We are in the early stages of 2020, in the midst of lockdown, and, like many people around Belgium, I no longer have access to my usual hobbies, most of which take place outside my home.

I reignited my passion for reading, without favouring any genre in particular.

Later, we are allowed to leave our homes again, but only for a little exercise in the fresh air. At that point, I opt for long walks in my region and I regularly find myself grabbing my phone to take some photos of a path, a chapel or even a quarry.

As I am always bored during the hours I am not working, I quickly open an Instagram account in French, then another in English and, finally, Facebook pages to share my mini adventures and discoveries!

Soon, though, it is time for our lives to return to ‘normal’ and all of these social media profiles quickly fall by the wayside.

Time passes and my walks continue. My reading focuses more and more on the history of Belgium and I find myself rewriting new posts that increasingly focus on the history of Belgium and, more specifically, our heritage.

My job takes precedence once more and I forget what I had considered to be a hobby again. However, in May 2022, I log back in and get a surprise! Despite my long periods of absence, the French Instagram account (@madoucebelgique) has continued to grow, slowly but surely, without me.

Several hundred new followers have been added to those that I was able to amass when I was active on my social media accounts.

From this observation, an idea was born: since I was looking for a new professional adventure, why not focus on my passions for Belgium and the internet?

I took the time to analyse my strengths and weaknesses and I am currently pursuing the appropriate training. In particular, I am taking photography classes and have signed up for a videography course.

The goal is simple: to improve my social media and, more importantly, to create a YouTube channel that will allow me to share Belgian stories with as many people as possible, without being limited by a set number of characters as I am on social media, and to highlight our heritage, local tourism and even products and expertise from our beautiful country.

As I am from Wallonia, my project mainly highlights things around me. That is why I recently became a Wallonia.be ambassador.

If you want to join me on this incredible adventure, feel free to follow me on social media! (In particular, I recommend Instagram, since that is where I am currently most active).

Thanks for reading,

Joane

Instagram: @madoucebelgique

Facebook : Ma Douce Belgique