Climate neutral travelling

[BinnZ]

This years holiday we had planned to go to Croatia. However, Corona made that next to impossible. We cancelled all our plans and waited.
When our summer holiday got close, the idea of spending our free time in the garden became less and less attractive however, se we came up with the idea of spending at least a mid week somewhere in Holland. Most people in the Netherlands thought the same so our options were limited; the coastal regions would probably be so over crowded that it didn't seem nice to go there. And not a wise thing to do either, in a world that is being haunted by a virus.
We came up with the idea to go to Maastricht. A middle size town in the southern most part of the country. It is known to be the oldest town too, and there's plenty to do and check out.

And to make it a bit more interesting, we decided to do the traveling by bycicle. I dug up my old backpack from when I was young and used to travelling by train, and managed to stuff most of our luggage in there. We don't have fancy sporting bycicles, just each our own taste of descent bycicles for daily use. Mine has only 3 gears, so has my daughters, and my wife has 8. She also has bycicle bags at the back, good for the remaining bits of luggage. My daughter carried her own luggage divided over two bags which she could attach to the two luggage carriers on her old fashioned city bike; one up front and one at the back.

The trip would be roughly 240 km and since we aren't super trained we decided to make the trip in three days. We found a small town hotel and a B&B in a rural area to be our stops for the night and we took off.
The first day, we crossed the Veluwe, which is one of the few areas with what we Dutch consider to be hills. That first day was rough. The hills made us suffer and the backpack on my back was hurting. Not only on my shoulders but also on the butt. I think it was roughly 20 kilos extra pressing on me, and I did notice. After 92 km we arrived at our first stop. Tired but satisfied by our first achievement we settled down.
The next day was another 85 km along the river Maas. Beautiful landscapes and a lot less hilly, it went much better. The last trip on day 3 was only 60 km but we had to travel through the south of Limburg, which has the highest hills in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, we made it. We arrived in Maastricht early afternoon.

We stayed there a week, up until now, in a luxurious hotel at the river side. There's plenty to do and see and all within reach either walking or cycling. We did a mountainbike trip in a nearb town called Valkenburg (that was really rough) and we visited the local museum of modern art. Great film installation there by khalid Joseph called BLK NWS.
We also visited the marl caves nearby, checked out all the cool defense works around the city, its cathedrals, shopping etc. and we experienced quite a few restaurants in town.

After a week now it is time to pack for our trip back home. Tomorrow we will be leaving and we plan to make the trip in two days now. Luxury hotels and restaurants are great, but after a while we started longing for the ability to cook our own food again. 

The upcoming trip is going to be tough. Not only we have to travel roughly 100 km per day (we take a shorter route this time and stay in Weeze, Germany on wednesday) it will also be HOT! 32 degrees celcius. So we try to leave as early in the morning possible to avoid driving a lot during the hot afternoon. It's going to be another great adventure. We will cross the river Rhine at its most ample point, something I really look forward to, and then travel back to Deventer along the river IJssel.

One of the cool things about travelling by bycicle is that you are more aware of the land you pass through. Holland really is a beautiful place. And when you arrive 100 km farther to the south, you notice how big the differences are in the behaviour and dialect of the locals. You are just more aware of all that.
Another cool thing is that you really feel like being on an adventure. You rely on your own capabilites and energy. That is much more satisfying than relying on your car engine and road navigation apps. Plus, you are doing it together. I don't think we ever had a holiday trip where we were so dedicated to achieve our goals together, being aware of each others qualities and weaknesses constantly. We grew to become a team and we made it w0#k. Together we sought our challenges and the best way to meet with each of our capabilities and desires.

What we missed during our stay was the ability to cook, and in the end it became a bit annoying to be in a hotel all the time. That wasn't a big issue, but we already decided that next time we should bring our tents and arrange our stay on a camp site. During the trip we would still stay at hotels or B&B's, because when you are tired from the trip you need to relax in the most passive way possible.
We will however need to find a way to bring along the extra gear. That's not going to fit in my backpack 

And our travels have been 100% climate neutral. I don't think hotel visits are too, but hey, give a man a break! 
This has been a wondergul experience so far, and as long as we don't get trouble like flat tires, it will deffinitely continue to be.

I must add that the bycicle roads in the Netherlands are absolutely outstanding. You literally never have to travel on the same lane as cars and in 90% of the cases you travel over dedicated bycicle roads. The entire country is filled with so called bycicle intersections; a network of good bycle roads and rural roads that make a journey by bike both easy and entertaining. And if you happen to miss an intersection, there's still traffic signs specifically for bycicles indicating the directions of the nearest towns.

