On the condition of the roads . . .

Yes the drive like crazy. I have seen till now no accidents, which suprises me greatly since the way they drive would justify about at least 10 accidents a day on one road . What about going 90 on a one carriage way, overtaking just before a bend of 90 degrees, hanging out of a van holding on to the spare wheel which is mounted on the back , sitting on the roof of a car only holding by the edge . . . Plenty enough reasons , so i adopt my riding style. I'm more vigilant about what is coming my way than ever. But still although the quality of also major roads is bad i still love my hours on the bike. As you can see we got the picture blog working so i hope to send some more pictures now . . Happy travels . . . Toon

Landscape . . Landscape

Is like a continue drive through forest , plains . . . Rocks . . Sheep . . Have the impression people are getting nicer :)

On travelling in foreign places

What to expect in foreign places is very much up to what one is hoping to find. I guess i was hoping to find a seek into a culture living more close go harmony with nature and in a way i did, but not to the measure i thought to do. I have seen desserted places where few people choose to settle and build their shelters - you can only describe them as such since it are merely bricks piled up with a wooden roof full of holes, letting the smoke and scent of burning wood come to me - in conditions one could never imagine.
Am i envious, no i do not feel that way, i'm more aware of our fortune of having the live with the kids, Agnes, family and friends around me , enjoying the evenings out or just relaxed at home overlooking the market on saturday.
Sitting here in the lobby of a small hotel with the open fire bringing back memories of what was my youth i can only sweetly smile and thank my parents and brother and sisters for the cumbersome time i had growing up in such richness of experiences. Yes i know it's a bit mellow but that's how it feels after seeing kids play in the garden of fallen apart houses, having to walk 5 to 10 km to a school or having to guard a herd of sheep in the upper plains of the middle atlas at -5 degrees, hardly finding the energy to wave at the passing nutcake on the bike. When i stopped they ran either run away afraid of the unknown or as one did today firmly came my way to ask for money.

It's a totally different world i keep repeating go my head and go the blog . . . But it is : people have a different way of looking at things here: everything is a trade. Getting of the bike is waiting for the first one coming up to you to trade something, even if it was only for using the right to admire the panoramic scenery on the plains near Ifrane . . . .
On the downside of it all the impact of western aspirations have brought polluting cars ( must have inhaled more exhaust fumes in one day than i do otherwise in one year ) , garbage on every corner and in every gutter . Between Azrou and Ifrane there was even a garbage belt which hosted the biggest population of storks ever seen together with berbers going through everything what still could be used. Not to mention the antennas on the most shabby places and the mobile phones in the hand of every merchant and customer.

So in my philosophical mood i would say we still have a long way to go in our aim to make this a better place . . .

Happy travels

Toon

Day 3 as planned but not sure . . .

Up to Azrou now from fes to go through the lake district . It is very difficult to get in touch with the locals . . . Or view avoid contact or they are selling more or less in a pressuring way something . . . Yesterday au one of the stops i tried to take pictures of the sins but nobody allowed me to , they were a bit reluctant, also when i started go french talking to them . . . Anyhow the views are beautiful and i'm loving the time on the bike . . . Hoping to get the picture blogging solved today . . . It's all go the hands of sony ericsson support now ;) . . .

Happy travels

Toon

Fes . . . The imperial city . .

How about putting 1 million people in less than 2 square kilometers (not sure about the size though ) . . . You create a labyrinth of small streets go which you can only walk 2 people next to each other . . . Thank god i had a guide and at least i hope he comes and pick of up from the restaurant :) or i will be old and grey before i get out . . . Colleagues who know me wil find it very odd but i'm putting whole of my faith in the hands of that one guy . . . The medina is so vibrant with a dark and dangerous edge to it . . . But nevertheless glad i have seen it but also glad to get out of it . . . Waiting for my dinner now . . . Real fes pigeon :) . .

Happy travels

Toon

Change of plan . . .

Since i felt more like going to visit the ruins of vobulis to take a picture for my sister Rebecca i changed the route a little bit . . . It's getting better and better and the people are getting also more friendly and less pushing than more north . . . However will find this back once i'm in fes ;) . . . . For the rest the weather is just fine . . . A bit cloudy but nice temperature . . .
The distance from home kicks in . . I suddenly feel far away from Agnes , the kids and the whole family . . . The question why i'm doing this kicks in from time to time . . Guess like i said to Agnes i just put it on the fact i'm crazy :) . . .
Happy travels

Toon

Freezing during the night . .

Thank god i had my sleeping bag , it was freezing this night and warm water did not bring the answer cause there was none . . . The place here is despite the cold very vibrant go colors . . . My visit to the market yesterday was very nice and less hassle than expected . . . Yes they ask money for guarding your bike with a police officer only 10 meters away , but i guess you just have to live with it . . . Also understandable go one way since it really local and you adopt to it, when changed my euro to dinhar i asked advice on the amount you should pay so i did not make a fool out of me . . . 10 dinhar is basicly the max you give in evenings, 5 during the day . . . Check for yourself what it means go local currency :) Now up to fes, trying to find out if i need to change route because of mountain passes closed ( for my trips in 3 days ) . . . .

Happy travels

Toon

First stop . .

Arrived in chefchaouen my first stop on the trip . . . Going to explore the market later . . . Doesn't seem as bad as my spanish ferry friend claimed it would be, but we'll tell more once we survived the market . . . Nature is here wonderfull and there is a strange mix of sounds . . . Some people running and screaming . . . A bunch of guys watching football on the tele . . . . Birds singing their song . . .
Oh by the way i now know where all donkeys have gathered : Morocco, go other words i'm go home company . . .
Happy travels

Toon

Leaving europe

There we go . . . We're leaving europe to go to africa . Before leaving gibraltar i had to go and see the monkeys of course . . . One was even sitting on my bike , you really could not see the difference .
On the ferry an older man is trying to give of some good advice but au the end of the day he is talking about the negatives . . . . Just what i needed to get me started . . . Anyhow au least i have a nice fish restaurant to look forward to go the harbour of Ceuta . . .
I feel it is getting real now . . . There is no way back anymore, only some shortcuts possible . . . . Tonight i hope to arrive au destination 1: chefchoaun . . .
Toon

We got it working

After trying and trying i finally managed to get the blog feed done from the mobile . . . No pictures however . . . Will keep working on the technical hick up . . . Would really like to be able to share also images with all of you . . . . . . Happy travels . . .

Gibraltar here we are .. for the time it still lasts ...

