Category Archives: Travel

Home or not?

Big Feelings, Travel, Uncategorized

I’m sitting here at Sea-Tac, looking over at gate S9 for an aircraft that is not there. If things had gone according to schedule, I would have been in the air already for a good 30 minutes, on my way back to the Netherlands. However, when there is no inbound aircraft, you’re kind of going to have to just accept that the only seat you will be in for the moment is the one bolted to the floor in the universally uncomfortable airport seating.

In this digital age, we tend to expect that everything can be electronic. The state of Washington seems to be the exception to that rule and I had to come back to pick some important documents that they would only issue on paper and mail. I arrived late Saturday (as in two days ago) and stayed 5 blocks from my old house in someone’s garage Air BNB.

Since this trip was already costing me enough money, I made the resolution to get around only via public transit. Bargain wise, definitely a good thing. I spent a grand total of $18.75 getting around. Of course, I also gave up hours to do this. This morning, it was 55 minutes to go 6 miles with the bus. If I had walked it, it would have taken me the same amount of time. I have a new found appreciation for the investment that European countries make in their public transit infrastructure. I had the luxury of spending the time because I didn’t have to go to work or pickup my kids or any other serious task.

Not wanting to be an extravagant transit spender, I also did a lot of foot travel. I wanted to see and experience Seattle from the pavement. I also wanted to test my European daily habits and see if they worked in Seattle. The results were mixed. Daily grocery shopping would be a nightmare here as stores are enormous. Besides if you are going everywhere on foot, there’s a limit to how much you can carry. My bike would have been an excellent option here.

I noticed how people rate dogs. The first time I passed a group of people doing it, I thought it was unique to their circumstances. Then as I was navigating the crowds in the Sunday Farmer’s Market, I noticed lots of people were doing it. The conversation references certain dogs that are walking around, compares their traits and appearance to dogs seen earlier and then there is an evaluation if that’s one they should put on the list to get. I had heard the statistic that there are more dogs than school age children in Seattle. If I had dogs, I would think twice about leaving them alone. I mean, Henry and George had an exceptionally high attraction factor and they were also really nice dogs. They could have been grabbed in a heartbeat. While there are many dogs here, they also seem to be very reactive. Their owners are attentive but the dogs themselves react to other dogs. Perhaps that is due to isolation from the COVID time? I know in the Netherlands it is a problem for dogs that people got during that time. They are undersocialized.

I was also struck by how chilly Seattle is. I think I have gotten used to the extravagant extroversion of the Dutch. When you are walking on the sidewalk, people to do not walk past you, they cross to the other side. Or they don’t make eye contact. Super weird. The whole social power dynamic seems out of balance. What is with ending all your sentences on an uplift like you are uncertain of what you are saying?

I don’t know if I will stay in the Netherlands for the rest of my life. I don’t know that Seattle would be somewhere I could return to and do well living there. I think I might have a little too much raw energy for the mellow Pacific Northwest. 😉

Apparently they found an aircraft and we are going to start boarding. Next stop, the land of Dutch directness.

Summertime

Travel

We’re in the portion of the year that is known as “komkommertijd” or literally “cucumber time”. This phrase is a catchall for nothing is really happening, that everyone is on vacation and you can’t really expect any action until September. It’s also the time of year that everything that comes on TV or in the movies tends to be pretty escapism oriented. Doing our part to participate in the komkommertijd, we went to the American style cinema to see the new Minions movie. 😉

It’s not all lazy days around here. This morning we started actively learning Spanish. In November, we will be going to Spain for a month. I’ve signed up for a project in a remote area of Spain that is focused on bringing economic independence to the women of the village (1000 inhabitants). We will bring Henry and George as I do not want to miss a single day of their old age. GG will pack up her laptop and we will buy a portable WIFI router and head to Andalusia. I am excited because it will be an adventure for sure. The logistics still need to be worked out because we will drive and that’s about 1400 miles. Not far perhaps by US standards. For here, it means we will pass through Belgium, France, Andorra and Spain. I’ve never been to Andorra and I am excited to see the Pyrenees up close!

