Mountains don’t know borders
The 24th of March I left Amsterdam to hike for a while. “Walking back to the Balkans”. Why? Because I can, because I like hiking. Because it’s slow, because it’s a perfect way to really see a country. To feel and experience. Because I feel good, being “on the road”. And because I thought it would be a good idea to (re)discover my own country, before heading off to the Balkans. So, I walked. I walked back. From Amsterdam to Sarajevo, on foot.
At the end of the month I like to look back on what I’ve done and where I’ve been. On how I felt and what was on my mind. It turned out that my Instagram pictures actually give a pretty good impression. So, I decided to put them together in a blog post. Here’s October.
Continue Reading "Looking back on October: An Indian Summer"
At the end of the month I like to look back on what I’ve done and where I’ve been. On how I felt and what was on my mind. It turned out that my Instagram pictures actually give a pretty good impression. So, I decided to put them together in a blog post. Here is September.
Continue Reading "Looking back on September: GREEN trail it is"
Visit When I was hiking in Una National Park (September 2017), the Via Dinarica Green Trail in Bosnia and Herzegovina did not really exist yet. I roughly had an idea of the route I wanted to follow from Bihać to Sarajevo, but couldn’t get much information about an actual trail. When I write this post (May 2019) the Green Trail still isn’t officially there, however, all stages that are completed will be automatically available on trail.viadinarica.com.
“And why? Why do you hike?” That’s what people ask me after they heard me out about where I started, where I’m heading to, how many kilometers a day and how heavy my backpack is. Why I hike? “Why not?” Yeah, why not? If I don’t like it anymore, I can stop. So, I hike because I want to. Because I like it. But is that really the answer?
Continue Reading "Why I hike"
At the end of the month I like to look back on what I’ve done and where I’ve been. On how I felt and what was on my mind. It turned out that my Instagram pictures actually gives a pretty good impression. So, I decided to put them together in a blog post. Here’s August.
Continue Reading "Looking back on August: RED trail it is"
At the end of the month I like to look back on what I’ve done and where I’ve been. On how I felt and what was on my mind. It turned out that my Instagram pictures actually gives a pretty good impression. So, I decided to put them together in a blog post. Here’s July.
Continue Reading "Looking back on July: Into the Alps"
For some reason I had the idea to pick up the Via Alpina in Feldkirch. Probably because I thought I would be hiking on the Suisse side of the Bodensee. I did, until Konstanz, where I took the ferry. That ferry brought me in 4 hours in Bregenz. It would have been more convenient to head towards Obertsdorf, but Feldkirch was still in my head, without giving it a second thought, I went to Feldkirch where I started hiking the Via Alpina in Austria.
Continue Reading "Traversing the Austrian Alps on the Via Alpina"
The 24th of March I left Amsterdam to hike for a while. “Walking back to the Balkans”. Why? Because I can, because I like hiking. Because it’s slow, because it’s a perfect way to really see a country. To feel and experience. Because I feel good, being “on the road”. And because I thought it would be a good idea to (re)discover my own country, before heading off to the Balkans. Right now I hiked from Amsterdam to the Alps, oeff that a real milestone!
Continue Reading "From Amsterdam to the Alps, 2000 kilometer on foot"
At the end of the month I like to look back on what I’ve done and where I’ve been. On how I felt and what was on my mind. It turned out that my Instagram pictures actually gives a pretty good impression. So, I decided to put them together in a blog post. Here’s June.
Continue Reading "Looking back on June: Hiking Germany and oh hello summer!"
My way through Germany: 820 Kilometers, 3 rest days, 32 hiking days, 1 homestay, 7 gardencamps, 4 nights on a campsite and 1 on a climbers bivouac. The latter means: pay 3 euro for the tent and figure out yourself where to wash or how to do the dishes, oh and the toilet is that wooden hut in the forest. Blehh, spiders! As a result, all climbers gather in the restaurant for a beer and the restroom.
Continue Reading "Puzzeling my way through Germany: “facts & stats”"
At the end of the month I like to look back on what I’ve done and where I’ve been. On how I felt and what was on my mind. It turned out that my Instagram feed actually gives a pretty good impression. So, I decided to put them together in a blog post. Here’s me, looking back on May 2017.
Continue Reading "Looking back on May: Leaving the Benelux behind, hello Germany"
The last night that I camped in Belgium, I didn’t pay enough attention. I just put up my tent on a sort of flat field and went to bed. Next morning I noticed a strong smell. Cowshit. Shit, that field had been sprinkled (fertilized?) probably the day before. How could I have missed that?
Continue Reading "Hilly Luxembourg"
After finishing the Pilgrim’s route through the Netherlands, I switched to the GR57, a long distance hiking trail through the Ardennes in Belgium. The Wallonian part of Belgium to be more precise. I had been in the Ardennes before. Many many times. And I even hiked several parts of this particular trail, but that doesn’t make the Ardennes boring. Not at all.
Continue Reading "Walking through Wallonia"
My pilgrimage through The Netherlands: 500 Kilometers, 4 non-hiking- and 23 hiking-days of which 3 were rainy. I crossed 4 provincies (5 if the I count the small part of Flanders in Belgium as well), took 4 ferries, had 5 friends coming over to join me for a day or two, 0 spiders in my tent, saw 2 deers (females), 1 squirrel and 5 lama’s. I slept 8 nights in a bed, paid a visit to 4 friends in Brabant and spend 2 nights at a strangers house.
Continue Reading "A pilgrimage through the Netherlands"
I want to be on the road. Wander around with everything I need on my back. Being outside, outdoors, sleeping in a tent and strolling through nature. That’s when I feel best. That’s when I feel free. And all the other things will come as they do. What things? I don’t exactly know, I’ll find out along the way.