Today the weather gods must have been mad for something i did or said since they have not been that nice to me .. Foggy between Madrid and Granada, topped off with some heavy rains between Granada and Gibraltar after my tyre switch .... (sorry for my Dunlop colleagues, but i had to go for the Contintental TKC80 tyres , since they are the only knobbed tyres that fit the BMW R1200GS - and thanks again to Ignacio for arranging this for me ...) ...

Granada was a lot of fun .. during the tyre switch i went into a small bar to eat some tapas and got permission to take picture inside ... they were so typical faces ... I loved the look on their faces and most of all the babel like conversation that followed ...

Going down to Gibraltar i took a road less travelled: the unpaved road next to the highway ... nice pratice for Morocco , especially that the bike was sliding from under me just before a river crossing ... at least i know for a fact now that i can lift it on my own :-) ....

In between Malaga and Marbella another surreal phenomenam: real estate wolfs. what do you think about the 5 giant billboards, even bigger than 20 square meteres, with a picture of a sharp Londener in pin stripped suit and pink tie looking at you with those eyes of promises and determination stating: This is MacAnthony territory .. and by god it was his territory: building cranes everywhere, building apartmentblocks around a golf course on the side of the mountain.. i wonder really when people will stop putting these ugly scares on the face of the world and just leave it in peace .... Guess when i will cross the street of Gibraltar an another world will be my part ....

Gibraltar than: well yuo know London: take away the parks and the underground and you have Gibraltar .. . riding into Gibraltar you basically cross the landing and take-off strip of the airport: cool, but to be honest that's about it about this place ... a very strange mix between english - spanish - morrocan ....

I'll save the real Morocco for tomorrow .. hope to find also there some internet bars so i can keep you all updated .. am really p***** o** because of the mobile blog not working ... Anyhow I'm sure i will fidn places to do the updates in the major cities of Morocco. Oh that's true I'm not really passing major cities :-) .. we'll see ...

Till then: happy travels to all of you and thanks for all the messages ...

Toon

an early morning

yes i know .. it´s very early in the morning this post, but have to get to Granada today before 12 to change me tyres. As you know there are some technical issues with the mobile blog. Seems that www.blogger.com itself has the problems , but anyhow now live from a dogy hotel reception my posting of today .. Spend the night in Madrid yesterday and met up with Ignacio, my ex-colleague from Dunlop. Wheni was riding down to Madrid i was already `planning in my mind a new adventure: The tour of friends. Seems that i know people all over the world and it would be nice to go from city to city,place to place just taking time to say hello to everybody .. have a coffee, relax and talk about nothing in particular ...

What has become apparent also is that a bike loaded like a mule always draws some attention in a gas station ... you immediately can start a conversation about the whereabouts and the where to´s ... a kind of like and love gas stations , they are a bit of a reflection of society ... i love to watch and observe the people there and try to figure out what is the story behind their journey or at least the story that i create for them ....

Yesterday before noon the scenery was hidden by some thick fog. If evere Agnes was hoping for a white night on a black stallion: well she had it almost yesterday: I was white from the fog and my bike is like a stallion (ok it´s in yellow, but at least the bags are black) ... So in a way it took till 2 o´clock before i saw the sun .. of course could´t resist and took some pictures of a blue sky ... From Biaritz onwards the sky was clear and passing the pyrenees i had the pleasure of seeing snow along the road: meaning i was freezing my ass off :-) ...

Feel set to go now, it´s about time i arrive in Morocco because for me that is the start of the journey, this for the moment is just a little playing and fiddling around .. the real stuff is coming tomorrow i guess.

Tonight i will go to Gibraltar because i really would like to have a stayed in the UK enclave before it is handed back to Spain ...

Happy travels and i hope Agnes and me can solve the issue with the mobile blog

Toon
very nice , i even saw some snow along the way, which means it was very cold.

technical problems..

unfortunatelly, since leaving Belgium, it has not been possible to update the blog from mobile :-(
.. Now somewhere in south of France...

My frequent stops

Gas stations are like home now . . . With only 250 per tank i visit them quite often . . . . Nice to sit and observe the people and to create the scenario of their journey . . . Now of to a hotel . . .

Gasstations . . . My new home

Going to look for a hotel now . . . Been driving for 5 hours . . . Paris was traffic jammed as usual . . . :-)

My first mobile post

What a feeling . . May i present to you my companion for the next 16 days . . .

.. this is it ....

no way back, all i set to go now. Just had lunch with my dad to say goodbye and do the last fixes to the bike. Agnes already left this morning for Sweden so i'm all alone here ... listening to Coldplay - Clocks and wondering why i'm undertaking this trip. Some people would state it is a midlife stuff , others would say i'm serching for something ... but you know what: i just do it because i love it .... I can already feel the wind on my face when i'm crossing the Atlas .. i can see already the eagle circling above the plains ... i can already smell the woodfire of the little cafe in Imilchil .... and above all i can see the smile on my face when i arrive on the 17th of Feb in Marrakech to pick up Agnes and the kids ....

Yesterday was my finbal day at Dunlop and we threw a little farewell drink in De Cirque ... feels nice to see the people in another context outside the framework of corporate blue ... but now my focus is on my month off .. all the rest can wait ...

I promise to keep te blog updated on a daily basis through the mobile, so there will always be pictures, but the messages will be rather short ...

Well my friends: Happy Travels


Toon

meeting up the friends ....

it feels so strange , we invited some of our friends on saturday and the family on sunday to wave goodbye for my trip to Morocco. On Saturday the boss of my favorit pub did me a huge favour by making Couscous as some sort of an introduction dinner for my friends and us. (that's him on the picture: Alain). I wish one day he could join me for a trip to some adventerous place, i bet he would just love it and we would make an nice duo on the bikes ...

The dinner was very nice since Geert en Hendrik already went to Morocco before me (Marc the third hombres was not there for the dinner) .. i feel like i'm going to pick up memories there they left behind and plant already the seeds for a trip next year. Memories left behind by the three guys, but also by Bart and Nathalie in Marrakech, they had some found ones from their honeymoon in Marrakech. The seeds are for Michael and Kristin since we are already planning a trip with two motorcycles February 2008.

