20 – The Netherlands & the Vlierhof

Hey folks!

I write to you from the community “De Vlierhof”, in the very west of north-rhine westphalia, at the dutch border.

It’s been a while since my last post, so I will try to give you a good summary, but bear with me if I write a lot.

I last wrote from Billerbeck, still near to Muenster, and after that I went towards Winterswijk.
One of the best moments of my journey until now was near the dutch border, close to the town of Gescher:
Just as I was approaching Gescher, a girl rode past me on a bike. She wore a security helmet, so I couldn’t look at her at first, but then – suprisingly – she came back. She asked if I was on a journey. Yes. And directly after that – to my second surprise – she asked, if I already had a place to stay. No. Then she told me, she did what I was doing and could relate to my situation and if I wanted to come and stay at the farm she was staying at. I was really amazed for a moment, but I stuttered a bit and answered “Yes, that would be cool!” It ended with me staying even for the next day and having a really great time. Jo, if you read this, thanks again!!
I had some more days and encounters while I was walking through Gelderland (a province in the middle eastern part of the Netherlands), every experience unique and very good.
A week before, I crossed over to Germany again to go a more direct way to the south. I got to Emmerich, a small city at the border, trying to find some place to access the internet to find a place to stay in Kleve (another small city, 8km away), but when I could use the computer of a youth cafe there, I got no answer from anyone I wrote to on the couchsurfing site. So I found my way to the place of a social worker from the cafe and his partner. In the evening, while we were talking in the garden, he told me about a community nearby, that lived together on some kind of ecological farm.
The next day, I went there and since then I am working there, eating with them, getting to know them, I even got a bed in the men’s dormitory. I feel in touch with nature, get rest for my body and learn so much about me, the world and practical things as well. I am very happy to be here right now, in this moment.

The next time I write to you, I probably will still be here, so prepare for less of a road story, but more of a experience report.
I may even be able to get a video cam in the future, so maybe at some point I’ll add photos and videos as well.

Have a nice time!
Falk