Finally Back on the Bikes Again _ Bicycle Touring the Netherlands

All right, so we're now on the train. We already had an adventure today with the misbooking of train tickets. We sorted it out and we're now on our way to Maastricht. Then we're gonna find a place to sleep and then tomorrow we will start cycling for real. We are starting our journey in Maastricht, located on both sides of the river Maas, adjacent to the border with Belgium. Maastricht is one of the oldest cities of the Netherlands where people are known to live since the beginning of the era. Known for its hills, or as the Dutch jokingly call them mountains, the city is located at the foot of the St. Peter's Mountain. During the Second World War, the St. Peter's Mountain served as a storage place for national art treasures. The quarrying of limestones has created a vast network of corridors and later served as an evacuation center in case that Maastricht would end up in the front line. The city is also known for the Maastricht Treaty, which laid the foundation for the European Union. My spring mechanism and my seatpost is squeaking like crazy and I'm getting really annoyed by it. We need some proper oil to fix it and we don't have it right now so I just have to stay zen and get used to it. So I'm gonna squeak on. It wasn't easy. We have a view of the Maasvallei, where the city of Maastricht is located. What I always say is, when I say someone's thought, it's, well, goodbye. And maybe until tomorrow, as God wills. That's really typical of what we say here in Zuid-Limburg, when we say people's thoughts. Oh yeah, look. Look at that. If you're there, I have to say, you know. I don't know if you see Maudie here behind me, but she's down there below, checking out a camp spot for us. Let's see if she gets back with some good news. It's quite hilly, and there's a lot of stones in the ground. And it's not very flat. But if we go down all the way, there's another fence that we have to cross over. And there's like a sort of flat piece, which is pretty nice and private. So, I think we could do that. Alright, back on the road again. It was just like a really special first evening for us. Out and about again in more than a year or so. Yeah, we've been working, saving up for the next trip. Yeah. And now we're gonna find a camp spot. Yeah. So, let's do that. Let's do that. Bye-bye, see you tomorrow. Alright, good morning. Birds are chirping. Sun is up. Oh, it's lovely. And I just woke up as well. It's been, yeah, a lot of waking up this night. Because we have to get used to it, sleeping in the tent again. So, we're gonna get up and then breakfast time. We're having some soy yoghurt with apple, banana, muesli, nuts and raisins. A little bit of cinnamon. And food cooking. Healthy stuff. What did I have to say? The wise advice. Enjoy life. And it's short-lived as well. And be happy with the people and yourself. I really think you should do that. It's over before you know it. I'm 70. And when I look back, I have six beautiful daughters. And 18 grandchildren, so yeah. And they're enjoying it as well. I'm sharing that with them as well. Enjoy it to the fullest. Because it's so short-lived. I've seen my corona. So, yeah. I had a bit of a bad year last year. My mother went through a lot last year, but so did I. I went to the hospital first. And then, unfortunately, I ended up in a burn-out. Which I got out of this year. And what really helped me, is to take care of yourself. Take it easy. And don't always want to be there for others. Which is also very important in life, I think. But you really have to take care of yourself. Otherwise, you'll get stuck. And that's just the way it is. As we slowly make our way through the hills of Limburg, we learn a lot about the recent history of this area. Early in the morning on September 12, 1944, approximately three months after the Normandy landings, the Americans crossed the Belgian border into the Netherlands. It is in this region where the liberation of the Netherlands had finally begun. It would take around nine months more before the remaining German forces surrendered on May 5, 1945. Twenty years ago? But we consciously came back here because we really love being in nature, in a fantastic environment. And not that we are huge world travelers. We often look for happiness close to home. I think that's also an art. If you have the luxury of looking for it close to home, dunes, forests, if you have that, make use of it, look for the silence and enjoy what the country has to offer. All right. We're cycling out of the little village of Mesh. That's the southernmost village in the Netherlands. And the border is only about 100 meters away from here. And for us, it's a very special moment because it has been one year and three months since we left Bangkok on our world tour. And now we're back into a foreign country again. So absolutely amazing. I think that's the border right there. This is it. Here we go. As you've seen in this video, we took on a small challenge to ask people we met along the way for some life advice. It was a great way to get to know a stranger on a more personal level. If you think we should integrate this more, let us know. And if you like, share a question that you want to have answered in one of our next videos. This is where we want to wrap up the video. We're sitting on this really nice bench and we're about to cook our dinner. If you like the video, please subscribe, like and hit the bell. That really helps out our channel. So thanks for that. Up here, we're going to put some extra videos for you guys to watch. Now it's time to chill, right? Yeah. Okay. There are some cyclists coming along. Hey. Bye-bye. And you also. See you guys in the next one. See you. Bye.