When I was twelve I made my first real bicycle vacation alone. And after my high school I decided that I wanted to fly out for real, away from The Netherlands. So after 8 months of full-time working, I actually went on my backpackers journey. I started off with backpacking a month throught Sweden. In Sweden I was visiting friends, which I met via an online game, but never had seen nor met before. After coming back from Sweden I went out to Panama and Ecuador in South-America. Where I backpacked around for 3 months. There I did volunteer work, went into the jungle and fulfilled another dream I had for a while, climbing a serious mountain peak. After climbing the Cotopaxi(19,347 ft) and going home to the Netherlands, the whole thing was over. Time to study again.

After two years in the Netherlands I felt the urge for a new challenge rising within me. Aafke and Martijn came with the suggestion of going to Tibet by bicycle. How could it be better! It really seemed like the perfect match to me, combining: biking, (ultimate) mountains and adventure, it simply couldn't be better


What keeps you busy in normal day to day life?

Several things are keeping me busy during normal life. People being one of them, every time again, it fascinates me to see if I can understand people, see if my ideas about them and their personalities are correct compared to reality. Another thing which keeps me busy is learning and discovery, over and over again. This includes physics(which I am studying) aswell as my life around that, aswell as when I am traveling again(be it real or be it dreaming about new adventures).


What are you currently doing?

Right now I am studying Applied Physics(or call it Engineering Physics if you prefer) at Fontys university in Eindhoven. Last spring I've been trying to find an internship and right now I'm actually in the United states, studying Nanotechnology at CNSE located at the University at Albany. I'm also sporting regularly(climbing, biking, swimming), driving and working at my motorbike, or otherwise I'm playing guitar, bass guitar, Saxophone or Djembee. I'm also almost the whole year through occupied with arranging things for vacations. Last summer('07) Douwe and me went to Romania, and after that we went to Swiss with the whole family and did a lot of climbing, hiking and some biking.


Is this the first time that you're making such a big bicycle adventure?

Right now it is will be the first time that I'll cover such a big distance. But I've plans for next spring and summer('08), and next to that I've got quite some backpacking experience on longer journey's. So that should work out fine.


What do you expect from this journey?

First of all: an ever remaining memory, which I can enjoy over and over again. This includes both the moments of pain and exhaustion, aswell as the beautiful moments. Next to that I'm expecting this to be a journey full of fascinating encounters and moments, where we will see how far we get from day to day.

And like they said in Ecuador: "Mañana, mañana". Just take it easy, you'll eventually get there anyways.