These people from Zoetermeer have been friends since school: ‘We go on a trip together every three years.’

Sharon, Esther, Claudia, Karin, Inez and Magalie. Six very different women, who have been best friends for most of their lives. Originally from Zoetermeer, but now living throughout the country. On different continents, even! Read their story here.

You need someone, quiet and sincere… Who will pray for you or fight for you when it comes down to it. Not until you have someone who laughs with you and whines with you. Only then can you say: I have a boyfriend. These beautiful words from Toon Hermans will be meaningful to many people. Because how lucky it is to have really good friends. Magalie, 54, knows all about it. She has had her girlfriends Sharon, Esther, Claudia, Karin and Inez for years!

Two opposites

On a cold winter day we talk to Magalie by phone. The cold doesn’t bother her, because Magalie now lives on sunny Bonaire. This lady, who was brought up in Zoetermeer, lives there with her husband and works as a teacher in a prison. ”Very special work, you really make everything with it,” she shares with us. Magalie has always been an adventurous type, who doesn’t shy away from challenges. In fact, she seeks them out! Very different is her ‘oldest’ friend Sharon. “I joined her class when I was about ten years old. We were both new to school, she had just moved to Zoetermeer from The Hague. We soon became close friends, even though she was very quiet and I was super busy. We were actually polar opposites. I dragged her into my adventures.”

Esther and Karin

In the first class of secondary school, a new duo of friends is added: Esther and Karin. They too were two opposite types. Esther was a very quiet girl, Karin was even crazier than me,” says Magalie with a laugh. ”Esther and Karin already knew each other through a mutual friend. When the four of us entered the classroom, we quickly became inseparable. We always sat together, both in class and during breaks.” This may have been a little less pleasant for teachers. “Actually, we were quite annoying during the lessons. We were never paying attention and constantly had the giggles. We often sat in our notebooks making crazy drawings for each other. No, we weren’t really good students… But we did have a lot of fun!”

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Claudia and Inez

”I met Inez at the drama club at school. She was a school year lower. When I met her, she also joined our group of friends,” Magalie recalls. The sixth and final member of the group was Claudia. She was in a different class and – lucky in an accident – ended up in a class with Esther when both had to repeat a year. With that, the club of friends was complete. Magalie: ”We are six very different types, yet we get along very well. Sometimes I’m amazed at how easy it is, we’ve never really had a big fight. We know each other how we are and we just accept that.”

On a sick visit

A memory that Magalie has kept well from that time of their early friendship was the time Claudia was in the hospital. ”Claudia has Crohn’s disease and was unable to go to school for a while. We then came to see her in the hospital, the five of us. We laughed a lot there despite the situation. We joked about the rolling IV pillar we called Claudia’s boyfriend. Claudia told us extensively about her hospital stay, but Karin can’t stand blood at all. So she fell down and was lying on the hospital bed next to Claudia not much later, to recover.”

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Adult lives

The high school friends grow up and each get their own lives. There will be wives, children and careers. The friends do a variety of work, from physiotherapist to tax adviser. “Despite the fact that we had busy lives, we still regularly went to dinner together. Still, we actually wanted to see each other more.” In 2000, a plan was put on the table. “We decided to start saving together for a trip. Every month we put in 25 euros. After five years we would all go out together.”

There we stood with our suitcases, in the scorching heat

On the road together

In 2006 the first joint trip took place, which went to Rome. ”We have appointed two friends of the group to organize everything. Traveling together went very smoothly. We have seen a lot of beautiful things and especially tasted a lot of delicious things from Italian cuisine!” The next trip, in 2011, went to Marrakesh. Magalie: “That was really cool. It was still a hassle to get to the hotel from the airport. We had not arranged that in advance and it was difficult for us all to fit in one taxi. Finally, we were loaded into a large Mercedes with six women and all the accompanying suitcases and dropped off at a square. Then it turned out that we still had to cross that huge square to get to the hotel. It was extremely hot and the suitcases were heavy, it was quite an undertaking,” laughs Magalie.

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Cycling through Berlin

In 2016 the trip went to Berlin. “We rented bikes and explored the city so nicely. While cycling we suddenly arrived at a festival. We drank delicious cocktails there. Our joint app group has been called ever since Out of the box Mojito,” says Magalie with a laugh. ”We also spent whole evenings on the large terrace at our apartment, with a nice glass of wine or beer. We can get so caught up in the talk that time flies by. After all these years we can still chat for hours.” And what is already being discussed on such an evening? ”That differs per moment. Karin is very curious and asks many questions. With Inez, for example, I can have very deep conversations about world themes again. And of course we all talk a lot about our children, there is always something to say about that.”

New homeland

After the trip in 2016, the women decide that traveling once every five years is not enough. This will be once every three years. ”The next trip was to Ibiza, which was in 2019. We were very unlucky with the weather… In the Netherlands it was 25 degrees, in Ibiza only 15. We were there with thick vests and blue lips from the cold. When we came back, the Dutch weather immediately changed, of course,” says Magalie. Luckily they can laugh about it now. ”I had come all the way from Bonaire for that trip, because I had just emigrated. The holiday in 2022 was completely different: then the whole group of friends came to see me here. And good weather is guaranteed in Bonaire.” Magalie rented a villa to stay in with her friends and showed them around the island extensively. “They loved it. We really enjoyed. Some of them stayed for two weeks.”
Since that last dream vacation, there are already some new trips on the schedule. “We’re going to New York and the next time to Lapland,” says Magalie. Plenty of adventures ahead for this Zoetermeer group of friends!

Do you also have a special story about your group of friends? Or do you know a bunch of friends that we really need to interview? Let us know at [email protected].