Super Sweden

Although I mostly use my van to go from one place to an other.
I have to be in London and Stockholm at least twice a year for a short family visit, and then a plane or train is way faster.
Last weekend I spent time in the outback of Stockholm in a very nice airb@b.
Went hiking in Tyresta National Park http://www.tyresta.se/in-english/ 

 and visited Monochrome Symphony in Artipelag http://www.artipelag.se/en/ to prepare for my winter work period in Sweden.
As I'am making graphic scores about water and Ice the Ice Etudes or Ice songs like I call them.
I'am missing out some photo material from a frozen sea.
And the expo was very inspiring for my own project and Art concerts with musician Jaap Mulder.

Travel and work experience

This summer we did our first work and travel project to Romania.Together with my colleague musician Jaap Mulder and his wife we crowd funded successfully
with the https://www.onepercentclub.com/en/

Friends who own a campsite in Romania and also worked for the Red Cross had some contacts for us.The list of participants for our art concerts on tour project was growing really fast. And before we knew it it was booked. But to be honest this looks like a magic trick but it took us a year to organise the trip, to crowd fund, to buy all the materials and drive up to Romania. Cause we still have our jobs here in the Netherlands.

The whole workshop tour was an amazing experience.https://vimeo.com/135887246 
The way you are visiting the country is so different cause you cocreate
with the people from the country. You see so much more personal things from the inhabitants and the way they live.

This tasted like more and that is why beside the fact that we also work on different  sides in the Netherlands and a van provides us with a driving home and office.
//www.facebook.com/Worldwide-art-workshops-725284537581573/?ref=hl 

The van helps us to work slower and not rush from one place to the other.
But if it is possible take the opportunity to look around in the area were we work. Even if it is close by.

Muddy hell

 
How adventures can a small country like the Netherlands be with all those camper rules you might think. Enough I can tell you.
I was even surprised 4 weeks ago that we totally lost the way in an area were we don’t have streetlights. 

 
And yesterday we needed help cause we were stuck in the mud. Remember The Netherlands, polders, water, autumn rains and other fun.
In it's own very sweet ways it has hidden gems and small adventures. Enough to explore and experience.

Museum with 2 free camper places on the parking lot,

We were driving when my husband spotted the sign of our National glass museum. So we turned around to visit the museum.
It feels comfortable to have our own driving home with you. And the feeling of freedom that goes with it is part of van fun.
When we arrived at the parking place we saw that the museum parking has 2 places for vans to stay the night. What a nice idea.

(works I photographed in the museum from Aida Bakhtiari De jacht and Jens Pfeifer Golden cut the drop is from an installation in the garden) . As you can see I made photo's of details in a way I liked the works best.

In Leerdam you can find the National glass museum and visit the glass studio. (Notice studio and museum are not on the same spot)
http://www.nationaalglasmuseum.nl/english/address-a-getting-here 
For me as an artist who loves glass I noticed that working with this material is very hard for me. My first impulse is creating with my hands.And hot glass is not something very touchable. But I enjoyed the experience very much.
But be aware that if you want to join a workshop in the glass studio you have to make reservations in advance.

Dutch vineyards with campground,

Placing the Netherlands on the map of  Europe is for some people a challenge.
Telling people we also make very good wine is for some people even more confusing.
But I tell you we do! And the even better news is that some vineyards have campgrounds or camper-places.
Last year we visited 2 of them on very different places in the Netherlands.

De Kleine Schorre
De Kleine Schorre in Zeeland is a big vineyard
http://www.campingdekleineschorre.nl/en/home
The choice to visit this vineyard campground was quiet easy. When I was looking for a Dutch wine my local store came up with this wine. On one of the bottles was a brochure about the vineyard and the campground. That made us very curious.
And lets be honest if you are there you want to taste some wines (they have a lovely arrangement for it) and then driving is not a good idea. 
So that was an easy choice, hike and bike as soon as we arrived and then do some wine tasting. After a good night sleep it was not far to drive home to Rotterdam the next morning.


 
Avitera
http://avitera.nl/  and http://www.dehartjens.nl/
The next vineyard is close to the German border. Beside a campground they have 4 camper places with a great view over the vineyard.
In September we were so lucky to be there at the moment they were going to harvest some grapes so we volunteered.
That was a great experience, and they take very good care off you. We had coffee and a wonderful lunch + some wine. And also received an extra bottle of wine.
The information they provide about the campground and vineyard is only in Dutch but if you sent them an e-mail they will respond and help you. 

Avitera vineyard is way smaller. In a good year they produce 3000 bottles and they sell them in their own area.
The other vineyard produces way more and even has clients as KLM (royal Dutch airlines).
But one thing is similar. On both places hospitality and passion for winemaking and their wines is key.

(If you look around on the internet there are more vineyard - campground combinations in the Netherlands I only write about the places I have visited myself.
And if you have no van or tent or caravan most of these places also have or can recommend other accommodations).
 

Nice to meet you

Starting a blog about wandering with your VW van while all weekend VolksWagen had the headlines in our newspapers is quiet ironic.
Our 21 year old VWT4 is in that sense a special one cause it uses gas. In Rotterdam were we live very soon old diesels are not allowed any more.
So we decided to buy a van using gas.

Before we hit the road  I will tell you something about myself and travel partner.
My name is Liset I'am a Dutch artist/ photographer, art teacher who also loves to create community artworks, temporary installations and compose graphic scores.
I co own a VWT4 van with my husband Henk who's job we call cultural handyman.
He programs a Dutch theatre and assist some groups applying for subsidies, pr, marketing, promotion, planning etc.
Classical music, theatre and photography are his big passions.


 
This year we travelled (with our tent) to Romania for a 10 days workshop project "Art concerts" with musician Jaap Mulder and his wife.
Jaap and Liset teach these workshops for over 4 years now and this experience in Romania, working with such different groups was amazing . Here a video from one of the organisations we worked with.https://vimeo.com/135887246

Together we started exploring how we can combine travel and work.
Here we are at a fresh start to try new things.
We use the van for all kind off trips. From picking grapes in the Netherlands (yes our country makes great wines), work and visiting family,
(our kids live in London and Sweden but mostly we go by plane), and making big and small trips to explore our country and the rest of the world.


 
In the blog we regularly put a spotlight on the Netherlands.
Traveling around in this flat, crowded country is maybe not a logical place to wander around with a van. And how much is there to wander you might think.
We will show you that, there are silent places but also the fun of the crowds.
This weekend we already were lost in the dark on a country road with no light. The campsite also did nog have any lights.
It was quite an adventure finding our way in a complete dark forest. But what a spectacular place, silence, stars and the noise of some animals roaming around and a pair of eyes lighting up in the dark.

 

Variation is key when we travel. 
In september I picked grapes, went to London fashion week and Open House London, lost the road on a dark country road in the netherlands, volunteerd on stage in Rotterdam, visited the Dutch glass museum, made new screenprints, and that was just the top of the iceberg.
Not everything goes as planned. But let's be honest wandering around means you always have to be in for an unexpected surprise.

Note: beside this blog you can follow us on http://dutchvwvan.tumblr.com/