Today sunday it was the family coming over for some afternoon tea and cakes. Although it happens more often that they do not see me in one month, but this time it felt so much stranger since i know i will not be in the possibility to drop by or if something happens just be there in a splash ..... My sister and my mum are rather worried of what might happen in such a far away country. when saying goodbye my mum handed me a cross. Although i'm totally not relegious i promised here to wear it around my neck whilst riding the mountains and the trails , just to make sure my whole family is with me the entire time. My brother, dad, stephmom and younger sister are a bit more sober about it, they are just waiting to see me back with loads of pictures and stories to tell.

now the last days at Dunlop, making sure that all is well left behind without too many open items. Most difficult will be of course thursday evenign saying good bye to the kids .. but they will come togehter with Agnes to visit me on February 17th :-) ...

for now: happy travels


Toon

.... dreaming about what's to come ....

the departure is to Morocco is slowly but surely creeping up on me, i hardly can believe i'm actually going to go ahead with it. a mixture of excitement and fear is confusing my thoughts in between working on the hand over, closing all my administration at the office and my luxembourgs appartement, preparing for the departure ...

my god, there is still so much to do .. i got the shopping list ready for saturday but don't know if i will have enough time. putting the bike into maintenance, adding the last accessories for a safe trip ... the packing will be limited: just a couple of sock, underwear and t-shirts will do the trick. and of course packign up my new toy : a new digital camera ... doubted a long time but now i decided to buy it to make sure i can share the beautifull things i will see on my trip ...

i will update you later on the actual departure time, but for the moment it is set for Friday 2nd of February ....

in the meantime: happy travels

Toon

... it's getting closer ...

well well ... it's a world of travel ... the more i think about it the more i'm happy with my tagline i use very often in my blog : Happy travels ... It my sound mellow but we are on a constant journey.

To everybody you talk you hear that they are going places or planning some sort of a trip. Brenda said goodbye to Amsterdam in style last Thrusday, unfortunately i could not be there since it was a kids week-end, but i partied with her in my mind ... happy travels to her ..

from my side.. well the professional journey is coming to an end at Dunlop, feel like taking a plane to the next job, but before doing so the real work i awaiting me: Morocco .. I feel very nerveous about it , my maiden adventure makes me feel very unusual .. I'm going to a place i have never been before and going off-road for the first time in a complete unknown area .... what has gone into my head to plan for this ....

i still have so much to do to get all the things in order: a new pasport because mine is only valid till beginning of March, so i do not want to run a risk... for the rest i still need to decide what to bring ... one tells me to leave home my sidebags, others say no problem .. one says to take tyres others say to leave home all technical equipement ... my god they confuse me all ....

i took it out on the people closest to me this week-end .. my god they suffer with me when i'm in a situation that i do not have fully under control .... but i feel the structure and methodical approach coming back in my brain .... First working on a couple of pure pratical issues and i'll be fine ....

the counter is at 2663 km on my planned routes for the moment with a total of 13 motorcycle travel days in Morocco (Agnes and the kids are coming down for one week to Marrakech and there we will travel by 4x4 and camels), but now i see the number i will re-adjust to make this 12 days or 14 days .... don't want to have a bad omen hanging above the trip ....

anyhow i keep you informed but for now ... happy travels

Toon

close your eyes and jump ....

spent this week 2 days in France, more precisely in between Marseille and Saint Tropez. My colleague Jeremy Ferguson - Manager International motorsport - and myself were to visit the homebase of the Tech3 MotoGP team ...



My god .. i start to understand why people have a smile on their face in the south of France during winter time. ... First of all: no tourists what so ever .. the odd lost Brit or Dutch who can hide his origins by their loud voice and desperately trying to speak French fluently ... for the rest south of France belongs to the natives in this time of the year ... they go for lunch on the terraces that are still bathing in the sun, even the odd jeu de boules after lunch is not far away .. the temperature plays a vital role of course: chilly 16 degrees the guy told me ... bloody hell shall i invite him to Brussels or to Malmo ?

the meetings were very nice and the left me with a very mixed feeling about leaving my current job .. i really love the motorsport and know for a fact that one day i will end up in that business. maybe as a sponsor :-) ... I really hope to achieve this before Jeremey goes on his retirement since i really love the guy ....

.. the end of a year .. a new beginning

I believe that a lot of you were already aware that I was looking to spread my wings back into the technology sector. Well today I can tell you all that as of 1st of March 2007 I will be again working as European Group marketing manager for the mobile Device division of Microsoft.

I feel really excited to go back to the fast paced technology sector, but also feel very sad to leave behind me the motorcycle world. A world I have gotten to know as being very addictive, especially the motorsport environment has gotten under my skin. The thrill and excitement of the races is now here to stay. I promised my son and myself to make sure we keep following much closer than before Dunlop the exploits of the MotoGP racers and of course we will try to pick up one or two Grand Prixs in Europe.

But on to technology marketing again, I hardly can't wait to get back into the development of campaigns that rock the industry. Also it is a very crucial period for the industry with Microsoft focusing a lot of attention to make sure they can make their breakthrough in the mobile world. I'm thrilled to be part of this .. reminding me a bit of the start time at Sony Ericsson: building and working on something new and great.

For now I'm still trying to finish off as many projects as possible so I can leave the business with a good feeling. I do not want to let down some of my friends I found in this business.

I wish everybody a happy new year and let 2007 be full of travels


Toon

Our maiden trip

what to say about the following figures:

Total time : 35:12
Overall avg speed: 67.8
Max speed: 186km/h
Distance: 2388.9 km


That are the stats on our maiden trip. A trip that took us from:

Thursday : Valencia - Teruel
Friday: Teruel - Barcelona
Saturday: Barcelona - Carcassonne
Sunday: Carcassonne - Cleremont Ferrand
Monday: Cleremont Ferrand - Home

The trip as a whole was just wonderful. We enjoyed the new experience and I was so glad we did not really come across any obstacles such. Although Agnes never did a trip like this and that it was really the first really big and long trip for me as well: all went superbly well. Especially if you look like in the below picture you do not have a guarantee of success.




Ok I look smaller than the bike, but once I managed on to it I swear: I'm just flying

But the first day was all about taking in the scenery and getting used to ride the bike with the two of us. It is very strange to be so close to each other but for about hours not being able to talk sicken we do not have a communciation system in our helmets. So we took regular to enjoy the scenery both of us and at least be able to say what we were thinking, but in a way it was not necessary because the vibes filled the air.

The first night we stayed in a hostel in Teruel, more precise: a room in some sort of a elderly house for priests and nuns :-) .... Hope we did not disturb them too much. But I guess we did given the gazing stares we got in the morning at breakfast.

