As our sabbatical year comes to an end… Amsterdam, here we come!

Rein checking in -

"Well, the end of our journey, as far as our sabbatical is concerned, is here.

Next week Thursday I start my new job with Hay Group in Zeist, as part of the Dutch team that focuses on Executive Development and for a quarter of my time on the European team that looks after capability development within Hay Group. I am really excited about this new opportunity and look forward to start building on my sabbatical experience to continue to put my professional expertise and experience to use in a meaningful way to have a positive impact on the communities/organisations I form part of or interact with.

Areal view of our new neighbourhood 

Between now and Thursday, we will move into our new apartment in Amsterdam, which is a lovely two storey place, with lots of light, two bedrooms/bathrooms and a nice roof terrace, in the "Rivierenbuurt", a 1930'ies typical Amsterdam residential area, with lots of young couples, expats and the few original Amsterdammers thrown in for good measure. It's a lively quarter with lots of cafes, restaurants and specialty shops, so we're both sure we'll feel right at home here very soon.


[Interlude: I just got called away by Simon to help him order a new washer and dryer… We are definitely on our way to the domestic bliss we have so been longing for, for such a while ;-) ]


All in all the past few months have been an emotionally tumultuous roller-coaster, yet again, not knowing whether my work would be in Delhi, Mumbai, Brussels or Zeist.

Dining out in Gurgaon-city (" mall-heaven") with our good friends Tash & Colin

Our preferred mode of transport Gurgaon,
in this one there is room for three more passengers...

In October we had our reconnaissance trip to Mumbai and Delhi, where we were warmly and enthusiastically received by the Hay colleagues there. We got to discover a new city in Mumbai and had a wonderful time in Delhi, staying with our dear friends Tash & Colin in their serviced flat, having just moved there from Melbourne. Good times, doing some sight-seeing in old Delhi and catching up over lovely food together. On the professional side of this trip we had a chance to discover the business and work to inform us in our decision-making regarding a potential transfer. We left with a job offer for both Simon and myself, which alleviated the anxiety of having to find a solution for Simon's visa.


After we came back we had some time to think through all the pro's and con's and couldn't honestly say that we were all for a move to settle in Mumbai. While the offer was tempting, we both longed to be coming home after our year and Europe felt like just that. To cut a long story short, it then took another 4 weeks to finalise where I would be best placed in terms of location, either Brussels or Zeist, and obviously this prevented us from starting our search for a new home, until a decision was made. 


The decision to join Hay Group Zeist per the first of December was finally made less then two weeks ago and then the pressure was on to find suitable place to live. So these last two weeks Simon and I have been frantically contacting agents, reaching out in our network to get the word out and, in true twenty-teens' style the winning tip came to us through Facebook. A friend of my brother had spotted a Facebook posting through one of his friends that said that the writer was now putting their apartment, which had been for sale for a while, up for rent and if anybody knew of anybody who could interested.

Our new address: our apartment is on the top two
floors in the  corner of the building
(behind the left tree) 

After some discouraging house hunting visits into Amsterdam, Simon and I were just closing in on a potential place to rent in the provincial town of Gouda (yes, the one where the cheese comes from), but we decided to go for one more look to see this particular place. The following day we drove up to Amsterdam once again to meet Carlijn, one of the landlords and view the Molenbeekstraat 14 III. While I felt some reservations about the place (in my true style, I noticed all the things that weren't ideal and did not see the potential, which is more Simon's speciality) but Simon took an instant liking to the house. Before long, the Gouda apartment was no longer on his mind and all he could think of was the "Rivierenbuurt".


So the discussions on rent and conditions started, hurdles were overcome (what to do with the company car and no parking availability, how can we fit 42 cubic meter of furniture into an apartment, albeit spacious for Amsterdam standards but a third smaller than our Brussels place), final agreement reached and removalists booked for the move this coming Thursday.


Our time of waiting at my parents' place in the Antwerp forests (a huge thank you to mama and papa for their support and above all, their patience!) is almost over as Simon and I are finally "coming out of the woods" to start a new chapter of life!


The coming days will require focus and stamina to effectively organise an international move and all its associated bureaucracy (registrations, applications, convocations ;-) but we can rest assured that we now have our structural necessities sorted in a home and a steady income to settle down after a hectic and turbulent year and continue our lives' journey from a new base.


