The road to Amsterdam

Since the Post about Den Haag was that lush in words and creatively composed sentences, this one might get a little longer :)

After arriving in Den Haag, I had a break in a Surfcafé to socialize a bit and maybe find a host. You know, surfers are chill dude who hang loose and stuff 🤙🏼

I didn’t quite go as planned, since I was way too tired. So I wrote down my thoughts and enjoyed a warm tea near a fireplace by myself. But I had to sleep somewhere eventually, and actually like sleeping in a tent, so I’ll camp „somewhere near Den Haag.“ Yeah, so I thought.

Somewhere near Den Haag turned out to be about 50km up the coast, since there was nothing but dunes. I kept on cycling, being upset at first, that I couldn’t socialize good enough to find a host. But then it turned to an amazing night, the sky got clear, there where lots of bunnies and deers along the way and on top of that, cycling at night is very peaceful.

When I reached Zandvoort, there where still other people outside. Probably they where on vacation, and it was a strange sight to see them enjoying their hard earned 2 weeks off in a hotel, having dinner late at night and not even looking all that happy.

At around 1 a.m. I pitched my tent in an suburb of Haarlem and fell asleep immediately. The next day, I was supposed to reach Amsterdam with the goal to spend a few days and get some rest. Yet there was the same old problem as in Den Haag, I couldn’t find a host. The day in Amsterdam was beautiful: I had a nap in a park, did a little bit of Qi-gong and rolled through the city to just enjoy the grachten and pretty housing everywhere.

But not having found any hosts, yet not even really having spoken to a person in Amsterdam was a bit of a disappointment. Discouraged, I had a meal I prepared beneath a tree, while the rain was starting to pour more and more. After having finished the meal, I was feeling better. That’s something I discovered so far: When I’m hungry, it’s harder to have a good time 😄

I didn’t really know what to do with my time in Amsterdam anyways, and I was done waiting for some response online. At around 8 p.m. I packed my stuff and found my way to Landsmeer, along a dijk in Noord-Holland. One of the houses looked so peaceful and friendly, sitting there between two canals.

I decided to knock, having the wish to camp in some strangers front yard. Patrick, the owner of said house was a little skeptically at first, but became friendly very quickly. I even was allowed to have a shower after 4 days of cycling - what a blessing! Thanks again, Patrick :)

All in all the day in and around Amsterdam was quite good, having shown me the importance of socializing and further, that when in need, there is help sitting around the corner. You just have to knock sometimes :)