Today is Saturday, a day before my departure. And this past Thursday, I did my third test trip. Mainly to test my camping equipment before I leave. But also to film some content so I can create some buffer videos. I visited three attractions here in the Netherlands that few people know about.
First, I went to the former fake WW2 airbase De Kiek, then a very beautiful basilica in the village of Oudenbosch… which was very special to see such a church with a Roman Neoclassical architecture design in the Netherlands. Finally, I visited an artwork called the Mozes Bridge. All super fun to see, of course. But for more details, you’ll have to wait for the video.
And then came the big moment where I had chosen a campsite near Rosendaal to spend the evening. After 42 years, I pitched a tent and immersed myself in nature again for the first time and it felt like yesterday. Everything went great; it was a beautiful and quiet campsite in the middle of a large forest. Setting up my tent, etc., also went perfectly. It just took twice as long because I had to film everything, of course, and from multiple angles. That’s something I want to do more efficiently because otherwise, I never reach my destination or I end up sleeping very late because I want to film everything, absolutely everything, in detail.
Around 11 o’clock, I was already knocked out, and I slept like a baby.
Sleeping went perfectly too. Around 11 o’clock, I was already knocked out, and I slept like a baby. Surprisingly, it was super quiet at night given that the campsite was in the middle of the woods. Only around quarter to 5, the birds woke up, ultimately waking me up with their singing. And what a noise that was But let me tell you… I’d rather wake up like that then have to wake up at 5 in the morning to go to work. I did have a little mishap though; turns out… I woke up and wanted to put on my training pants to go pee. And they were soaking wet; suddenly, I saw a big puddle of water in the tent. And it hadn’t even rained. But it turned out that my backpack was resting on the mouthpiece of my water bladder. And I hadn’t closed it, so almost half of the water from my water bladder just dripped out. A rookie mistake I would say!
But… I must say, I’m super glad that I spent a night camping before my departure. That way, I could reacquaint myself with the experience and test out some little things. I found out that certain things I had with me were unnecessary. My motorcycle pants were too warm and impractical, the battery charger was too slow. So as soon as I got home, I revised my equipment and took out some things to save space and weight. Bought a new pair of motorcycle pants and a heavier charger to charge my devices.
But all in all, it was a successful two days. The weather was perfect, Nacho also behaved superbly. So now I am definitely 200% ready for tomorrow when I depart. A fun fact is that tomorrow is Liberation Day here in the Netherlands. But now, I am the one who liberates myself.
Talk to you in my the next blog… and don’t for get to look out for my videos. Curious where I am, follow me here!
Hppy trvls! ✌🏾