Day 2 brought us from Teruel to Barcelona. Again the scenery was just breathtaking and the stops in the small villages a lust for the eye and the mouth. The last part we were forced to go over highway since it was getting dark. First time lucky on that trip. With only fuel left for 10 km and no gas station in the neighborhood we took our changes to ride on the highway with a gas station about 15km away. With all our hopes we achieved the station with 0 km left on our on-board computer. In Barcelona we of course visited the tapas area around the cathedral and enjoyed the nice and warm weather of around 18 degrees.

Day three was a challenge: planning 451 km over small windy mountain roads from Barcelona to Andorra to Carcassonne. With a delay of two hours we left Barcelona around noon. I just wanted new tyres because the ones I had were worn out and I finally could throw the competitors onces away and have them replaced. Unfortunately with all the effort we could not find Dunlops in Barcelona, so we settled on something else .... hope my boss agrees with my philosophy of: to beat the competition you need to know them :-)

As said: the day trip was a challenge and we failed. We passed Andora and the Pyrenees already after 5 with still 3 hours to go in the dark and cold. It was about 0 degrees in the Pyrenees. I just enjoyed myself going down the small mountain roads and especially the joy of breaking the 11.111km barrier on the bike. The joy was not really shared by Agnes, but all the troubles were washed away once we got to Carcassonne.



but with swapping the rather rough nature from Spain with the more green from France we had to take on the flipside the change from a warm welcome every time we stopped in Spain by the typical French " friendliness" of what the @%&$ are you coming to do here .... The stay in themediaval town of Carcassonne was not going to be spoiled by that and we took the time to visit the place before taking of to Clermont Ferrand: another ambitious 513.1 km, but now with an earlier start.

All preparations albeit: I ended in the water. During the day the weather was wonderful , we even tried to figure out who lived where, since the place is so deserted they put indicators on where everybody lived with the distance. We had the sun to keep us warm, but once past 3 o'clock the clouds came in: time for the rain suits ... In a storm we still had to go the Cleremont so we altered the route.

Day 4 was a straight on trip home from Cleremont to Mechelen: around 760 km highway in a rather hefty wind, but still manageable. Also the rain was not really there, we almost avoided it completely .... Apart from the like shower we got around 11 .... After having spent 3 day in the outskirts Paris confronted us with the term traffic jam and overcrowded stress again , luckily witht he bike we could jump the traffic jam in between lane 2 and 3 .

Back home we were so happy we did it .. not that it was such a difficult trip, but the fact we both really enjoyed being on the bike. Now the only that needs to be done is to get the drivers license for Agnes. I'm set to go to Morocco hopefully in February to take my first real adventure trip. With everything I learnt on the course and the experience with this maiden trip I guess I'm armed for an exciting adventure ....

I must admit I was already passionate about bikes with the sidecar, but now it is getting to me even deeper. How foolish it may sound, I even consider to enlarge the collection with a red stallion.



but first Morocco .....


Happy travels


Toon

... Preparation for the big thing .....

Well it finally happened, I got my enduro adventure training in Spain: Aras de los Olmos, about 90 km west from Valencia. I left Belgium on Thursday 23rd of November with the bike from Mechelen to Montlucon where Dunlop has it's factory.

A straight trip in the pouring rain for about 6 to 7 hours to attend some meeting in the afternoon and on Friday. The very positive thing about the meetings was that I was already something like 3/5 down of the way to Valencia :-). It was just a thrilling feeling to be able to go down fully packed in the rain. The rain never bothered me to be honest, only the wind was a bit of a hassle.

On Saturday I took myself from Montlucon to Barcelona and maybe some of you recognize the picture below; as you can see I indulged myself into the tapas culture of Barcelona. In between I added some more accessories to my GS: a genuine tankbag so that I at least did not have to step of at every toll station.



On Sunday I took the trip from Barcelona to Aras de los Olmos, about 90km west from Valencia. After some speed on the highway I considered to ask the GPS the shortest route to the destination along the small routes. It was a magnificent experience. Going up to the mountains along curly roads, but of course the shortest road is not always the surfaced roads. There was a crash course off road riding for the last 15 km with a little tumble as a consequence .. my god that bike is heavy , thank god a farmer was close by to help me getting the bike out of the ditch :-)

Sunday evening I got to meet the other participants. All were German speaking but one: Ben Chu Schott from Canada. I was immediately promoted to the translator of duty. The others were from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The fact of translating was nice since I improved my German rapidly and I always had to repeat everything twice which made it stick even better . The instructor Michael could not be more fit for the job: German and a police driving instructor :-), Thomas the second instructor and Gert "megafix" mechanic were way more Latin in their thinking and acting.



The course started on Monday with some training in the enduro park to learn to get used to the turning and standing on the bike , for warm-up we were even riding the bike in amazone way .. It is amazing how fast you learn to control the bike with their tips and tricks, even doing a circle with the bike was no longer a problem. In the afternoon the first "steady"off road was a fact.

Wonderfull scenery was our part. It is amazing how wonderful it feels to combine the steady pace and the scenery ... your mind is really getting empty and you can only admire the view and the things you learn on the bike .. no more deadlines .. no more office .. no more troubles , just the tremendous feeling of freedom and adventure. And the desire to go out and about ...

Tuesday was the slimming down of our group. Before noon we learned to ride without ABS, but Toon took this a bit to serious. On a steady piece of the track I tested the limits of rear wheel breaking without abs with of course a slide as a consequence. Leo who was following me a bit too close could not avoid me nor the bike and fell down. Consequence: a broken ankle. So we were down to 5 inour group. In the afternoon another slide of an insecure Michael made him loose control in a curve and hurted his shoulder. He still finished the day but thought that day 3 was too demanding.

Day 3 was magnificent. The terrain they selected for us was getting technically more and more demanding and I just loved it. Going steep hills and rocky paths down was just so satisfying once you achieved. Our group with the couple Lucia and Herbet, Ben and myself with our instructor Thomas was a very jolly gang stressing the aspect of having fun and taking the time to admire the scenery.

At the end of the training I can say it was wonderful and I have some trips to make: to Canada. By the way Ben and his wife Mel were at the beginning point of their world trip. They are traveling till next March 2007 around the world. Their tour will take them from Ottawa to Spain to Turkey to Greece to Egypt to Dubai to India to Hong Kong to Thailand to Singapore to Australia to New Zealand and back to Ottawa, returning on March 10, 2007. I already hooked him up with Brenda in New Zealand.

In the meantime we write Thursday 30th of November. Agnes is getting on a plane to Valencia in full motorcycle gear to join me for the trip back home. But that part of the trip deserves a separate section which I will be writing tomorrow.

