Stage 1 – Gouda

Today was the first day of my adventure. And it was great!

The start

This morning started in a normal way. Kids waking up too early, dog started barking because the kids woke up early, and me annoyed because, well you get where I’m going…

But then it hit me. I really woke up and realized I was going to start something very exciting today. The start of Walk to WordCamp Europe. I got out of bed, took a shower, put on my walking clothes, and we all had breakfast. Nothing strange here, but then I had to start packing, put all that stuff I arranged so neatly in the bag, and not besides it.

The backpack

When I put everything in the backpack, I weighed it. 12kg. Wow. Did not expect that. Ah well, I only had to add 2 liters of water, so the bag is 14kg in total. Let’s grow some muscles and do this.

The surprise

When I was done, Mila, our 5 y/o/ daughter told me I was not allowed to open the door, only she could do that… Ok, this is suspicious, and I like that! So a few minutes later, my parents, my sister and brother in law joined us, followed by the parents of my wife, Beatrijs. I was filled with positive emotions, and was really happy they all were here to say goodbye.

At 11:00 I was ready to go, and I left. After hugging and kissing all my loved ones, I was on my way. And of course I forgot to enable Strava, so I missed the first 200m. You can see my departure in the tweet below, filmed by my brother in law.

@mbootsman on his way to #WalktoWCEU pic.twitter.com/7Ji1JsmZM9

— TheoPaardekooper (@TJPaardekooper) May 19, 2019

The route

I was on my way, to Gouda. My first stop on the journey to Berlin. I had a good feeling, and after 2km, I had to refactor my pants. It was too warm to walk with long legs (of my pants). When I got to Gouda I was welcomed by Team DonateWC (to my suprise) and Ines and Arno gave me some food and drinks for the past few km of my route.

Found him! @mbootsman on his way to Berlin for #WalkToWCEU 🚶 pic.twitter.com/vEfocgSyuw

— DonateWC (@donate_wc) May 19, 2019

The sleeping accommodation

I was a guest in the house of Marco and Yvette. They made me feel at home, prepared a nice diner and we talk a lot. This was my first time sleeping at someone else’s house, and they couldn’t have made it more comforting. I’m looking forward to breakfast!

Thanks Marco and Yvette!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will walk to Utrecht, a walk of 32.5km.