In our search to find a place to rent, I sent a picture of Henry and George yesterday to the local coordinator. This is to convince someone in the village to rent their house to us for the time that we are there. The dog thing was a little bit of an adjustment for them, that people travel with their pets. I also wanted them to see that H&G are quite small in comparison to what they might be thinking – farm or working size dogs. Nothing like a small dog charm offensive for opening doors. 😉 I think that by the time we leave, the boys will have a new fanclub.

Last week, a business partner of mine from Argentina came through the Netherlands for a few days and she stayed with us. It was very intense as she works from 7-7 and eats only salads and dresses like a fashion model. I learned so much from our conversations because her perspectives on many things are so new to me. She’s above all an artist and that’s a different way of looking at things like design, emotion, people. I was really glad that I spent the time with her and breaking through my mental block. If you are exposed too long to the same things, you can’t see the other possibilities anymore. I have been experiencing a lot of that – banging my head against so many walls of the status quo has been leaving me with a headache and drains my optimism. This is why you need people around you that recharge you, lend you their belief in the impossible so that you can renew yours.

The experience with Sol highlighted for me even more why going to Spain is going to be such a good thing. It will be regenerative and focused on doing things differently than what the status quo says. Most importantly, it will be a collective “we” immersion. One of the things that I have been having difficulty with lately is the individualistic nature of the Dutch culture. Here almost everything is an “I” instead of a “We”. Mostly because there is a very big need to categorize everything. Put people and things in boxes to easily form judgments, policies and interactions. My brain doesn’t work that way, I look for patterns and connections and then apply logic to build something from that information. My heart doesn’t work that way either.

Perhaps long term I will find my way to a more “We” culture. Knowing what you are seeking is halfway to finding it or as to quote the G.I. Joe cartoon motto from my brothers’ childhood “Knowing is half the battle.” Heh.

Bingo

Big Feelings, November, Pets, Travel

Yesterday, I won my own version of provincial bingo. I was also the only player so it’s not like it was a tough competition. There are 12 Provinces within the national borders and three more in the Caribbean.

When I first came to the Netherlands, I used to keep track of every trainstation I went through where I stepped out of the train. I would note in my digital notebook if they had toilets, a coffee bar, fantastic architecture, etc. Dutch people found this a weird and slightly amusing ritual. Of course, if you have lived somewhere your whole life and speak the language comfortably and have no problems peeing anywhere outdoors (aka Wild Plassen – Wild Peeing) then you spend your time complaining about your national train system instead of appreciating it. 😉

I saw a lot of the Netherlands via train. This brought me to my Provincial Bingo. I wanted to see every province in the Netherlands. I would have to spend at least a day there for it to count for the bingo. My last province was Zeeland. Yes, it’s where New Zealand gets it’s non-indigenous name from.

I never quite got around to Zeeland. Partially because every time we would look for a place to escape to, GG would say “Oh, the landscape is so boring there.” Or because everything was full. As it is very close to the coast it attracts lots of German and Belgian tourists. Or because it’s a part of the Netherlands that everything is closed on Sunday and deeply religious.

When we decided a two weeks ago to run away for the weekend with the boys, Zeeland was available. For the past two days, we have been wandering along the beach and in the dunes. It’s a bit hard because the last time we were at the beach, we still had our Nel (of the jenever drinking fame). She would have loved it here and they have done a good job of making things accessible here. Much more than in our province.

She passed on the 2nd of October, between the checkin points of the nightshift and the dayshift. The last time I spoke to her was a few days before when she was so angry that it was taking so long to die. It was in the early hours of the morning and by 11am when the doctor came on his rounds, she gave him a very clear indicator of what she wanted. It didn’t take long and I am glad that I was there to listen to her. I’m glad also that she made through to George’s 16th birthday and the last things she heard from me was that we loved her and George was going to get his scooter license.

Her funeral was the best it could be under the circumstances. We had sent a lot of photos for the digital wall and many people were under the impression that GG and I were in our 70’s and more mobile than our Nel. They thought all the trips she made with us were senior excursions so they were quite surprised to see the adventures she had been on and how “young” we are. The boys were also in attendance and received much attention, including pieces of wurst.

As for today, it’s very early still and George is snoring away next to my chair in the basket. It’s still dark outside and I’m on my way to my second cup of instant coffee (the one downside of weekends away from home). Eight years ago, I was spending my first week here as a resident. We arrived just before Halloween and I was due to report to work on the 4th of November. Crazy. How full the past eight years have been.