{"id":869588,"date":"2022-06-17T11:21:20","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T10:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/?p=869588"},"modified":"2025-05-01T11:58:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T10:58:02","slug":"24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel Director diaries: Spend 24 hours in the Netherlands with Travel Director, Ilja"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Curious about life on the road as a Trafalgar Travel Director? In the latest of our Travel Director diaries series, we caught up with Ilja to find out what a day in her life is like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Netherlands<\/a>-based Travel Director changed lanes to pursue a career as a documentary filmmaker, but after five years she found herself still captivated by coaches and tours passing by. A people person and travel lover, Ilja put away her camera and joined Trafalgar on the road again in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she\u2019s not leading tours through Europe, the Dutch national is preparing for the race of a lifetime. This December Ilja and three teammates<\/a> will race across the Atlantic Ocean, trying to beat a world record while rowing for cleaner oceans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today Ilja shares her Travel Director diaries from the Best of Holland Belgium and Luxembourg<\/a> trip. This is Day 3, exploring the once-in-a-decade Floriade Expo and breaking bread with a Dutch farming family. Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6am Wake up call <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I try to wake up as late as possible as I\u2019m better in the evening or late at night, but there\u2019s loads to do so I usually get up around 6am on the road. I\u2019ll look through the day and see if there is anything else I need to organise, I’ll send emails and I’ll contact venues or places that we’re going to visit to double check. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll create the seat rotation and then go to the breakfast room. I’ll take a coffee myself before checking in with the people having their breakfast. Then we get ready to leave for the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9.15am Once-in-a-decade Floriade experience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Floriade<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Half an hour drive from the hotel we arrived at Floriade Expo 2022. This is a once-in-a-decade International Horticultural Expo where you can explore what it would be like to live in a green city of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I gave an introduction on the coach, explaining this year\u2019s theme \u2013 nature loves technology, technology loves nature \u2013 and handed out maps so the guests could explore the huge expo. The highlight is the cable car that gives you a view over the green park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also pointed out places to stop for coffee and lunch, as we stayed here until 1.30pm . Unfortunately it was a bit windy and cold on this day, but Floriade is brilliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED BLOG: <\/em><\/strong>Everything you can look forward to seeing at Floriade 2022<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.30pm Medieval castle time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Muiden<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next stop, we ventured to the imposing Muiderslot Castle. This is an Optional Experience but everyone chose to join today. It\u2019s one of two remaining medieval castles in the Netherlands, built in the 12th century, and it\u2019s part of Amsterdam\u2019s defence line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you asked a child to draw a castle, this is what they would draw. The UNESCO World Heritage Listed castle looks almost like a cartoon and it\u2019s very cool. We met with a Local Specialist for a 30-minutes tour of the castle where the rooms are refurbed in 17th-century style. The guests then had half an hour to explore the gardens and moat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was an exposition in the garden or the backyard of the castles on water management. Muiderslot Castle was actually built as a defensive castle and they could choose to flood the area so that attacks couldn’t reach the castle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GET INSPIRED BY: <\/em><\/strong>Best of Holland Belgium and Luxembourg<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3pm Nothing bitter about this Dutch snack<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After the castle we walked through the beautiful and peaceful village of Muiden. Here we stopped at an old Dutch inn called Cafe Flores. We enjoyed a short rest with drinks and bitterballen, which is a traditional savoury snack kind of like croquettes. Everyone had a great time and we sat up in the attic, which is really cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED BLOG: <\/em><\/strong>Travel Director diaries: We spent 24 hours in Switzerland with Trafalgar Travel Director, Ellen<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.15pm “The miller is waiting!”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"People<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We ventured over to the town of Katwoude to visit the gorgeous windmills. People always love it here so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the way to the mill we had a lot of fun onboard the coach. A guest named Doris shouted \u201cMy miller is waiting for us!\u201d, and that become our group\u2019s running gag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never had a miller waiting for me in my whole life,\u201d Doris said. And then when we arrived she squealed \u201cThere is my miller!\u201d as he waved to us. Very funny. The miller gave a fabulous explanation of how it all works and toured us through the space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.30pm Be My Guest with the Family Pauw<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Be<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nearby in Katwoude, we dropped into the Pauw Family farm for dinner. The meal with this Dutch family is always lovely as the mother, father, three kids and sometimes the in-laws also sit down with us and enjoy a buffet of traditional Dutch fare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dutch fare? Lots of potatoes! Usually the meal includes hutspot or hotchpotch (a traditional dish of boiled and mashed potatoes, carrots, and onions), Dutch meatballs and salad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re only half-an-hour outside of Amsterdam, but this is the countryside and a working farm. After dinner the father takes us around to meet the cows, cuddle with the calves and ask any questions about life as a Dutch farmer and the seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9.15pm Back to the hotel<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So, that was a full 12-hour day. I can never go straight to bed – my mind is always too awake \u2013 so I usually scroll on social media or do exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m training for the cross Atlantic rowing race, so if I have the energy I\u2019ll always do a workout or at least some pushups. I carry those elastic exercise bands with me so I can squeeze in a workout on the road. It\u2019s obviously a challenge to train for the big race!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My next tour I\u2019m the Wellbeing Director, so that gives me a little more time to work out while travelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what a day in the life of Trafalgar Travel Director is like. Have you been on tour with Ilja or are you thinking of taking the <\/em>Best of Holland Belgium and Luxembourg<\/a><\/em><\/strong> trip soon? Leave us a comment below\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Curious about life on the road as a Trafalgar Travel Director? In the latest of our Travel Director diaries series, we caught up with Ilja to find out what a day in her life is like. This Netherlands-based Travel Director changed lanes to pursue a career as a documentary filmmaker, but after five years she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":869593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4909],"tags":[22114,15230,22115,20676],"class_list":["post-869588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people-stories","tag-24-hours-travel-director","tag-trafalgar-travel-directors","tag-travel-director-diaries","tag-travel-director-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTravel Directors diary entry on 24 hours in the Netherlands<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the latest of our Travel Director diaries, we caught up with Travel Director Ilja to find out what a day in her life is like in the Netherlands.