Happy travels and that your dreams may take you there.

Toon

Went south and going even deeper south

I'm back from a week-end in Valencia where I had to attend the last Grand Prix of the MotoGP season. My god do I love the atmosphere on those Grand Prixs, specially if you can have the privileges of being in the paddock and having access to a lot of extras :-0 ..... Although that I must admit that I have been running around like crazy to entertain all our guests that came flying from all over Europe. I think one day I will buy my self the Sony Ericsson phone with the step o meter ... hint hint .. It's the W710i ....

But maybe not .. I'm more in need of true GPS devices since the planned trip to Morocco is getting really close. I inscribed myself into a course for enduro riding from 26th of November till 30 the of November in Aras (90km west of Valencia) as a preparation for the trip ... Agnes will come down to Valencia to join me for the trip back up ......

When Morocco the trip will take place will depend largely on the timing of the new challenge .. I see it as some sort of a break between two jobs .. a time to reflect on my life before I turn the terrible sounding 30+10 ...

I have become painfully aware of my age in the last period. Not only do some people in my professional circle already give me the label "too experienced" also I had the feeling that sometimes it feels like I'm no longer the young one I think I am ... However nothing is lost: I feel younger than ever before, especially with the idea of crossing the Atlas Mountains on my bike ..

Believe or not ...

it has been one year since i left the world of telecomms behind me .... Life is going it usual way, you meet other people, make some new friends and try to find new challenges ....

I'm still as crazy as ever i guess, but it does not seem to rub off on my new environment .... although as i ance said once can always return, but not come back .... seems that the world has moved on in both places, maybe at a different pace, but it sure did ...



i'm getting more and more in to the need to go on the big strech .. or at least something like that .... need to break away from everything to make sure i can put everything back into perspective ....

So i guess this as good as a time as ever .... by the way did i ever tell you all that i miss the contact ..... it feels like it was a once in a lifetime experience that i will take with me for the rest of my days ....

happy travels

.. London calling ...

it's not going to clash, but this week-end London is on the menu. Finally doing the shopping with the gift voucher from my Sony Ericsson farewell present... it will bring back a lot of memories ..... Paul Smith here i come :-) ...

I'm trying to follow up all the changes in the other end, but i must admit: I'm lost .. but i guess aren't we all in one way or the other. .... We are trying to find a next destination, so if any of you have an idea: you know where to find me ...

... the holiday blues ...

As I told in my quick posting last week I'm suffering a bit of holiday blues. July was a fantastic month in Belgium with very sunny weather and temperature around 30 degrees, I brought also the long expected present I was hoping to get: my bike. The first step towards the trip to Morocco has materialized.

Agnes and I already enjoyed some very nice trips in Belgium as an appetizer for hopefully a longer trip in the coming period.

Although we hesitated for taking the bike on holiday with the kids in France we decided finally to leave on the 12th of August with the 4 of us in the car. Mainly to make sure that at least we had the time to talk as a little family about bits and bots. The trip down was very nice and went very smooth. We were lodged in a beautifully country house in the middle of a vineyard. It was marvelous to have a house like that .. nice bedrooms , very big kitchen (which of course I loved after I brought my own food processor and the coffee machine, which makes Agnes always laugh)

The highlight of the holiday was of course the fishing. I never considered myself a person who would love fishing , but at the end of the day Riens and I loved the fact of being till our middle in the water and just waiting for the fish to take bait. We were so proud of him when he caught his first ever big fish, without any help of anyone .. The kids are getting older and with every day it is getting for both Agnes and myself so much nicer. We praise ourselves to have such nice kids with whom you can talk in a very adult way.



The house we shared with friends of ours with some nice evening talk around some, or even too many glasses of wine. The second week we took an easy way back with stop overs in Il de Re, Mont Saint Michel and Normandy. The end of the holiday was less pleasant due the illness of both Agnes and me ... it felt as if they wanted to make clear to us that we had to take care of our bodies ...

Back to work was rather heavy, feels like I'm in an environment which is not really mine and although I'm convinced it should be possible it seems that all efforts of making a change to not rub off to the rest of the organization. This combined with the physical distance there sometimes is between Agnes and myself one starts to put the personal and family harmony on a higher level. This has of course the necessary consequences on the professional life, one cannot forget that about 60% of our awake life we spend doing a job, in other words happiness in the job is from big importance to make sure that the family life does not suffer under it ....

The questions that fly through my head in connection to this all are the basis of the summer blues, but as you all know me, it will not get me down, but will fuel my energy to find the best solution for all of us ... but as the song said: With a little help of my friends ...

.. after summer blues ...

hi there all, just to let you know i have put on my to do list a posting on my blog for this week-end. All has been delayed because of holiday and i must admit post summer blues .. but i will keep youposted this week-end with the full story ...

... A father and son tradition ...

.. It has been hectic weeks at work. A lot of preparation for different rather important meetings made me feel the buzz again from the days at Sony Ericsson. Late hours and very short deadlines are what make me going. In the end the work paid off since we presented very good projects at the management and are getting the permission to work further on them ...

this week-end has been a thrill in all aspects. I was to go to the MotoGP races in Holland (Assen) this week-end with some could contacts and some customers. I already dragged and convinced my girlfriend to come along to also taste the vibe of worldclass motorcycle racing but much to my surprise my son came along. Last Thursday I called the kids and he although he never mentioned it he asked if he could join.

Since Assen is quite up in the north we planned a first stop Friday night in Amsterdam meeting up with Brenda, Olly and the gang. Unfortunately we could not go for the very very long hours since Riens (my son) had to go to bed rather early , but anyhow there was still plenty of time to be updated on the latest gossip and trends .... The wine, the Greek food and the stories were in abundance ....

The next brought however some sobering up: how to threat a scale in the bathroom. For the record I do not have a scale in my bathroom mainly because of the fact I do not want to be reminded of my weight. Well I could not resist the call of the scale, but I could not oversee the consequences. I will not mention the figure that appeared but it left us both in shock. As you can imagine the diet fever already kicked in :-) .

The next morning we left rather early for the races and it was a glorious day. The weather was superb and all my guests were so excited and impressed. Riens his highlight of the day was the autograph he received from James Ellison and Carlos Checa and the fact he could thanks to the Jeremy Ferguson (My colleague who is running the International Motorsports division) get a look at the bike from up close .


