Category — Preparing for the big trip

It is a weird day today. Once again I spent my last day workign for Coolblue, just a few days before I start traveling, not knowing where I will be in three months time. More after the jump..

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Hello all,

I found a flight which was so cheap that I think I won’t find anything cheaper, so I went ahead and booked it: www.condor.com will be bringing me to Salvador de Bahia, Brasil on december 8th for only 330EUR. Now all I need to do is get a visa

PS. This also means the chance is big that I will attend teh Sinterklaas couchsurfing meeting in Rotterdam!

Hello dear readers,

I need some help: since my plan is to get my ass to south america around the end of november, I am looking for the cheapest way to get as far south as possible in south america. I don’t mind any form of transportation, 75 stopovers, 5 days of traveling etc. I just need to get there. It might be flights from amsterdam to buenos aires, rowboat from madrid to ushaia, anything. As long as I know about two weeks in advance, I can get anywhere in europe without a problem.

I’m asking your help because many know more than one, and it is kind of hard to look for a flight from anywhere in europe to the southern part of south america. All help is appreciated!

The person finding me the lowest fare will get a nice souvenir mailed to him as soon as I’m across the ocean!

Please send any suggestions to my email: walterheck@gmail.com

Thanks!

When I woke up, I was immediately excited: this was the day I had been waiting for for so long. It finally arrived! I started packing, my dad helped me write down everything my parents need to know in case of an emergency (phone numbers, email addresses, who to contact, passport, credit card and bank numbers etc.). Then I went to the barber for a final haircut, dropped off my glasses at the optician and picked up my id-tags from the shoemaker. I finished packing and then the biog moment was there: leaving the last place I would call home for a long time.

My dear parents dropped me off outside of Zoetermeer and I hitchhiked to Rotterdam. My driver dropped me off somewhere in the north of the city, and it cost me more than an hour to finally reach my goodbye-party at work. Showing up late for your own goodbye party, classy!

At the party a lot more people showed up than I expected, they gave me super-nice gifts and afterwards we went to have dinner and some (okay, a lot of ) beers. It was an awesome night and it made me even sorrier to leave this company. I arrived at Diederik’s house at an unknown time to find a bed made for me and a (extremely thoughtful!) bottle of water next to my bed.

PS. A special thanks goes out to Fina, the super nice lady from work that brought me a very nice gift totally unexpected. Fina, hou die gasten goed onder de duim tot ik terug ben hoor!

Today I enjoyed my last dinner with my parents. They took me out to eat at a very nice Chinese restaurant and the food was delicious. It feels kind of weird saying goodbye to them without knowing when I’ll see them again. My parents and my cat are probably the people I’m going to miss most while being out in the wild.

It was also my last day at work, which was even stranger. I have grown to feel so comfortable working with all these wonderful people that I can hardly imagine not seeing them for a while. I finished up the last things I had to do, walked around the building to say goodbye to everyone and then picked up my last things and went home. Hope to see you all next year!

I would say: the adventure of a lifetime! I have been surfing around Rotterdam for a week and a half now. Right now I’m staying at awesome Aldo’s place. I have said goodbye to several people already (feels kind of weird, especially since I have no idea if/when I’ll be returning to Holland. Goodbye sis + Mark, goodbye Nicco, goodbye Eef! Hope to see you soon (anywhere on this planet will do ).

In the meantime, I’m still working, which is getting harder day by day. Only 9 more days of work to go. I Think I will actually miss working at that place. The job is nice, management is nice and my colleagues are (although they will never admit it ) friends that I get along with not just on the job, but also outside. That is a combination of good factors rarely seen I think. I’m coaching my replacement right now, so things are really becoming final.

I already sort of miss my old apartment, as it was a great place to live. Even though it is a great feeling of freedom to own nothing (except financial debt ), it also becomes very clear to me that this is the real beginning of the next phase of my life! Nobody (including me) knows what is going to happen even in one month time. It all feels very exciting and I’m looking forward to it very much!

This weekend I’ll be visiting my birth grounds in the south of Holland to see some more people. Next weekend, my last in Holland, is full of parties (not even for me, it just happens to be a party weekend, really ). Right now it is time for bed, as tomorrow I have another day of work ahead of me.

See you later and keep those comments coming, it is for all of you guys that I’m keeping this blog!