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Travel Director diaries: Spend 24 hours in the Netherlands with Travel Director, Ilja\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the latest of our Travel Director diaries, we caught up with Travel Director Ilja to find out what a day in her life is like.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Real Word\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-17T10:21:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-01T10:58:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/ilja-travel-director.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daniela Sunde-Brown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"In the latest of our Travel Director diaries, we caught up with Travel Director Ilja to find out what a day in her life is like.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniela Sunde-Brown\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniela Sunde-Brown\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71cd184f5acdfc37f3bc7c3333e9f21c\"},\"headline\":\"Travel Director diaries: Spend 24 hours in the Netherlands with Travel Director, Ilja\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-17T10:21:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-01T10:58:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1052,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/ilja-travel-director.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"24 hours travel director\",\"Trafalgar Travel Directors\",\"travel director diaries\",\"Travel Director stories\"],\"articleSection\":[\"People & Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/\",\"name\":\"Travel Directors diary entry on 24 hours in the Netherlands\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/ilja-travel-director.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-17T10:21:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-01T10:58:02+00:00\",\"description\":\"In the latest of our Travel Director diaries, we caught up with Travel Director Ilja to find out what a day in her life is like in the Netherlands.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/ilja-travel-director.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/ilja-travel-director.jpg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":810,\"caption\":\"Group of seven adults smiling and sitting at an outdoor caf\u00e9 table with drinks, surrounded by lush greenery and other visitors, captured in a scene from Travel Director diaries.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Travel Director diaries: Spend 24 hours in the Netherlands with Travel Director, Ilja\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/\",\"name\":\"Real Word\",\"description\":\"Travel articles, insights and stories from Trafalgar\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Real Word\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/TT_RealWorld_Opt01-horizontal-Black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/TT_RealWorld_Opt01-horizontal-Black.svg\",\"width\":643,\"height\":83,\"caption\":\"Real Word\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71cd184f5acdfc37f3bc7c3333e9f21c\",\"name\":\"Daniela Sunde-Brown\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/daniela-sunde-brown_avatar-500x500.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/daniela-sunde-brown_avatar-500x500.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/daniela-sunde-brown_avatar-500x500.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Daniela Sunde-Brown\"},\"description\":\"I'm an Australian travel and food writer, based in Lisbon. I'm usually planning my adventures around a restaurant I've found, or local sweet I want to try!\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/daniela.sundebrown\\\/?hl=en\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.trafalgar.com\\\/real-word\\\/author\\\/danielasundebrown\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Travel Directors diary entry on 24 hours in the Netherlands","description":"In the latest of our Travel Director diaries, we caught up with Travel Director Ilja to find out what a day in her life is like in the Netherlands.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Travel Director diaries: Spend 24 hours in the Netherlands with Travel Director, Ilja","og_description":"In the latest of our Travel Director diaries, we caught up with Travel Director Ilja to find out what a day in her life is like.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/","og_site_name":"Real Word","article_published_time":"2022-06-17T10:21:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-01T10:58:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":810,"url":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/ilja-travel-director.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Daniela Sunde-Brown","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_description":"In the latest of our Travel Director diaries, we caught up with Travel Director Ilja to find out what a day in her life is like.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniela Sunde-Brown","Estimated reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/"},"author":{"name":"Daniela Sunde-Brown","@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/#\/schema\/person\/71cd184f5acdfc37f3bc7c3333e9f21c"},"headline":"Travel Director diaries: Spend 24 hours in the Netherlands with Travel Director, Ilja","datePublished":"2022-06-17T10:21:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-01T10:58:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/"},"wordCount":1052,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/ilja-travel-director.jpg","keywords":["24 hours travel director","Trafalgar Travel Directors","travel director diaries","Travel Director stories"],"articleSection":["People & Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/","url":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/","name":"Travel Directors diary entry on 24 hours in the Netherlands","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/ilja-travel-director.jpg","datePublished":"2022-06-17T10:21:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-01T10:58:02+00:00","description":"In the latest of our Travel Director diaries, we caught up with Travel Director Ilja to find out what a day in her life is like in the Netherlands.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/ilja-travel-director.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/ilja-travel-director.jpg","width":1440,"height":810,"caption":"Group of seven adults smiling and sitting at an outdoor caf\u00e9 table with drinks, surrounded by lush greenery and other visitors, captured in a scene from Travel Director diaries."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/24-hours-trafalgar-travel-director-ilja\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Travel Director diaries: Spend 24 hours in the Netherlands with Travel Director, Ilja"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/","name":"Real Word","description":"Travel articles, insights and stories from Trafalgar","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/#organization","name":"Real Word","url":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/TT_RealWorld_Opt01-horizontal-Black.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/TT_RealWorld_Opt01-horizontal-Black.svg","width":643,"height":83,"caption":"Real Word"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/#\/schema\/person\/71cd184f5acdfc37f3bc7c3333e9f21c","name":"Daniela Sunde-Brown","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/06\/daniela-sunde-brown_avatar-500x500.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/06\/daniela-sunde-brown_avatar-500x500.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/06\/daniela-sunde-brown_avatar-500x500.jpg","caption":"Daniela Sunde-Brown"},"description":"I'm an Australian travel and food writer, based in Lisbon. I'm usually planning my adventures around a restaurant I've found, or local sweet I want to try!","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/daniela.sundebrown\/?hl=en"],"url":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/author\/danielasundebrown\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}