You never imagine it can happen this close to home – or let’s say home.

Although I live fulltime in New Zealand, Belgium is still my home. Belgium is the place where all my friends and family live. Luckily none of them got hurt during the explosions on 22nd of March, but 32 other people were less lucky and died.  And I didn’t start yet about the hundreds who got wounded.

It is horrible. After all these attacks I hear more and more people talking about cancelling their trips to Europe, or to Turkey or Egypt (it’s a long list). And that’s horrible too.

Should we let terrorists dictate our life?

No.

To all the scared parents out there who aren’t happy to see their kids travelling to ‘dangerous’ countries: Instead of being afraid, be proud of the strong individuals they’ve become. Individuals who aren’t afraid of being out there, of facing the world.

I know, we all know, it happens, terrorist attacks. We hear horrible stories in the media, people being killed, families ripped apart, but always remember: the vast majority of the people have a good heart and are more than happy to welcome you into their country.

Countries where there have been attacks see a big decline in tourism, while it is mostly those countries who needs tourists the most. So don’t cancel your trips.

Don’t let the terrorists win. Don’t let them decide what you do. Where you go or don’t go. That moment we let fear control our decisions is the moment that the terrorists win in destroying what little hope remains in our world.

Some numbers might help

If you aren’t convinced yet, let me talk to your rational side. The chance to die in a terrorist attack is negligible. You don’t have to believe me, but believe the numbers.

Drowning in a Bathtub: 1 in 685,000
Dying from a Heart Disease: 1 in 5
Being Murdered: 1 in 18,000
Dying from a Car Accident: 1 in 18,585
Dying from Choking on Food: 1 in 370,035
Being Struck by Lightning: 1 in 576,000
Dying from a Cancer: 1 in 7
Dying from a terrorist attack: 1 in 9,300,000

You are 14 times more likely to die in your bathtub than in a terrorist attack! Does that mean you should stop taking baths? In my case it is probably even higher, because I dare to fall asleep while bathing. But I still love taking baths! And I still love to travel, although the world ‘gets more and more dangerous’.

In two months I will be flying to Belgium. And I can’t wait to go. Not a single cell in my body is afraid. I want to be there to be with my friends and family and I will visit Brussels to see, feel and support my country.

Kia kaha, kia toa

In the Maori language Te Reo they have a beautiful expression for difficult times: Kia kaha, kia toa. Stand tall, stand strong. We need to remember to stay strong, even after such a horrible event. We need to stay ourselves, be strong and especially can’t allow those terrorists to get to us.

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This is about how Yosemite National Park managed to steal my heart. Yosemite, I adore you and your pretty mountains. You’re so majestic and yet humble. I love how the sun sets on your glorious peaks, how you make me sweat hiking up, how the soft evening light makes life look like a fairytale, how kind and warm the working crew is and most of all your grandiose views.

I kind of stumbled on a great friend group in Yosemite by accident. I was travelling solo in California and met up with some Couchsurfers for a road trip to Yosemite. On the same day we were leaving I thought: hey, maybe it’s also possible to couchsurf IN Yosemite National Park. I still remember that day. It was a Friday, I was couchsurfing in San Francisco, opened my computer and sent out some requests. I figured my chances were pretty low, as I was asking for a place to stay for 3 people for THAT night. But my motto is: a ‘no’ you have, a ‘yes’ you can get (this sounds way better in Dutch…).

I only sent out 2 emails, because there just aren’t many CS-hosts in Yosemite and one of them was TJ. He was the one crazy and awesome enough to reply: “yep, no worries, you can stay at our place”. My heart jumped, I never expected to get a yes!

This place is special to me because it was my first time travelling solo. I had travelled quite a bit before, but this was always with family and friends. For my first solo travel I decided to go 3,5 weeks to California. Guided by the soundtrack of The O.C. I wanted to chase the sun. I didn’t meet Ryan or Seth, but I did spend half of my trip in Yosemite. I met amazing people, who I still call friends after all those years.

I had such a good time and felt I wasn’t finished with California yet. So I booked another ticket and 7 Months later I was back. Ready for some Summer fun.

Meeting the lovely Yosemite crew didn’t only make my days so much more fun, it also opened doors to the National Park I otherwise wouldn’t have acces to.

One night they took me to a bluegrass concert in some kind of bar only for Yosemite crew. There I was, dancing in my hiking boots, with a dumb smile on my face. Such a simple evening and I couldn’t have been happier.

