Scrolling through the comments on my recent Facebook posts takes my thoughts for a wander. We all tend to share the highlights of our existence on social media. For some of us that’s an amazing meal, a night out with your dearest friends or, as it is for me lately, public recognition of the crazy […]
Roots
Walking back from the airport to my bike, I see monkeys playing on the roof of a nearby building. The streets are dominated by small motorbikes, little white Suzuki Alto taxis and big, black smoke producing, busses and trucks. This place is so different from where I come from, so different from where I grew […]
Your Mum says…
Imagine you’re about 4 years old. You walk down a crowded street in the city, holding your Mum’s hand. You pass someone walking on crutches, point at the person and say: “Mum, why is she walking with sticks?” If you are born in a western country your mother will likely respond along these lines: “Common […]
Unknown dangers
“You have to watch out when you go to Sumatra. Especially in the south there are really bad people” says the nice man living on Java, one island down from Sumatra. When arriving there I’m extra careful, make sure to not ride close to dark and watch the bushes for bandits jumping out. “Watch out, […]
The Sunbed Revelation
We all know them, and most of them have them somewhere. The pictures of the 2 sunbeds with the umbrella on the deserted beach or the jetty extending over the water with the sunset behind it. The pictures you buy at Ikea or some other middle priced department store. You stare at them in your […]
Fear? Fear less!
About a week ago I met a French girl, Margot. She is travelling on her own and has been on the go for a few months. She decided to do a project while travelling and is making a short documentary about girls travelling alone. We immediately had hundreds of things to talk about and when […]
It hit me
“Bromo is closed” the lady told me. The famous volcano in the east of Java was throwing clouds of ash in the air. Coming from the Netherlands, where hills are rare, mountains don’t exist and volcanos are viewed upon as a completely alien concept, to me this was very exciting news. It wasn’t allowed to […]
Pretty places and pretty faces
Travelling can be an eye opening experience. Especially when you leave the tourist tracks. When you look beyond the beauty of the surrounding nature and into the eyes of the people. When you talk to them, when they talk to you, and when you learn from them. It teaches you about other cultures but it […]