After the race we were amazed again by the Dutch. Along the highway people were putting up their little barbecue and chairs to watch the bikers pass by. It was just hilarious (I will be uploading an image later this week). On every exit people from the neighborhood were sitting on the bridge and the side, they had their sun chairs even their barbecue with them. A phenomena that continued to well 100km outside Assen...

back home and today Sunday it was so nice to see my sun with his signed cap and t-shirt, guess he is bitten by the same virus as me : the virus of speed and bikes, let's hope this all turns out to be harmless ...

Happy travels my friends and hope to hear from you all soon


Toon

.. when is the last time you let your hear speak ....

.. it has been a bit of a rumble lately. The emotional rollercoaster took our little family to all ends of the spectrum, but now it seems all is calming down again and we are looking forward to the holiday.... oepsss .... we were planning the holiday for July 31st till August 15th, but i just found out today that this was a bit of a mistake. Mieke - the kids mother - had booked the same week , so we are moved back to 13th of August till 27th now .. not really a problem, but now everybody has to adjust the schedule to my little mistake ....

on the title now: we had dinner with Serge, Onno and Lotte from Luon. They have become very good friends and we enjoy a bit the similar things in life: good food and very good wine. During the dinner we came to the different projects they were involved in. Well they have a brilliant and unique concept which made me feel good about working in this business. On Tuesday they will launch a unique mobile operator. Ello Mobile (website will go live tuesday on www.ello-mobile.be) is a totally webbased operator with a heart of gold. All profits will be going to social projects selected by the King Boudewijn foundation (very famous belgian foundation of our former king) www.kbs-frb.be

in the same area i had a quick summer lunch with another friend who just came back from a mindblowing experience: taking a step back in life and asking yourself what you really want. Not the 5 second question that you ask yourself when rushing into two meeting, but genuinely asking yourself the question and confronting yourself with it and only with that for one week ... when is the last time you did that ....

The same day i could not help me dropping by Dare Digital ... the sight of Flo Heiss and James Cooper hanging out of the window put a smile on my face the lasted all day long .... not talking about the good old days but just catching up on how life is and the small things that make us happy .. when is the last time you did that ...

Saturday evening: bbq at my dads place with the whole family (my brother and 3 sisters). sitting there with all of us and listening to the joyful conversations about our lives ..... when is the last time you did that ...

I guess that we all do these things from time to time, but sometimes we forget to make the time to really enjoy them ... this last week we needed to have this kind of things in our lives to look back and say: we are lucky.

recommendations:

Life after the 30 sec spot of Joseph Jaffe, a brilliant piece of literature that puts the work of current TV advertising marketers in the spotlight as being a species under threat of extinction. I loved the booked enormously, especially since I read it on the way to the ad agency for a creative and budget meeting :-) ...

Matchpoint: the latest movie from Woody Allen, not really a recommendation during this lovely weather but anyhow. It was one of those movies that still today's spooks in my mind. A story about luck, what it means and how destiny can play such a predominant role in where you end up and have to lead the rest of your life ....


Happy travels friends and hope to see more of you all in the coming months

Toon

PS: the Africa trip is becoming more and more serious. Can you imagine we bought the maps and we are already figuring out where all the gas stations are for the trip in the deserted area's :-)

... same same but different ....

this week-end I had the pleasure of spending the day at the MotoGP at Le Mans. The crowd was immense, around 80.000 people around the circuit, 140.000 over the two days. And I have now proof: you do not need to be a freak to enjoy the motorcycle circuit.

The race itself was very exciting and full of tension. My idol Carlos Checa did very well, but the battle for the top spot in all classes was just amazing with a very unfortunate Valentino Rossi withdrawing with mechanical problems. I felt just like 14 again , that was the time out family was visiting motocross very week-end. Of course I had some privileges thanks to my current job. Was able to come very close to the riders after the warm-up, see and touch the bikes (the one next to the bike is my colleague resp for sales) ... The most exciting thing however was the fact we were able to go in the safety car and do one round around the circuit before the race ...

after this amazing experience I must say I do admire even more the speed at which those guys go around, this is not only a question of putting the mind to zero and the looks to the horizon, but above all of ability to control the bike in each condition ...

Of course the memory of my visit to the tennis tournament of Stanford was just around the corner and I had to come to the conclusion that at the end of the day it's same same but different. Top athletes that do everything for their sports, but at the end of the day are only human. One thing is for sure: I'm thrilled being there now and then ..

Happy travels

Toon

.. a difference in culture ....

Imagine this: put into one room a diversity of people: Japanese, American, French, Italian, English and to top it off a crazy Belgian :-0 .... result: quite an experience. Just had my first global meeting at the new job and i had the be the master of ceremony. With this diversity you can imagine it was a big challenge to keep the meeting into the right time and mindframe. But we managed .... especially with the help of the some more experienced people in the meeting. Bob helped me out very nice and was trying with me to steer the meeting in a very gentle but firm way in the right direction .... tomorrow we are off at 5.45 to the circuit to Le Mans to see the MotoGP race. It is going to be so thrilling to see th bikes and the riders with super dooper VIP passes :-) ...

but i just realized i've been away all week long and and i haven't heard the kids and or hardly any of my family. Sitting here in my hotel room after a very long week it sneaks up on you how important small things can be in life .... i wished i had more time to spend with them and for me and my girlfriend to think about the future ....

but fours days of holiday are just around the corner .. i'm lookign forward to some time with all of them and just come to the senses .....

happy travels

Toon

.... Regrets and the future ...

When I was 14 years old I decided to stop my classical education in high school and go for a more practical education of cook school school. When I announced this at school the principal asked a meeting with my dad, give him sermon about wasting a valuable education and all option for a descent future, warning him that in future I would regret the choice I made.



(try to recognize me in the blurry picture of my last year cook school :-), the winner gets a free dinner at my place)

I was very much impressed by what they guy said and started to doubt a little, till the moment my dad said: in life you should never regret things that you have done, only the things that you did not do. Still today I do not regret my choice of that moment, yes of course it made my path to university very difficult and rather cumbersome, but till today I feel happy I took the decision at that moment to go for an education as chef.

it has thought me in many different ways so much about life, still today, that regretting it would be denial of the beauty of the experience. It is the same way I feel to day about decision I took in my life. Yes I sometimes make the mistake like Graham Bell said: When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.

