Beach expedition: two ordinary guys that just wanted a challenge

Beach expedition: two ordinary guys that just wanted a challenge

This is the last part of a series of blogposts about a 150 kilometer walk of the West Coast in The Netherlands. If you missed any previous update you might want to start at the beginning.

This blog I mainly write to look back on a beautiful but also challenging time I’ve had with Erwin. I don’t need to tell you that we’ve managed to arrive in 6 days at our destination. Yet we’ve not succeed without a lot of difficulties.

After a fierce thunderstorm in the night, a helping hand of a beach guard and one last night wildcamping in the dunes, we left today for the last 20 kilometers to Den Helder. The last kilometers are the hardest ones.  My feet ached. I wanted to get my shoes off, but then the salty water hurt my feet too much. I grabbed my shoes back on my feet and continued walking. We needed someone who would help us. To take us through the last few kilometers. Some positivity to reassemble our minds to celebrate something that should be wonderful.

And yes, happiness came down on us when a friend joined us for the last kilomters. For the last 15 kilometers Arnoud walked with us. He had approached me to walk the last part of this journey to our final destination Den Helder. We were especially grateful to him for his fresh energy. Blisters? Fatigue? Noooohh, that didn’t affect us Arnoud …

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The last kilometers were going smoothly. We had someone who was walking with us, where we could share our experiences with.  It made us forget about the injuries. Erwin had in fact serious problems with his tendon. I had it with my 11 blisters. We were exhausted but arrived in Den Helder.

We are just two ordinary guys who wanted a challenge, this trip made us feel special for a while. It felt that we were alive. By saying yes to the question of Erwin, I had six days of major difficulties, but through this experience our friendship grew.

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I’d seen the most beautiful places in The Netherlands.

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I found my limits.

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And our cart found a girlfriend.

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Finally I had the challenge I was looking for along with Erwin. Thanks to Arnoud, beach pavilion De Golfslag, Floris, Iris, German nudists, a cooperative artist, beach tourists who laughed at us, and of course the expansive beauty of the Dutch beaches, this trip became unforgettable!

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A great adventure that I may repeat, hopefully again but in a different form.

The last two days we spend for over 30 hours of editing a short documentary of this beach expedition. On next Thursday we will release this documentary.