We look forward to seeing all of you, who have been so supporting to us by reading this blog and leaving your comments, again very soon and know that you will have a place to come and stay with us in our new home.


That's all for now. I'm sure this blog will continue to grow as we do, and I look forward to discover how our lives' story continues!


… to be continued"


- Rein checking out

Stuck between a rock and a hard place

Simon signing in;

Well, Rein and I have finally completed what volunteer roles we had available to us. The big question now is: what next!?

After doing two-and-a-half week with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, work which was more difficult than I expected, though nothing which is too hard, we are currently staying with my cousin Aroha and her great family. It was amazing to see her after so long and great to meet her family finally! (Well, I had met her husband though too had not seen for many years).

The last two weeks were really really hard me. I mean REALLY hard. The past month Rein and I have been living out a tent (well two, our 'road side' tent and the palace) and it has taken its toll. And if you out there have done camping and 'enjoy it', you will probably laugh at us for what shite (and how much of it) we carry with us. We have almost everything bar the kitchen sink but these things, WE NEED. :-) The most important to us are our 'all wheel drive mattresses'. These behemoth things roll up losing the air within though still end up being as wide as 60cm. Imagine the faces of the serious campers at the AWC when we all went bush camping. The rest of the trip I will mention below, but for now, the past two weeks.

The first week meant being introduced to all within the camp and I guess this is where I started to crumble. I am not good with a big group of people and this quadruples when it comes to strangers. I instantly felt way over my head in being there as, on first impressions, these people ALL knew their bit about wildlife. After the first couple of days getting to know all, we had to prepare for the first week of camping. I mean BUSH CAMPING. NO facilities. Are you serious!? No shower? And worse yet, no toilet either???

The drive itself started early and before long we were all off in a caravan of five cars. The drive was taking its time and after a long while one of the cars got bogged (stuck in the mud), so one after the other cars tried to de-bog. Well, this turned out to be a three hour disaster which turned out to have an additional 8 'boggings'. The true horror was given to me when one of the guys in charge told us that 4 cars were still bogged, the sun was about to go down and to start to make camp. 'What, here, in the middle of this 'road', in the mud?'. My heart sunk. He was joking, no, this was reality. We had to search the vehicles to get tents, cooking gear and food, make a fire and start cooking. There was only four people present as the rest were fighting the mud. I have never had to cook on an open fire! After a struggle of emotions and loss of four kilos in 30 mins I had started to get the dinner going. I felt compelled to take charge of the cooking.

Eventually all returned to the 'camp' and sat around the fire to enjoy the meal I had provided. Here was my first test. They were all just happy to have food provided to them albeit a slap dash tomato pasta thingy. Everyone talked of the days events and before long we were all off to bed. The next morning started early...again.

The second day we finally made it to our camp site though by this stage we both felt like we were one million miles from anyone and anything we know. The next five days were a little bit of a blur but they included digging trenches, hammering posts and checking the trenches twice per day for any trapped wildlife for the survey. My biggest thoughts of the day were the isolation, the dirt, and a little boredom, though the 'boredom' was turned into lazy sleeps under a tree and reading.

Saturday finally came and we were all off back to base camp. The drive was thought to again be slow as we had to again cross the dreaded bog road though when we approached it, it seemed slightly better and well, we all got across.

The first shower after we got back was the BEST I ever had, though as in camping life, I felt dirty 30 mins later. Rein and I both felt that we could not face the reality that we would again be bush camping in two days. Our day was made the following day when we found out that we were to remain at camp to be involved in a second team staying at base, whilst the others were again going to go out bush camping. The news that we would be staying near showers and kitchens was so incredible, I thought I would cry.

In the end, the two-and-a-half weeks at Mornington went quite fast. Rein and I had originally signed on for three-and-a-half weeks so whilst I write this we should have been again bush camping. It was actually me who asked for us to be excused for the last week. I was really finding it hard emotionally and requested to leave. I do not know whether it was the isolation or what, but I knew I had to leave ASAP. The work at the AWC had turned out to be not good for me. I needed to be in touch with civilisation, with friends, family, just out of there.

