We travel the world, because we aspire to see the world. Explore amazing sights, immerse ourselves in other cultures and be in the moment where ever we are. In the last 500 days, we’ve travelled 70.000 km through 18 countries and our lungs gasp for air when we try to take in all the experiences at once. What an adventure. So grateful. We are living our dream, that’s for sure! 🙏🏻

And yet, this trip turns out to be much more than exploring Planet Earth. We fast tracked from new sailors on the block to certified Yachtmasters Offshore and with that unlocked our dream to sail and unknown opportunities. And the last two months we lived in Bali to fully focus on our next never-stop-learning-project: sort of a self-assembled fast track to upgrade our surfing skills. Besides, it was time again to catch our breath from travelling. 

We’ve found ourselves a temporary home sweet home in Canggu. We’ve discovered Canggu over xMas. At first glance it’s busy, touristic and overloaded with traffic which makes you wish to escape. At second, the place radiates good karma and is a Walhalla to live the good life in a healthy manner. It’s all about vegan, plant based, organic, yoga, fitness, massage and most important: surf. And luckily, also tasty burgers, coffee and sunset beers. 😉 No wonder, why it’s full of fit happy people and no wonder why we called it home for a little while. 😃

Become better at surfing takes time when you’re a teenager, takes a lot more time when you’re in your twenties and when you’re not – like us – you wished you mastered this as a teenager. Mama Mia, it ain’t easy. I took up the challenge to surf a short board, which means my pop-up jump using my toes is no longer of any use as they dangle useless in the water. The trick is to lay down and pop-up on your feet in one flip. No toes, knees, climbing or any other creative way you can think of. It looks easy but when I laid down the first time I found it very interesting how on earth it’s possible at all. 😰 Luckily my body eventually found a way to do it, although my head still has no clue. Now it comes down to military precision, flow and speed. Wouter is ahead with the next challenge to catch bigger waves, bottom turns and eventually his dream to do the roundhouse cutback. Which looks as cool as it sounds. 

Where ever all of this will take us we don’t know but it’s all good fun and we feel stronger every day. Health is a precious asset. It also felt good to have a daily routine again, to focus on something and enjoy a little home. It’s astonishing how much you can enjoy a closet to put in your clothes, a couch to sit on, pets to play with and a kitchen to prepare your own food after such a long time living without. 😃

Obviously, we couldn’t settle down completely 🙄 and so after several weeks we packed our day bags to follow a free dive course in Amed. Amed is one of the many small villages on the East coast of Bali and is blessed with clear blue water, reefs and fish.

The school taught us interesting stuff about human physics, breathing techniques, how to relax body and mind, how to move under water and all about safety. As an add-on we practiced the Wim Hof (the so called Dutch ice-man) method which got close to a spiritual experience. Bizar and hard to explain. This method should never ever be used during free diving (dangerous, as there is a risk for a black-out!), yet it is a method to energize your body.

Freediving challenges your body and mind. The increase in pressure and the idea of lacking oxygen are the boundaries to push through technique and ultimate relaxation. Well, ultimate relaxation is hard to find when you start freediving but it’s pretty cool to feel like a fish under the surface. More free and very different from Scuba diving. Truly a fascinating and unique experience. Watch ‘One Breath Around The World’ on You Tube to get an idea of what free diving can be.

Some weeks later, when our travel legs became truly restless and we still had some Canggu weeks in front of us, we jumped on a scooter to explore the finest surf breaks on the Bali peninsula in the South. Balangan, Dreamland, Bingin, Impossibles, Padang Padang and last but not least famous Uluwatu. All, beautiful consistent waves and a pleasure to watch. I once heard, the surf is full of energy as the four elements come together here: water, air, fire (sun) and earth (sand/reef). It’s a nice thought, I think. 🙂

Bali. A tropical paradise. Overcrowded by scooters and tourists, but a paradise. The last two months were wonderful. We charged ourselves and new adventures are calling us. It’s time to collect new memories. Japan, you’re next, before we follow the sun down under. 😎