I can really recommend this experience. Climate neutrality isn't complicated, it's fun! 

[Art Blade]

very nice, Binn! Safe travels, hope you manage the last part without any hiccups.

[nex]

WOW BinnZ, what a fantastic adventure that must be.
Thanks for sharing with us, a safe and trouble-free trip back home mate   

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yes, sounds very cool, and a nice way to travel as long as the weather remains cooperative! Plus you get some exercise out of it, fresh air, and like you said, the enjoyment of experiencing the landscape in a way you just don't in a car. Have fun and safe journey home!

[BinnZ]

Thank you brothers!

I also hope we can do the way back without hiccups. What might make things complicated is the weather; we have a heatwave coming. We plan to leave early, so we arrive early afternoon. That way we don't die of heatstrokes 
And you know what else is cool? I managed to loose weight instead of gaining it. I come back closer to a sixpack I have been in hte past 3 years 

[Art Blade]

 

[nex]

Hey Binnz I just got an idea, is it possible for you to keep us posted on your progress while cycling?     

[BinnZ]

We are in Weeze, Germany now. We plan to do the trip in 2 days. Quite rough, given today's temperatures. 28 degrees Celcius today. Tomorrow will even be hotter, above 30 
So we leave early morning to be able to travel during the relatively cool morning

[nex]

Which route did you use to Weeze, the Vlaanderen fietsroete looks to be very scenic

[BinnZ]

I wanted to give you all the details with pleasure, but I made a mistake. The screenshots I took of my activity app showed my full name. Will redo it when I'm home. We took mostly the maasroute, which goes along the river Maas, the scenic way.
Today we cycled 116 km passing Roermond and Venlo, then crossing what is called the Maasduinen, to Weeze

[PZ]

Sounds like a fantastic trip BinnZ 

Safe travels!

[fragger]

I love what you and your family are doing BinnZ, good on you That would be a great way to take a trip. Physically demanding, sure, but feeling like you're really a part of the countryside and not just whizzing through it in a metal cocoon.

I've always loved traveling by motorcycle for much the same reasons - being out in the air, smelling the smells, and feeling like I'm in the world, not isolated from it. Not as physically draining as riding a bicycle, of course Plus I move a lot faster and have to give it all my concentration, so I don't get as much time to look around.

I'd like to do what you're doing, but the distances in my country are a bit more prohibitive No postcard-picture towns with centuries of history behind them to pass though, either.

[nex]

Your name BinnZ? Oh, you mean that signboard above your head!
I took it for a street name....    

[BinnZ]

Ah you saw it? That's great, actually. I uploaded all without giving it much thought and Art was so kind to point it out to me. Don't want my alias get messed up with my real life, although there's not much to hide really. But still, feels a lot safer if the entire world does NOT know that I'm a game addict as well

Gonna redo the whole screenie thing now, so you can take a peak at our trips. Today we arrived back home, after another 104 km, and appart from being super tired we all are damn satisfied

[BinnZ]

Here we go, now without problems I guess:

Deventer - Maastricht day 1
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Deventer - Maastricht day 2
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Deventer - Maastricht day 3
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Maastricht - Deventer day 1
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Maastricht - Deventer day 2
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


That's the entire trip recorded by the Strava app on my phone. It also gives further details like elevation gain and such throughout the route, but I doubt you are all dying to read these type of details

I made some landmark photos during our trip, which I will show below:

Second day of trip to Maastricht; view over the Maas river:
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Second day of trip to Maastricht, hydrating:
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Third day of our trip to Maastricht, crossing the Maas:
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Third day of our trip to Maastricht, arriving:
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Maastricht, skyline view:
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Maastricht, little alley:
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Maastricht, view from the Maas (boat trip):
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Me, immitating the British accent of the tourguide:
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


On our way back to Deventer we crossed the Rhine. This is us, on the bridge over the Rhine, where it is most ample, next to Emmerich am Rhein in Germany:
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Look what a massive river:
Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login

We crossed it here because of its ampleness on this spot. Shortly after entering Holland it divides into 3 seperate rivers, the Waal, the Neder-Rijn and the IJssel (the latter passes our home town)
*note that the tiny ship you see in the distance, is a massive river boat, transporting raw materials. Probably sand or something. They are usually something like 80 meters long and 8 to 10 meters ample.

That was most I had to share with you guys. I have a lot more of Maastricht and its surrounding sites, but it's not all that interesting I guess.