Hard to believe we’re only twenty days out from Den Bosch – that is, the Netherlands. Everything from the hostels to the flights to the trains have been booked and paid for, and the entertainment and good eats properly researched. Now all that remains is the wait.

I’ve spent practically my whole life waiting for nothing, so I anticipate the next few weeks will be a cake walk.

The reason, perchance, for this voyage across the Atlantic: the famed 15^th century Dutch painter, Hieronymus Bosch. 2016 marks the 500^th anniversary of his death, and to honor this landmark year, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (colloquially termed Den Bosch, Dutch for “the forest”), the town in which Bosch was born and which likely inspired his apocalyptic milieu, will be throwing a massive celebration marked by ornate light displays, parades, guided tours, and a ~boat trip of Heaven and Hell~ (hopefully with the same cadence as the boat scene from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory).

For those unfamiliar with Bosch’s art, he is renowned for his triptych work, of which The Garden of Earthly Delights, an oil on oak rendering of the biblical story of Creation, is heralded as the most profound; his work is marked by its incorporation of fanciful imagery, expansive and intricately detailed landscapes, and religious, otherworldly overtones. Even today, by modern standpoints, his work can be at times difficult to interpret; but by no means does that undercut his importance to the art world, even going forward into 2016 and beyond.

And by 2016, Den Bosch, the small medieval Dutch town, was able to accomplish the unfathomable. Of the existing 25 panels created by Hieronymus Bosch during his lifetime, the Noordbrabants Museum has curated a collection of 20 for the occasion. Additionally, 19 of 25 existing drawings will also be on display. It took Charles de Mooij, the museum director, about seven years to secure the loans for these items, and none too soon.

That is why this year is the year of Bosch.

My friends and I can’t wait to explore the small town that will be transformed as if overnight into fantastical, devilish scenes painted into being by the Dutch master.

Of course, we’ll also be stopping through some other places on the way there. Justine and I will be flying into Copenhagen, Denmark from Los Angeles, while her boyfriend flies in from Seoul, South Korea.

To give an overview, here’s a piece of what our itinerary currently looks like:

Day 1: Copenhagen, DK

Day 2-3: Fly into Amsterdam, NL via Schiphol Airport

Day 4-5: Rotterdam/Den Haag/Den Bosch, NL

Day 6: Train to Brussels, BE

Day 7-9: Train to Paris, FR

Day 10-11: Fly into Copenhagen, DK via Kastrup Airport

In Paris, we’ll also be hitting the Crazy Horse Saloon, the iconic French cabaret, where we’ll be catching a curated version of the show by burlesque super-starlet and glamazon-maven, Dita Von Teese. It’ll be very exciting indeed to visit Alain Bernardin’s much-lauded French girlie show that went on to inspire (and even launch) many careers and theater houses in the midcentury American peeling-teasing-stripping industries! I’m a sucker for showgirls and in particular, the artistry of dance – whether clothed or unclothed – as well as the myth of the tease. As a student of show business and as a woman myself, I find I’m captivated by the power that rhythm, movement, confidence, and skin can impart, casting awe over an audience of spectators at the hint of a wink; she is mirth, she is a bastion of will and sexuality – whether rhinestoned or bare shouldered – subverting the male gaze. And she owns it; she owns herself.

Though I doubt we’ll be able to hit the Musée de la Magie (the Museum of Magic) or the Musée des Arts Forains (Museum of Carnival Arts) in Paris – places I hope to visit with my cousin in the future – hopefully we’ll be able to stop by the Musée Galliera (The City of Paris Fashion Museum), or some collection of the sort. Justine and I have gone fabric shopping together in the fashion district of Los Angeles several times in the past, – and have even discussed possibly collaborating someday (boy, do I hope!) – so curated collections of clothing, in Paris no less, seems like a must.

In Amsterdam, we’ve set our sights to Sauna Deco – an authentically Parisian spa located along the Amsterdam canals! Even though we’ll be visiting Paris just a few days after being in Amsterdam, we feel like there’s no point in passing over the beauty (and luxury, and price-point!) of this little Dutch gem; everything from the gilded gold railings, wooden beamed ceilings, arched windows and spiral staircases make it a likely pit stop amid all the hustle and bustle.

While in The Hague, we intend to see miniatures at Madurodam (aka, Little Netherlands) and the Escher Museum – a collection of works by the graphic artist housed in the Lange Voorhout Palace. Hopefully, time permitting, we will be able to explore Beelden aan Zee, the only Dutch museum specializing in sculpture, the Binnenhof and the Ridderzaal, – 13^th century Dutch parliament buildings — Museum Meermanno (House of the Book), and the Museum Mesdag, an art museum showcasing the collection of Hendrik Willem Mesdag in his former home; the Museum Mesdag also features the painter’s 360-degree cylindrical panorama painting measuring over 14 meters high and 40 meters in diameter.

Similarly, Rotterdam offers art, culture, and architecture in a more youth-oriented, urban canal-side sprawl, different in many respects to Amsterdam. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen there offers many works by European artists, including man-of-the-hour, Hieronymus Bosch. We’ll actually be spending two nights at the King Kong Hostel in Rotterdam – I claimed a double(!) bunk bed in a female-only dorm there, and word on the street is that there’s actually a tattoo parlor on site – Justine has already considered inking a token of Bosch500 somewhere on her body: a forever keepsake.

In Brussels, we’ll be staying a night at the hue-based, aesthetically pleasing Pantone Hotel. Perhaps we’ll have time to stop by the Belgian Comic Strip Center, the Museum of Original Figurines, the Toy Museum, and the surrealist Magritte Museum. On the list of top things to see and do in Brussels: the Royal Gardens of Laeken, a beautiful assortment of domed glass towers erected amid a palatial expanse of cloudy, pastel greenery.

Naturally, once we arrive back in Copenhagen, we’ll be stopping by the amazing (and free!) Design Museum, which I first visited last year. Its vast array of modern furniture, elements of graphic and production design, as well as fashion juxtaposed in a rococo-era structure was to die-for; it’s a place I’d definitely visit again.

While by no means is our journey set in stone, we have a pretty good idea of the things we are looking forward to doing and seeing, the drinks we’re looking forward to glugging, and the foreign eats we’re looking forward to indulging. A rough outline is usually my tactic of choice – just take a look here, at this rough etching of words!

No way, no how do I expect things to run smoothly from now into March, as I invariably lose my cool in all matter of things as the next month settles in.

But even amid the panic and the packing and the conflagration of anxiety, I promise I’m having fun. This is, after all, the year of Bosch. And I’m living it.

-n