Because the door I closed is not really closed, the friendships I still have are keeping them open and make me look for doors beyond the ones that have opened. I know I will be able in the near future to open up these doors with the helps of my friends.

people all around ....

it has been so nice lately spending some time with a the most diverse people you could imagine. From a swedish guy in who ended up in Barcelona with a passion for Porsche to some dear colleageu digital marketeers moving back to their home country ... but most of all meeting up with the old gang of my team was such a blessing.

during my last visit to London i took the opportunity to meet up with some relations from the industry and we start discussing the future of digital marketing. With Ashley Friedlin from the e-consultancy group i had a very nice discussion on the shift that is taking place within marketing. We discussed that Sir Martin Sorell was right when he said that the traditional marketeers are in no position to react properly to digital marketing, but they are desperately trying. This results in digital marketing being concquered by the old habits without regarding the specificity of digital.

We must keep in mind and never forget that digital marketing is the marriage between technology and marketing. This marriage needs to be based on mutual understanding and respects for each limitations and possibilities. It is now in that balance that lies the challenge for the marketeers. Contrary to the traditional forms of marketing, digital requires a certain skill set that goes beyond putting a good idea and some creative people together and at the same time goes beyond having some whizz kids that can do magic with technology.

Digital is not an advertizing medium that has a passive audience sitting there and absorbing the message, but put the user in control on how they want to interact with your brand. Digital consumers want to have the choice and they judge with the mousse by clicking onto information they can relate to or engage with.

Digital needs to be and remain a center of excellence that services and initiates marketing programs and campaigns from out it's own specificity: the marriage between creativity, usability and technology.

Anyhow it leaves us with the never ending challenge to convince marketeers around us that bringing digital under marcoms or advertizing is not a step towards a better integration, on the contrary since it is underestimating the need for a digital marketing approach in all customer facing layers of a company. Thus the struggle and fight for a truley integrated digital marketing departement (technology and marketing) on the same level as marcoms and brand continues.

Happy travels

.... a thought ...

Memories come down and me once again
caught without an umbrella
memories come down and me once again
caught without an umbrella

... in London today and that is how i felt .....

... The big thrill and the big chill ...

well, it's been a while that I took the time to write something for which I feel guilty I must say ... it feels good to stay in touch with all of you that read the blog and it gives me the feeling that I'm still amongst a group of friends that I do not see that often anymore ...

so many things have happened the last month. I finally had the house warming party and sorry James, but the bottle of whisky was opened. I will buy a new one for the day you come over to Belgium. The party was complete madness :-) 50 people in the house and a swinging party till 5 o'clock in the morning. It was good to have some many people around that enjoyed themselves. A complete wonder that the cops did not pass buy since we were playing the music loud with the windows open ...

The week after everything needed to be prepared to go on the ski holiday with the family ... .... Riens and Lauran even took up snowboarding, something that we did not do before. It was a week to cherish as a treasure .. everything was really relaxed and all troubles seemed so far away .... It is in that period that you suddenly realize that the time you spend with the people who you love and the ones that make you happy is way to short ....

It was also nice to talk about other business with our friends. We were three couples with kids there. One of them Jan has his own company in the world of design. You should check out www.domani.be .. I like the website. although I have known Jan for already quite some time it was fascinating to hear him talk about his business and especially his clients. I know people who would be jealous to know the he has a very famous client list featuring Will Smith, Melanie Griffith, Nicole Kidman, .... and has been selected to decorate Ground Zero in the new project .... And that when in a sense he is still just Jan to us .... by the way you should try the trick with the spoon at the office ... I know somebody who manages very well ....

Also Bart another friend is doing really cool stuff.... building factories, warehouses and industrial buildings around the globe. Not to mention Catherine (Jan's wife) and Nathalie (Bart's wife), both working for the Museum of Art History. They just opened a new Museum for Japanese art ... maybe time to invite Sasaki-san and Kawagoi-san ....

From the Swedish Japanese front I hear that there is a lot of motion and commotion. On the one hand there is the tremendous succes of the results , on the other hand a number of people are moving on. Next week I have the pleasure to be in London for some days, so I'm trying to meet up with some of the old gang.

In the rubber world all is moving along in a steady pace. It is a very tough business that is transforming completely. From an car supplier to a marketing organization, sometimes you don't realize, but it feels like being on a ship in the middle of a storm ..... It is sometimes difficult to convince people of new ideas and new ways of working, but it is in that that lies the challenge .... I guess future will tell ..

happy travels

Toon

.. The mind travels from reality to dream and back ...

... It has been such a strange but inspiring week-end. On Thursday and Friday is was speeding like a mad man through France, going back and forth between Paris and Montlucon (about 350km south of Paris) on Thursday and Friday risking my life to get in time to catch a train to London. I doubted long and hard, but finally I decided I needed and wanted to attend the revolution awards on Friday evening, hence the mad hatters race those two days. ...

It was all going to be so interesting and professional the start of the week-end, meeting up with all the colleagues in the digital space, applauding for some stunning work and less stunning awards, networking with all important people ... And in a way I did.

it was good to see all the people, seeing people being proud of their work and to catch up with Dare gang. But the further the night progressed there was a something changing ... This years presenters made it clear: too us it all sounds all very interesting and important, but he really took the piss out of digital and put it a bit more in perspective ...
talking to a number of people made me realize that being successful in business is not about the being a genius in your field of expertise, but the capability of being a team. The capability to communicate, talk, discuss and jointly reach higher ground ... Talking to Flo and Gavin made it clear that we reached the results not because we were genius or experts but the fact we could talk and exchange opinions in an open way , reaching the level of kindred spirits towards a common goal ..... If only some people we all know would understand this ....

... Saturday London was calling: a wake up call brought me back to living. The philosophy of the day before combined with too much alcohol made my body scream for the shock therapy of a really full blown blood Mary, a good steak and eggs and potatoes .... At least I owed it to Jo to be awake when I had to look at the pictures of a beautiful wedding .... There was in a way something strange about the talk, although it was almost 6 months I saw Jo it felt as if it was only yesterday , the contacts with all of you remains a vivid memory, or even better a continuing story .. A story that continued with Danielle In the afternoon shop walking and exchanging thoughts. It was interesting to listen to somebody who decided to leave the rat race for what it is and just take the time to find a new path without having a road laid out already ..... In a sense it became more and more clear that sometimes it does not matter if there is for a short moment nothing. It was also too nice to just chit chat all afternoon about everything that was passing through..... Only one missing was Gavin :-) .... But I forgive him I guess he needed some time to recover. But anyhow Gav: you missed a very nice walk along the Kings Cross and Chelsea shops .... The evening was topped off with a mixture of a real Italian dinner served in the lovely new nest of super Salv, an Italian Karaoke show, an analysis of the human psyche and of course the most delicious Italian wines and limoncelo ....

