Chapter 2: En Route

The first stage of our journey is complete. Gideon has passed his driving exam, so we drove cross the border into Belgium, and now we are finally en route.

Two weeks ago we left our home in Wageningen and went to Irma's parents. Irma's mom helps to organize a day for elderly people in the village to meet each other and and eat together. Now we were there as well to contribute a hand. For the elderly it was fun to see some young people helping. For us, even though we were still in the Netherlands, it felt like our journey had started.

Then we invited Gideon's family for a farewell diner. It was so good to see them before we left, and we were very glad to gave them a delicious meal, and had a good time together.

In the next week we were asked to help bar tending at a wedding of a friend of ours. At our own wedding we were very glad with all the people that helped us, so we were eager to return the favour. It was nice to see all the guests at a party coming to the bar, and have interesting conversations. We got to know many more people than we would have otherwise.


The rest of the week we stayed with Gideon's parents, and repainted their living room. It was fun to do and very rewarding. It was a week full of shared happiness, we really pampered each other. We made them happy with a shining white living room and cooked for them, while they let us stay in their cute camper van, enjoy a luxurious bath and best of all, go to the cinema together.

Then it was time to hit the road again, and really leave the country. All our stuff packed in our small car, but always room for one hitchhiker. And as we passed by Nijmegen and made our first stop, there he was, our first hiker, Ram. He wanted to go couch surfing in Luxembourg, so we could drive together for two hours, and had all kinds of interesting conversations. Helping each other and sharing stories, that's what makes traveling so interesting.

p.s.: For all Dutch readers, we were on national television. This spring we were interviewed by a pastor at a fantasy festival. You can find the episode here. https://www.kro-ncrv.nl/roderickzoekt/seizoenen/seizoen-2018/boodschap-van-sprookjes (20'50'')