I also discovered the Hidden Pools, I spent the night in a cave, went climbing and the most exciting activity: THE YOSEMITE SWING. Doesn’t sound too special? Believe me – it is crazy. It is a swing up on El Capitan’s base. You attach yourself to the rope and swing meters high over trees.

Yosemite Park Rangers aren’t very happy with this and often take the rope down, but luck was on my side. When I visited Yosemite the second time that year some climbers had just installed the swing again! Game time! And that’s how wimpy me flew high. Forgive my screaming

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGyYOMTs61A&w=662&h=441]

Holidays are often made by the people you meet. That’s why I love the US and especially Yosemite. I was the lucky girl who got to meet a bunch of cool people who live in one of the most beautiful National Parks in the US. Some of them had been living there almost 3 years, others just arrived, but they all lost their heart to nature and didn’t want to leave. It’s a different and special community and I’m grateful that I got to be a part of that for a couple weeks – and I can’t wait to go back.

Yosemite and the US gave me that extra push to quit my job three years ago. I noticed how much I loved travelling by myself. You put yourself out there (you don’t really have a choice) and when you’re that vulnerable you meet such great people. I wanted more of that.

My original plan was to travel, live and work in Yosemite. After looking into all the US-paperwork and visa stuff I lost hope.  The US really doesn’t make it easy (or let’s be honest: impossible) for foreigners to work over there.

Time for plan B. I googled which countries were easy to get a Work Travel visa, and that was Australia and New Zealand. And here I am. I now find myself living, working and playing in nature in New Zealand. That plan B turned out really good, don’t you think so?

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It is the second trip where I suddenly found myself flying above Hoover Dam and the rest of Nevada. I was flying in a tiny plane and with a tiny heart. Let me explain you why.

It all starts with Couchsurfing (which I love as you can read here). I met another CS-er – Pierre – for a trip to the Grand Canyon. He calls me the day after and says: “Hi Liese, what do you think about a plane ride?” Euhhh… OK!

He was in touch with a guy on Couchsurfing who owned a plane and liked to take travellers out. We only had to pay for our part of the fuel, no extra costs. The guy just liked to fly, but found it too expensive to do it all the time by himself. So he loved to share his fly time with travellers. A win-win on both sides!

With big smiles and ready for our little adventure we meet our pilot. Turns out he was cross-eyed. Pierre and I look at each other, thinking exactly the same… But of course we are polite kids and don’t ask anything about the possibly interesting mix of flying and being cross-eyed. But I have to admit that I didn’t feel 100% comfortable.

There we were, hopping on an old plane with a cross-eyed pilot. I thought by myself: maybe I shouldn’t trust people on Couchsurfing so easily… But we took off and our pilot, who turned out to be a real sweetheart, did a great job.

Everything went smooth, Pierre and I were having fun and enjoying the incredible view from above. Until our pilot takes out a book and starts reading it, in the air… Really?!

This time I didn’t hesitate to ask if it was safe to do this. As a non-expert I had no idea what he was doing. The wimp in me appeared. But our pilot said it was fine, because the automatic pilot was on. A couple of extra breaths and seeing the fun in all of this, I relaxed again.

We flew for a while and made a stop to fuel up. It was seriously amazing to see the area around Vegas and Hoover Dam from the sky. I had never thought to fly there and yet there I was, high in the sky.

I I I love that about travelling. You never know where you’ll end up. At least if you let yourself. Don’t hold on too much to your ‘plans’. If I’ve learned one lesson from this, it is: be open to opportunities. Even if that means getting on an old small plane with a cross-eyed stranger. Just see where the wind blows you. In my case, it literally blew me over Hoover Dam!

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I can’t believe how fast time flies. One year and a half ago I quit my job to travel. Bye vtm– newsroom, bye family and friends and bye good life. I’m ready for an even better life. Looking back on all those things I’ve done I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I challenged myself to go travelling alone, I met great people, did crazy stuff and saw beautiful things. Of course there are lonely and sad moments, but after a while you’re not afraid of those anymore and they only make you stronger.

One year and a half equals Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, France, Italy, India, Maldives and Singapore.

