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Published: January 29th 2007
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Books
Reading material for a year. Yes I'm back in Belgium 1 year and 20 days after I left the first time. And all though the trip didn't really go just like I planned it, I had the time of my life.
I had the privilege to spend a year doing the things I like doing best in life: travelling, sports and reading/learning new stuff.
In 10 months I travelled through 18 countries in 3 continents using busses, cars, trains, boats, rafts, elephants, planes, horse/oxen kart, bicycles, motorbikes, tuk tuks, rickshaws, cable karts, skateboard, etc... Basically almost any transport I know (except maybe a rocket all though going down the mountains on a bus in Asia must be a similar experience).
I've been doing sports almost every day: hiking (trekking, tramping, bushwalking or whatever you call it), scuba diving, queuing in Asia (full contact martial art), surfing, bungee jumping, weight lifting my backpack (and later Marijkes also), river surfing, running (often to the bus/train station), swimming, cliff jumping, skydiving,...
In one year I read between 60 and 70 books. It cost me a small fortune to send them home from all over the world but they are my souvenirs and I can't part
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Burma...you have got to love it. from them. In general I learned and found out about so many things (from very futile little things to some more fundamental stuff) that I had to keep notes every day to be able to remember it all. Not bad for a guy who considers a day when nothing new is learned as a wasted day...
One important thing that I learned (after the bus crash in Burma and my balancing act on intensive care in Oz) is that life is short and you only get one chance so you better make use of your time well. I realise that I'm very lucky to have gotten the chances I have. I promised myself to spend less time (and energy) complaining/nagging about the (often futile little) things that I don't like and fix it and/or go on instead...
People asked me what country I liked best. Difficult to answer because I liked different places for different reasons. However if I had to choose one it would be Burma. The people there are poor and terribly oppressed by their government but are still the nicest people I met anywhere. Maybe it also was the fact that travel there is not so
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Shop in Lesotho organised and a bit harder (some would say 'adventurous' uh oh!) that made things more rewarding.
In general I loved the freedom I have enjoyed the last year. Just packing my backpack, walking to the bus station and decide right there where I would go next...
That's probably also why some parts of the Australian East coast were the least favourite part of my travels. Everything was so organised there and had to be booked (sometimes weeks) in advance, leaving very little space for improvisation. Just turning up in town and directly finding an affordable place to sleep (as I had been doing for 4 months in Asia) just wasn't possible. Also it was harder to meet locals in those places as a lot of hostels didn't even allow Australians to stay there!!! Which I thought is outrageous as, given the size of the country; it would mean the same thing as hostels in Spain or Norway not allowing me to stay there because I'm European.
So am I all travelled out now? I don't think so... The trouble with travelling is that the list just gets longer. Ok, you might be able to check some stuff off the
stupid
Doing stupid stuff list but than you find out about 10 other things you really want to see/experience. Who ever thought Albany of all places would ever get on my 'to travel' list, but it has after my travels through the Balkans...and than there is South America that I sadly had to cancel this time... and don't even get me started on Africa, India, China, the Middle East, Japan, etc , etc.
For now it's time to reorganise my life here and start working and make some money again because how else am I going to pay for all those travels...
Before I let you go I just would like to thank a couple of people without who my travels wouldn't have been as easy.
Marijke for being my travel buddy, staying with me in the hospital, sleeping on the floor of intensive care in Brisbane and putting up with my crazy travel itinerary and my craziness in general. My mom, Leen and Ed at the home front for all the support (practical and other) during my travels, the countless phone calls to the Brisbane hospital and all the help and support during my revalidation at home. Where would I be without
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South Africa. This one is only funny for people who speak dutch...Baviaan/Bobbejaan Schoepe ;-) you?
My dad for his support and helping me get back on the road. All the people who called me, wrote me, visited me while I was trying to get better... it was greatly appreciated!
Last but not least I would like to thank all of you for reading all this stuff. Over 11,000 hits on the website, I never expected such a success. I hope you enjoyed it. I certainly enjoyed writing it and receiving your comments... I put on some remarkable, funny or plain stupid pictures here. Hope you like them.
I'll keep you posted next time I hit the road.
Cheers,
Jan
I'd like to dedicate this blog to the memory of Julien and Richard (my grand fathers) and Bruno (traveller and enthusiast blog reader) who departed on their final journeys during my time on the road in 2006.
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JDR
Jan De Roeck
dankbaarheid
Na de talloze privé-mailtjes, eindelijk eens op de blogcommentaren.... Jan, je droom werd waar, welliswaar met inbegrip van een nachtmerrie voor ons allemaal... gelukkig was er toen Marijke... die ik eeuwig dankbaar blijf omdat ze bij je was in je moeilijkste dagen en ons van uur tot uur op de hoogte hield. Nu ben je weer thuis, gezond en wel en met een dikke rugzak vol mooie verhalen en prachtige foto's ... eind goed al goed. Je trok de wereld in en trok ons met je mee... via de blog en de mailtjes (bedankt Marijke!we keken altijd uit naar het achtergrond-nieuws.... ) . Mijn aardrijkskunde is er enorm op vooruitgegaan... en ook ik heb veel geleerd, niet alleen over die wondere wereld , maar ook over jullie. Het overheersende gevoel dat overblijft bij mij is tevredenheid: jullie kunen de wereld aan en zien het mooie ervan... ook in de kleine dingen. Houden zo. mamaroos .