From the above I have decided that I am not cut out for living that kind of life. The life I guess I feel most comfortable is one with bathrooms, beds, fine food and wine and having comfortable things close by.

I have learnt from the past two weeks. I have come face to face with the reality that I CAN camp and I can deal with facets of camping though with limits.

Now we wait with my cousin, ready to drive off tomorrow morning back to Perth and wait for news of what we have in store next. It is a scary thought not knowing what we have up next, where we will be after having to make some serious decisions on our next destination. Bangalore? Delhi? Brussels? Durban? Names which have been mentioned names which may be revealed soon.

I sign off a little nervous of the next few weeks yet excited for the little drive ahead.

Signing off.

A reflection on our experience so far

Rein checking in -

This was in fact a draft article I wrote to be included in the Better Future newsletter. As my latest blog post won over this one, it didn't make it to the newsletter. However, I still felt it was worth keeping (even if only for my own memory's sake) so I am adding it to the blog. I can't remember exactly when I wrote it, but I think it fits here nicely, time-wise. Hope you enjoy it...

"It was a hot summer's day on top of a hill in the French Provence in July 2010 that the concept of taking a sabbatical came to us. We were on a holiday, so had had some time to reflect on our professional life and how (un)fulfilling it was or had become. 

For me, after almost 25 years of being what people call a "professional" I felt I was at a dead end and not sure where to find a source of energy to keep me going for the next 25 years. I had recently been looking around for new job opportunities, with mixed success, and started to realise that I needed a step change rather than just another "professional" position in another corporate environment.

It was in fact Simon who planted the seed for our joint sabbatical, casually mentioning during our hike: "what if we just packed everything up and spent some time 'up North' (in Australia)?”. I recall the rush of excitement with the idea that went through my body thinking about spending some time there. Having spent 6 years of my life "Down-Under", and returning to visit friends and family every 2 years, I always feel like I'm coming home when I arrive and I feel most happy when I'm visiting the outback. There is some kind of special energy emanating from the earth there that always fills me with positivity and happiness. To be there for an extended period of time, without the pressure of returning to work after a holiday, would truly be amazing.

So the concept stuck. When we got back home after our vacation that summer I shared my intention with friends and (trusted) colleagues. They universally commented on the excitement and positive energy with which I spoke about this idea, in spite of its potentially far reaching practical implications. Their feedback in turn confirmed my gut feel and so I started exploring the practicalities of actually doing "it": taking some time off from work to explore new horizons, exposing myself to new experiences and to truly be open to unexpected opportunities, without being constrained by obligations and commitments.

This exploration had both an encouraging and sobering effect. Encouragement for example in the discovery that Belgium, where I was employed at the time, offers a social scheme in terms of common employee rights to facilitate taking up to 12 months unpaid leave from work. And a lot of sobering practicalities, such as having to give up our lovely (rented) apartment in Brussels, all the conveniences that come with employment (such as an income!) and visas to be able to enter and be active in the countries which we wish to visit.

Nonetheless, by September I discussed my intentions with my employer and set a date for the sabbatical year to start. The following months saw me go through several ups and downs in working through the preparations of the year ahead. It felt like slowly undoing a life that took 25 years to build and I realised that the mental process that goes with a sabbatical had already begun. Three key lessons presented themselves very clearly for me to learn: 1) learning to let go; to let go of structure and security that provide an (often false) sense of control but also to let go of precise expectations as to be truly open to the new and unexpected; 2) daring to go with the flow; having a sense of trust in the unknown and in your own capability to make the best of what comes your way and finally 3) patience, patience, patience; destiny doesn’t  appear overnight, it takes learning and growth to realise what your destiny is and for this one needs to live the journey as it unfolds instead of being too focused on its destination.

In essence, these three lessons seem simple and in fact quite obvious. But it took me to make a conscious decision to step out of the rat race I was living to become aware of their value for my own growth and development. Now, for over four months, I am living the journey of my sabbatical which, on our way to Australia, has taken me here to Bangalore, where I have been able to gain new experiences and contribute as a volunteer with the Spastics Society of Karnataka as well as Better Future and not a day goes past that I am not reminded of my three lessons to learn."

- Rein checking out