TOP 7 MOMENTS
I want to share the best moments of this last year and a half. Those moments where everything feels right. But when I start making a list I end up with 23 moments. These seven made the list:

1. Bumping into wild elephants

Sitting on the motorbike in India, driving through beautiful nature, holding my boyfriend tight and seeing a wild elephant crossing the road. On top of that we see a few minutes later some other elephants chilling along the road. I realized that moment that life was spoiling us.

2. Being part of an Indian wedding

My high school friend Heleen married her Indian fiancé in Calcutta. What an experience! The colors, the people, the atmosphere! A blogpost about that wedding is coming soon!

3. Diving with sharks in the Maldives. My first time ever I saw sharks while diving. Trust me, you feel very much alive at that moment!

4. Screaming on the highest swing in the world

For the wimps that don’t dare to bungee jump – like me – there is the’Nevis Swing’, the biggest in the world. You are hanging 160 meters above the canyon floor when they suddenly let you go. Be prepared for a free fall of 70 meters and to go 120km/p/h. Go and have a look at the site and see what you think of it.

5. A day scootering around Pai, Thailand

You know those perfect days? Everything goes smooth, you do nice things and you realize how much you are enjoying life. I had one of those days in Pai, Thailand. Some friends and I decided to rent scooters and go away for the day. We went to a huge Buddha-monument, jumped into hidden waterfalls, checked out a canyon and tried to boil eggs above a really hot hot spring. And in between we enjoyed the combination of warm sun and a breeze on the scooter.

6. Stumbling upon a lost place in Italy

During the Italy-motorbike trip with my boyfriend we stumbled upon a restaurant in the middle of nowhere between the mountains. We couldn’t believe our eyes. An old Italian guy cooking some meat skewers above a bbq. That with some good cheese and a beer made the perfect motorbike break!

7. Camping in the van next to Lake Pukaki

Sun, food, good company and Mount Cook proud in the background. And the stars at night aren’t bad either.

What now?

This trip was definitely a good decision for me. I had the urge for so long and I’m happy I did it. I guess I’ll never loose the the love for travel. But now it is time for my next challenge. And that will be in New Zealand (so that’s also still a bit of travelling, right?)

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As the word explains, you stay on the couch of someone. You can stay one, two or more nights, don’t need to pay, but it is definitely not a hotel. Couchsurfing is about exchanging cultures, travel stories, experience; meeting people that are the same and yet so different than you. I find it the best way to discover a country. You see everything from the eyes of a local. You live for a couple of days their life, and that can be so rewarding. Much more than being the typical tourist and only do the main highlights.

Through Couchsurfing I had the luck to do a cheap, thrilling plane flight over Hoover Dam in the US; take some hidden rock water slides somewhere in Yosemite National Park; go cliff jumping in the area of Vegas on a beautiful undiscovered place; to have a not so traditional thanksgiving; to sneak in a casino pool and take a slide that goes between an aquarium filled with sharks; discover all the best bars in Melbourne; have a legendary night with great people, a guitar and a fire in a cave in Yosemite; go hiking in Arizona in the middle of nowhere; see a bloody weird movie about a penis detaching itself from a body to kill women and so on.

Couchsurfing is a community; but you participate as much if you want. You can open your couch or extra bedroom for travellers, you can organise events, pub-crawls or just go for a coffee with someone. Nothing is obligated, you just look what interests you. And before you know it, you have a network of friends around the world.

Ok there are weirdo’s out there and some guys just use it to get laid, but that is only a small amount. Couchsurfing uses a system of references, which is really convenient. If you meet someone or stayed at their couch (or vica versa), you can write a reference that can be positive, neutral or negative. Like this you know what kind of people they are and if they are truly genuine.

So before you decide to sleep on a couch somewhere, check the profile, check the reviews and photos. I always couchsurf with people that have photo’s and have good references. If you’re thinking of couschsurfing at a guy his place, have a look if all his references are written by women. If so, this can indicate he is a player and mostly has some hidden incentives to host you.

I’ve been using it during all my travels the last two years. I love it, especially when I travel by myself. I’ve met some of the coolest people ever and I’m so thankful for that.

If you want to have a look if it is something for you or not: www.couchsurfing.com

Visiting US National Parks with a lovely bunch I just met

TJ and Matt, The best hosts in Yosemite National Park

Hanging out with my host in Melbourne bars!

Flying in a tiny plane over Hoover Dam

Thanksgiving in California

Moody weather in Yosemite

Natural waterslides in Yosemite

Cliff jumps near Vegas!

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