I'm Going Up the Country, that's where I want to be.

Affected by the tragic news and the heart-stopping images of Malaysian flight 17 which have flooded The Wetlands for the last couple of days, I have this overwhelming urge to get better acquainted with my own country.
Somehow far-flung places have lost their appeal.

This will probably be a temporary thing, my adventurous spirit will regain its balance I'm certain. But for now, I am planning a bicycle trip up-country. What can be more Dutch? We are a nation of cyclists.

I remember our new immigrant workers in the early seventies learning to ride a bike...Wobbling Turkish men on our cycle paths through the meadows near my home, and we Dutch brats falling about laughing when they lost their balance and ended up in the hedgerows or draped across the wooden fence which separated the cows from the road.

The world seemed a better place then. (Nonsense! The Vietnamese War was being fought out in those days and the Russians were the hulking threat behind the horizon. Ha! At least that hasn't changed)

The world seemed a better place then because I was young and naive.

Anyway. My wounded spirit needs healing and I have an instinctive drive to visit and get to know my own provinces instead of a hot country elsewhere.

Here is the plan:

*I will cycle North, along the North Sea coast of Zuid-Holland and Noord-Holland, until I am past Amsterdam. And then I will veer towards the East, roughly towards the IJsselmeer coast. And will visit family in Hoog-Karspel (roughly 170 km).

*Then I will brave the Afsluitdijk to Friesland and turn East again, where I will visit family in Drachten and an old friend in Kollummerzwaag (roughly 195 km).

*Then I will go even more East towards Winsum (roughly 50 km) in Groningen, to visit some more family.

*If all is well and I am still alive, and my bum is holding up, I will then cycle down to the South again, once more skirting the IJsselmeer, to Harderwijk to visit some more old friends (roughly 200 km).

*And then South-West back to Hellevoetsluis (roughly another 200 km).

Is that a cool plan or what?

At the moment I'm trying to get people to come along for a stretch (no luck so far. For some reason people think I am absolutely mad. Weird eh?) But if all that fails, I am going on my own.

Yes, yes, I'll be careful. I will not cycle after dark and I will not accept anything from strangers. Except kindness.

Moreover, I am going to make it a cycle trip for Peace. (In for a penny, in for a Pound) And I am going to keep you informed.

Do join me on my weird trip. You are very welcome.

I'm Going Up the Country.