Wanderlust: Moving Homes

~Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home - Matsuo Basho

a sunset above the sea is so pretty I kinda wish to move somewhere close to the sea. This picture was taken on our trip to the Netherlands in 2015. It was the second of two trips I've made with my family, and since I want to talk about both this entry might be a little longer.

and yes, we went with a camper. So technically I didn't move but well ... our "house" did. And it was frikkin' amazing! First of all, I had my bed build onto the table, so I could just lay in bed while driving. I used the time to look out of the front window and enjoy the view. Our camper is in the middle, it is an old fashioned camper but I really love it.

In our first trip, in 2014, we went to Burger's Zoo in Arnhem. It's a beautiful place, where the animals have a lot of space for themselves. You have resorts you can walk through, each including the animals living in this specific environment, such as Safari, Bush, Mangrove, Ocean etc. which makes the experience really adventurous. To be straight up honest, I sometimes felt as if I was in the jungle or in the wild in general but this might just have been my fantasy
Also, the Burger's Zoo was the inspiration for the Leipziger Zoo here in Germany. They actually have a lot in common.

It was really fascinating and the small, crooked paths they build e.g. in the Bush resort, made me feel like a real explorer and adventurer - even if I only walked around in a zoo.

As for this year, we've visited the Apenheul in Apeldoorn. It was kinda like a zoo for monkeys. Cute, tiny, fluffy monkeys, entirely free. Yes, they had no cages and were walking around everywhere. I nearly touched one as well! nearly because at first I didn't there and then they didn't come as close

I can't really remember from which city this picture was, but we've visited Utrecht and Amsterdam each year. Personally, I preferred the first, since it's a little smaller and absolutely gorgeous. The old houses were beautiful and the canals are a great place to sit and talk, daydream and think. Amsterdam is an impressive city too but it is really huge and stressful, since it is a place for tourists. Still, my friend and I figured that practically every street in Amsterdam leads to the red light quarter - which is really awkward for two girls, walking around the city to find cute little cafés or shops and instead ending up in the red light quarter. Like, why are you doing this??

But in the end, we'd always find the small and cute cafés. This one was probably the best. I had a hot chocolate and an iced tea, both was ridiculously tasty and I wish I could find something like this here in Germany. I need to go back and find the name of the café

Our trip this year ended in Nijmegen, another town we decided to visit. I really love ivy and tunnels, since it looks so adventurous and inviting. At least to me. Nijmegen was a little smaller than the cities we've visited before but not less impressive. I wish I would have known that I'd be blogging about my travels by now, so I could've taken more pictures, since we also went to Groningen, an university town in the north of the Netherlands.

The great thing about camping is that you can visit the whole country and always have your home with you. It's a bit like backpacking, but a whole lot faster. Furthermore, you can nearly reach every destination with the bike, when travelling through the Netherlands. One day, I want to do a tour through that beautiful country with nothing but a bike and my backpack. I mean, if there is anything in the Netherlands, it is bikes.

that black stuff on my feet is sand/dirt, and my clumsy self stepped into it.. 

In both years, we've stayed in Ouddorp, a camping place really close to the North Sea. In the first year I went swimming nearly everyday, but this year it was a lot colder and stormy we actually had to stay in the camper one day because it was really windy
Instead of swimming I tried flying a kite. You know, the kites some people use on the water? Yeah, I tried it on the land. And it was incredible. I did quite well tbh

So, this are some last impressions from this year. I've saved starfishes and crabs, since the ebb started but I wanted them to live so I just carried them back into the sea. We also found the shells of a crab's claws, I still have one in my room. I love keeping tiny, unusual objects I found on my travels. It's much better than bought souvenirs, imo.

In the end, I just want to make some suggestions when it comes to travelling the Netherlands. First of all: Ride a bike. It's the perfect country for cycling. Secondly: Try Kippeling. It's a kind of fish wrapped in pastry and it's annoyingly tasty. And once again I curse my country for not having this awesome stuff.
Also, I highly recommend on going on holiday with your family once in a while. It makes them happy and it's another experience and another viewpoint on things. Personally, I think that's great about travelling: The place you go to always changes, depending with whom you go there. Be it alone, with friends or family.

off out,

camper & explorer,

Lu Ann