Category: sabbatical 2024

Thursday, May 16, 2024 The days are starting to blur. I’m thankful for the pictures that help remind me. Today we walked 21k – a shorter walk! After a delicious Dutch breakfast (1 hard-boiled egg, various breads, hagelslag [chocolate sprinkles], meat and cheese, strong coffee), we move our stiff bodies out of town and onto…

Wednesday, May 15, 2024 On the road at 8:30am. Today is a longer walk (23k, the longest will be 24k). We are nervous. Our packs are heavy, our muscles stiff, and the blisters on our feet remind us that they are there. It will be another beautiful, and exceptionally warm, day. There is nothing along…

Tuesday, May 14, 2024 On the road at 9am. Today’s route is shorter (15k) because our room was further along the route. But with these packs a shorter route is preferred. Yesterday was harder than we expected. We feel our bodies. I woke up with a sense of ‘this is too much, we can’t do…

Monday, May 13, 2024 And the journey begins. With our packs fully loaded, and weighing more than we anticipated, we took our first steps out the door… from Zuidlaren to Rolde. Officially our route is 17k, but we will be walking further to Anderen where we are staying.

Sunday, May 12, 2024 We slept deep and long last night (one of us slept for 12 hours). We walked to a nearby church to listen to the organ and the singing. We were in the balcony/organ loft with the organist. My mom told me that as a young boy my Uncle counted the organ…

September 6, 2022 — Starting the Pieterpad (You can see the route at www.pieterpad.nl) Valerie and I began our walk back in 2022. We started in Pieterburen and made our way to Winsum, a short 12k walk. We didn’t realize it but there is a 10k loop to the North Sea; too bad, now we can’t…

Saturday, May 11, 2024 Thank the Lord, we were able to sleep on the flight. My leg muscles were cramping up, and we both had middle seats… but someone was willing to switch and Valerie and I could sit together. Because of the baggage counter issues in Toronto, we were concerned about our luggage arriving,…

Friday, May 10, 2024 We are at the airport waiting to board. Here is a quick summary of our day. Last night when we checked in we discovered we are not sitting beside each other. One row apart. Praying that the person next to us is willing to switch. UPDATE: WE WERE ABLE TO SWITCH…

Thursday, May 9, 2024 This was a day of last minute details and preparation. And now the packing begins, and by packing I mean unpacking. We can only take what fits into our backpacks, and whatever we take we have to walk with every day. A little this and a little that doesn’t seem like…

Wednesday, May 8, 2024 Thank God for a sabbatical from highway driving!We spent more time driving than we like. We first drove to Mississauga, then to Hamilton, then back to Cambridge. There were good reasons for this, but what we both remarked was how nice it will be only walking. We start the Pieterpad this…