Roaming freely

// August 26th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // blog, hospitality, travel

Feeling the road

For more than a year I was looking forward to this month. The 7th of August 2009 was going to be the best hitchhiking day this year, I had this feeling in advance, but in reality it turned even better than expected.

First of all, I picked up a fellow traveler from a petrolstation rigth behind Krakow in Poland, 24 hours after a non-stop travel from Amsterdam. Being completely tired, only two rides further we were invited by a Polish family for bed and dinner. Some days later and many rides and crazy adventures including a round trip through some Ukrainan mountains to get to the rainbow festval, we arrived for the 789 festival in Odesa just in time (3 at night), thanks to numerous people, including a zen driver and two angels.

Things didn’t stop amazing me during this trip. I did not have any real plans, and so a week later I found myself back in Berlin, at a house that resembles the casa in Amsterdam very much. After having spend 10 days here, making new connections and helping to sustain the community, I now plan to go south again by tomorrow, heading to Italy. And who knows what is next. Life really is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.

Back in Amsterdam

// December 28th, 2007 // No Comments » // hospitality, life

City of bike-lanes and water, my small town, I am back in your streets again, smiling. It took me five years and some months, but I am surrounded by ‘my own’ four Amsterdam walls and roof-top. Por fin! Yes!

I am back loving it, I feel this is where I (well… for the moment at least) ‘belong’. There are no palmtrees here like in Barcelona, and the beach is pretty far away (1,5 hours by bike…!) but it remains one of the better places in Europe to live. And what matters most: I feel at my place and happy here.

From where I live (for now, it’s a temporary place for half a year), I bike to the center in 15 minutes. At the same time it is on the edge of town, close to the Amstel river. It takes me five minutes to be in nature, cycle along the riverbanks, to feel space or to wonder around in the forest.

So, you know how it works: feel free to come along and please stay as long as you want. Just send me a nice pigeon before you come and clean the dishes when you leave.

Fainting in Romania

// October 11th, 2007 // No Comments » // hospitality, travel

From a bike in Romania, back by plane to Holland. Happy I was, cycling from village to town, over mountains and rivers, coming to places where no sane traveler would ever come, finding myself on that same very day, just after sunset, bleeding and scratched, fainting and screaming for help.

Three weeks ago, I was in this small town close to Sibiu in the Transylvanian region of Romania. It was a marvelous day, with great blue sky, big white clouds and a warm sun. I was cycling just by myself, enjoying one of the nicest tours of my life, while my travel-partner was out on a museum-day.

As I was cycling through a beautiful countryside with hills and greens, I realized yet again how priviliged I was. As I passed through the many small villages where hardly a stranger ever comes, I was greeted by many. I waved back and asked how to avoid the high hills, as I explained I am from Holland and that I like flat land. (more…)

Breakfast in Romania

// September 17th, 2007 // No Comments » // hospitality, travel

The main question tourists ask themselves here in Romania is: “Who was the real Dracula?” For us the question rather is: “What do people have for breakfast and where do they eat it?”

In Turkey they eat tomatoes and cucumbers, a boiled egg, feta and bread. In England they serve baked beans and scrambled egg, and in France you will find in every corner croissants and chocolate breads. But we have looked everywhere, and we have been in Romania now for two weeks and we still don’t know what to eat for breakfast and where.

Walk around in any random town other than Bucharest and, really, you will have a very hard time finding a spot to have breakfast – even bakeries are hard to find. So what do we have for breakfast? After a morning walk in lovely Sighisoara looking for breakfast we stopped at a place for tea, coffee and… pizza, with little thingies in it.

Hey Stranger

// June 5th, 2007 // No Comments » // hospitality, travel

“There are no strangers.” It is one of my favourite sayings. Have you ever been on your own wondering around a town, a city or countryside? Imagine being lost, and someone walking up to you and helping you out, telling you how to walk or maybe giving you some water or even a ride.

Imagine how this may feel. You’re lost, unsure, uncertain, maybe even stressed out, not knowing if you will find your way again, unsure if you will have a place to sleep tonight. It is getting dark already and suddenly out of the blue a stranger appears and helps you out.

Imagine the wonderful feeling. You are being helped by a complete stranger, who is totally willing to get out of the way just to make sure you will be fine. (more…)

Breathing Istanbul

// May 29th, 2007 // No Comments » // hospitality, photography, travel

Children playing everywhere, families in the parks eating fish that the men just caught in the Bosphorus strait, busy markets and streets, and smoke of waterpipes all around you. Istanbul is not only a very beautiful city, but foremost a very active one with a lively outdoor culture. It breathes life in every corner you find.

You don’t have to go far to discover this, to sense the Istanbul atmosphere. Its people are very alive pretty much everywhere. Within a minute that I walk out of the door of my new place I can easily find someone smiling, a shopkeeper saying hello to me or people speaking to each other. Children look very happy all the time and sometimes don’t stop laughing; so full of life they are. (more…)

Picking Cherries

// May 22nd, 2007 // No Comments » // hospitality, travel

Lying in a tree, picking cherries. How wonderful life can be. One day earlier, in Belgrade, I didn’t even know I was going to be in this place as I was trying to hitch out of Serbia, to Macedonia. But there I was, a day before departure to Istanbul, in a cherrytree in the beautiful and extremely relaxed countryside of Serbia.

Before arriving in Istanbul, I had my last stop close to the city Niš, the third largest city in Serbia. I stayed with a family who hosted me through couchsurfing in a nice and self-build house on one of the hills around the city. Staying here turned out to be one of my more distinctive experiences during my four months of traveling. (more…)