating element underneath and a blanket over it so you can stay warm in winter – but it’s 25 degrees now, so that thing really had to go), papers sorted, dishes done… We were almost finished when François’ phone rang: a family friend was in the area and wanted to stop by. Perfect timing, haha!

For this coming Sunday, we’ve rented a car so we can take things to the thrift store and pick up a cabinet from Hachioji to put in my current room. I function so much better in a tidy space, and now that the conditions are right, I feel a lot more confident about my plan to sell.

Even though I don’t know exactly what will happen with my office/apartment, I’m just moving ahead with my plans. I’m aiming to come to the Netherlands again in September/October. To prepare for this trip a bit, I gave my speaking page a refresh with a grid of logos from previous clients. October 10 is World Mental Health Day, which makes for a great hook for talks and book promotion. (If you’d like to book me, work for an organization that might, or have a good tip for me, feel free to reach out at boeken@toeps.nl!)

I went on a city walk with François, had tea with Britt, photographed a Dutch family on holiday in Japan, and visited the cat temple Gotokuji with Jenna and her family.

Seventeen years ago, Jenna was my model during that dramatic photography trip in Tokyo (those who’ve read my first book will know what I’m talking about — the rest of you can go check Storytel now, haha!), but she’s now married and a mom to a son.

The best part was that Jenna turned out to have photos from our trip seventeen years ago that I’d never seen before. Or maybe I had buried those traumatic memories deep down – that’s possible too. Either way, it was amazing to see them again. That hair! Those outfits! At least I turned out alright in the end.

With Golden Week behind us, normal life is starting up again. I’m looking forward to co-working dates with my French girlies, the next meetup Dora has organized, tea with friends, and everything else I don’t know about yet.

There are a lot of fun, new things coming my way, but the tricky part is that I don’t really know who, what, where, or when yet. “But Toeps, don’t autistic people need that kind of information?” Uh, yeah. That’s kind of always my problem. At the same time, there are things I have almost delulu-level confidence in – so I’m just trying to apply that to everything now. So far, everything has always worked out. Right?