Who are we?

October 2019, at the UNESCO world heritage church Cathedral of St James, Šibenik, Croatia

Two Dutch kiwi addicted to travel. What some of our friends and family might find extreme travel, is just normal to us.

After successful corporate career one as a Financial Controller for the biggest FMCG company in the world for 10 years it was time for a change. I embarked on a solo journey back to the Netherlands and Sri Lanka of six months to catch up with friends and family. I had not seen my husband Mark for four months, we met in the arrivals hall at Istanbul airport. After 4 weeks of touring Turkey he flew home and I became a tour guide for a friend in Italy. I finally got home two months later.

The idea to go on an overland expedition was born after my trip back to the Netherlands in 2016, I was at a cross road in my life.. I wanted more out of my life. Every Christmas in the years I have lived in NZ, 17 of them by 2015 were always overseas. I wanted to see the world for myself with my travel buddy and life partner, Mark Kraayenhof.

So in 2016 I did eight trips to Australia to sort out how we were going to fulfill our overlanding dream. I visited every 4×4 show on the East Coast, every motorhome manufacturer on the East Coast of Australia with my dad. Now why Australia, because Australia in the 4×4 capital of the world. I visited SLRV expedition vehicles, Earthcruiser Expedition vehicles in Sydney. All Terrain Warriors vehicles. We settled on SLR75 Truck Camper from Trailblazer RV in Melbourne. We decided we wanted to go smaller and more compact, so we can get into remote places. After all, we were already the owners of 2010 KEA motorhome Dreamtime, 4 berth in NZ.

Delivering our 2010 KEA motorhome Dreamtime back to the dealer to be sold, Nov 2016

In between tragedy happened we lost my beloved dad in Sri Lanka aged 70. It was that turning moment in life, when you realize we only have 21 summers left.

After bringing him home to NZ we put all our affairs in place, and left to overland by purpose-built vehicle around Australia. We were gone 4 months after his death. It was a dream he had of wanted us to continue.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi, UAE with my dad

After our first lap of Australia in 2017 and 2018, we left our vehicle “Nest” in Brisbane, Australia in late 2018 to achieve our next goal…. to complete our final section of train journeys around the globe. Russia was the missing piece of the puzzle, we did the Trans Siberian Railway in winter 2018/2019 40,000 km from Hong Kong via the Arctic Circle in Sweden and Norway to Ijsselstein, the Netherlands and on to London one month later. We were intending to go back to Australia to meet our Nest, as we had left her behind as we could not get her winterized for the Siberian winter in time.. but we were having so much fun. We have only just arrived home after 22 months of driving, and get trains around Europe.

Our Truck Slide on camper in Alice Springs, NT, Australia and the Ghan Railway

We came home due to Covid 19 in March 2020 and completed 68 countries. Even the NZ border police said “Welcome Home” and “Wow, you two have been some places”.

This is our story and to share our experiences of travelling the world.. it is after all it is not our first time travelling for long periods of time, in 1999/2000 we cycled through Europe for 6 months…

At a desert camp, Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve, Oman on our way back to NZ after cycling around Europe 1999/2000

One can achieve their dreams, we have completed 360,000 km of travel crossing close to 83 borders. What an achievement.

The next trip is already in the planning stage.. the Silk route with our “Nest” from Brisbane, Australia to Ijsselstein, the Netherlands once we have retired after another few more years as a Financial Controller back in FMCG to pay for the next big trip.