going back to the hotel I was so much looking forward to the journey home: a 7 hour train trip since I had to go home over Paris to Brussels due to my late decision. Since the dreams about the bike I get more and more drawn towards books about Africa and the book from the Long way Round from Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. .... The book was calling me, but I wanted to keep it as a little secret like I did when I was a kid, keeping my candy for a quiet moment out in the yard. The journey would give me ample time to let me drift away in my dream of driving of towards a deserted place .... Putting behind the buzz of the modern city life ....

tucked away in a half empty train I started reading the dream journey of two friends going the Long Way Round. I was living the same anxiety as he described to get away from it all and the almost endless routine of work/plane/hotel/bed/work/home... Getting deeper and deeper in the world of visiting deserted places, facing the hardness of nature and going deep emotionally and physically, I was no longer in the train, I was riding along them through Mongolia up to Siberia. It set my mind so free and connected so much to the discussion I had before on the fact that the business is all about people who are capable of thinking things through in a team and consistently arriving at the right shared answer .... My god I was eating the pages like somebody who had not been on bread and water for 20 years, it was setting me free in my mind at least! Just when I finished the chapters that took them from London over Ukraine, Russia, Mongolia , finally the Road of Bones close the the Bering Strait the train rolled into the station of Paris Nord ...

Paris a wake-up call: and what a wake up call it was . Suddenly was immersed in the big city life of people running hecticley even on a Sunday, homeless left an right asking for a little change, searching the dustbin for left overs .... My god I felt suddenly sick. I ran out the station for a place to hide, but could not find anywhere to go. I looked up a corner of a little bistro and wanted to dive in the book again .... Finding back the magic ...

strangely enough the book lost also at moment all the magic. The last chapters started with: " Arriving in Alaska was a complete shock. " I refused to read further. Instead I paid , got outside, put on my sunglasses, looked up a bench and just closed my eyes and trying hard to close down all the noises and sounds. And off I was again, traveling the great dessert of Mongolia, in my mind. Keeping on to the thought till I got home I started already planning my trip, because you know: one day ...

happy travels

... To all the places that I love to stay ....

it is time I start to give you little warm-up for the house warming party. My neighborhood is carefully chosen since it is in walking, excuse me tip tooing, stumbling even crawling distance from my favorite bars. It was therefore a calculated risk for us to take to buy the flat with only literally less than 50 steps from the door to the first my two favorite bars.

It me be a surprise but the owners are pretty pleased with my move, especially Alain from De Cirque (The circus). A strange name for a rather nice pub bistro like place, but maybe that all changes when I enter and tend to love the flavor of my golden drink of gods: Vedette.

In De Cirque I always try to sit at the bar so I can look at all the people coming in and sitting at the tables, and of course to look at myself in the mirror and asking myself the most deep philosophical questions at 4 am into he morning after having drowned myself in to Vedette, toped off with a nice 25 year old highland Park (yes James I'm still waiting for you to come to Brussels to have a sip from our bottle). If it ever happens that I do not really see the difference anymore between fantasy and reality I tend to start to fight like a true Don Quichote with the demons on the wall .

The bar being my Rosinante, in a gallop to protect my lovely Dulcinea. In many occasions the owner tends to behave like a true Sancho Pancha trying to convince me of my delusions.

one of the last visits we had there was with Brenda and Olly, not taking a too deep dive into the drinks, but anyhow .. my god what a feeling it was again. They world is short of people with whom you can have a lenghty discussions and debates about essentially everything. From the reason why finally Karl Marx is right in his book Das Kapital to the reason why a hole in a sock is a sign of independence ....

My god do i miss it: from usability to IA and back . I remember as if it was yesterday that we discussed the concepts of the product homepages, the my phone area .... Again my dear old colleagues back to reality: you should be proud of what you achieve on the level of digital, the industry is watching and liking very much what they see.

i need to leave you for today, but more to come. So for today i wish you peace love and understanding


Toon

The story of branding

my god, it was such a long time that i had such a laugh in the office. I have been watching one of the best viral video's on branding ever . See for yourself and have a look at : Windows re-branding of Ipod

Reminds me so much of the discussion i have had with so many people during my time at Dell and Sony Ericsson and most of all it made me think back at the period i had the opportunity to work with Tak Kawagoi , the man behind the Sony Ericsson logo ...

i love so much the stylish and very clean design we had in the beginning, but i must admit looking back at the current site Sony Ericsson is doing: they look smashing as well are the e-mails i feel are like gems in my inbox ...

this evening i'm having the kiwi and olly over for a litte drink or two ... will report back on the damages this week-end. There is basically only one challenge: how can we make sure will be on the train back to Amsterdam tomorrow morning at 8 :-)

a late new years present ...

although I could not really enjoy it anymore in real hard cash I was really thrilled to hear from the ex-colleagues that we managed to hit the targets ... as a little reward I bought myself two new pair of glasses as you can see in the pictures . A nice treat is always welcome, one should it do more often ....


ok also on the house warming party: the date is set: Friday 24th of March. Everybody who wants is more than welcome, just drop me a note one week in advance that I know how many people will be coming ... There will be some very nice whiskey, nice Belgian beer and of course a lot of music .....

for the rest things are going their flow ... I have a new thing to look forward to: I'm being fascinated by a new bike: the new BMW R1200GS .. I see myself as some sort of modern Laurence of Arabia going on an adventure from Morocco to Egypt ... I'm still doubting to buy it and bugging everybody close to me with the idea ... i promise to upload all pictures on the blog .. if ever it happens :-) ...



a friend of mine said that planning, dreaming, hoping is the most important .. not the actual living it ... I got a book as a gift from my girlfriend some time ago: The art of Travel by Alain de Botton .... it has been one of the few books I have been reading in such a short time span .. why : because it was so true to my personal view on traveling: it is all about anticipation of what you think you will find in that distant place ..... people have described it to you in all colors and flavors ... when i'm now thinking about the dust I will taste in my mouth when I cruise through the Moroccan Atlas mountains and the welcome of the Berbers in the mountains offering me sweetened goat milk .....maybe the anticipation of my dream is enough not to spoil it with a reality that might be different ....

but you never know: sometimes reality surpasses without any problem all the pictures you saw, the stories you heard : that is why I will always go after that dream without forgetting to enjoy the anticipation as much as I enjoy the adventure itself ...

well it was a pleasure again to have written something on my blog and hope to hear from all of you soon ... back to our daily jungle :-)