What I learned from travelling

Exactly one year ago, I arrived in South Africa on what was supposed to be a three month break before real working life started. Except I'm still travelling, a year later, and still have more trips planned. So I thought it was time for a 'what travelling taught me' post, very cheesy but also very true ;)

1. Be flexible
Don´t plan everything because the plan will change anyway, and you'll miss out on a lot of great stuff. This one was definitely the hardest for me. If you´ve known me for a while, you know I used to plan everything up to the smallest detail. On every trip, I had a very detailed schedule. And not just a list of things I wanted to see, no a daily schedule with set times. I know I drove some people crazy with this but there is something to be said for being organised. You get to see everything you want, you're prepared for anything and you don't miss the last train home. But you also might miss that outdoor concert in that little park in Santa Fé. Or that amazing view from the top of a mountain in Iceland. Working at the ranch where plans change depending on the weather, or in South Africa where 'now' means it might happen next week (or tomorrow, or not at all), forced me to be flexible and go with the flow. And I quite like it. The best things happen unexpectedly.

2. Stay positive
Travelling has taught me to always see the good in everything. Of course it's amazing to be travelling this much and I realize how lucky I am that I get to do this, instead of sitting at a desk all day. But as with anything else, it's not always just easy and fun. At times, it's hard work, there are moments where I really miss my friends and sometimes I wonder what I am doing here and why I am not putting my degree to better use. But than I ride a horse with the wind in my hair and a gorgeous view in front of me and I just feel so happy. The past year had many highs and a few lows. But a good friend reminded me that even when things don't go your way, there is always something good that came from it. My friendship with her was one of those things! Looking back on it, it opened up other opportunities and most of all, it taught me a lot about what I can do, how to stand my ground and what is really important.

3. My own strengths 
You often hear people say they 'found themselves' while travelling. While I wouldn´t go that far, I have learned a lot about myself through travelling. When you go to a new place, where you don't know anyone and plans often go off the rails, you really learn what you're made of. I have learned that I can be quite flexible and creative. I have learned I'm a lot stronger than I thought. I have learned to stand up for myself and be proud of what I can do instead of always doubting my skills. But I also care too much and sometimes trust too easily. I am stubborn and can be bossy and I like making my own plans instead of following others' rules. But I can also adapt quite easily. I´ve become a lot more open and confident. I know what makes me happy and how to prioritize that.

4. The importance of friendship
The highlight of every trip were the people I met on the way. With some, I only got to spend a few days, others a few months. But every single one of them played an important part in making all my trips so amazing and a lot of them I consider close friends. I love meeting new people, hearing their stories, getting to know them and have adventures together. It's crazy how close you can get to someone over just a short period of time. But it's not just new friends, I also appreciate my 'old' friends more. Being away from my close friends is hard but thankfully I speak to most of them regularly. They know me better than I know myself sometimes and they always manage to cheer me up. I've met some wonderful people who really understand me and even though they are sometimes far away, I know I can always call them. I feel very blessed to have friendships in which distance doesn´t matter.

5. Inspire and be inspired
A friend recently told me that she felt so inspired and motivated by what I am doing and I realised that was the best compliment she could give me. What I love most about working at the ranch is that I get to share my passion with others and teach them, help them to get better and reach their goals. I always encourage people to do what they love, even if it's hard or takes a while. So realizing that by just doing what I'm doing, working and travelling, I can encourage and inspire others to do what they want made me really happy. And it works the other way around as well, hearing about other people's plans and adventures inspires me too. Every single person you meet, changes your outlook and perspective on life.

The Ultimate Iceland Roadtrip

Last weekend, Ilona and I decided to go on a little tour along the south coast of Iceland. That turned out to be a lot longer than we thought. In a car that turned out to be falling apart. It was quite an adventure but we saw some amazing sights!


Waterfalls everywhere! 

Our first stop was Seljalandsfoss, a waterfall just off the ring road (the main road around the island). You can park right by it so it is very easy to reach. The 65m high waterfall itself was beautiful and in summer, you can walk behind it. Unfortunately there was still snow on the path so it was closed now. It was quite busy around the main waterfall so we decided to wander around a little. A sign lead us to Gljúfrabúi, another waterfall just 500m away from the main one. The name means 'dweller in the gorge' and sure enough the waterfall is partly obscured by the rock formation in front of it. You can wade through the little stream and into the gorge for a great up close view of the waterfall. Most people don´t go further than Seljalandsfoss but I thought Gljúfrabúi was even prettier. After getting soaked by the spray from both waterfalls we drove on to Skógafoss, 30km further east on the ring road. The 25m wide waterfall is pretty impressive but even better is the hike up. You have to climb a 527 step staircase to the viewing platform but from there you can walk further up along the water. We were told there are 22 more waterfalls, we didn´t walk that far but we saw another few as well as some beautiful scenery. This hike was the highlight of the trip for both of us! There are a few other waterfalls you can visit in this area, like Kvernifoss behind the Skógar Museum, but unfortunately we didn´t have enough time to go there.

A different kind of beach...
If you dream of white sand beaches, then Iceland is not for you. Here they have black beaches, but if you're lucky, they are scattered with diamonds. We went to the southernmost tip of Iceland, the lighthouse near Vik. This is a great look out point over the black beaches. It was quite windy when we were there so the waves were huge and you couldn't get to the beach itself. But there are other spots where you can walk on the beach, and we had a great view over the shore and the rock formations (which are supposedly petrified trolls..). If you drive further north on the ring road, you'll get to a big bridge where you'll find Diamond Beach on the right and the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon on the left.  The lagoon is famous for it's floating icebergs, which break of off Vatnajökull glacier. The chunks of ice fall into the lagoon and drift out to sea, where the waves crash them on the black sand beach. This beach is also known as 'Diamond Beach' as the ice chunks that wash ashore, glisten in the sun like diamonds. The 'diamonds' that break of Europe's biggest glacier are thousands of years old. You can take a guided tour of the glacier or visit one of the ice caves. Our tour was unfortunately cancelled due to bad weather but I would definitely recommend the ice cave tour if you visit in winter, I´ve heard it´s beautiful.

And some car trouble (because it wouldn´t be a proper roadtrip without it)
We spent the night in Höfn (about an hour east of the Glacier Lagoon) so we wouldn´t have to do the five hour drive back to Hella the same day. While the car was fine the first day, unfortunately it didn´t do so well the second day. A guy from the hostel had to tow us behind his nice rental car in order for us to get the car running. After we visited Svartifoss waterfall in Skaftafell, the car wouldn´t start anymore without one of us pushing it. We certainly got some weird looks at the gas station when we had to 'push start' it after filling up. Svartifoss was nice by the way, but I think it will look better in Spring/Summer when it´s green. We were a bit disappointed by it now, especially since it was a 45 minute hike up a pretty steep hill to get there (and they said the level of that hike was 'easy´, I don't want to know what their 'challenging' hike is like). Besides not starting, the car also didn't reverse anymore. This caused a bit of a problem when we visited Fjadrárgljúfur, a beautiful green canyon on a dirt road about 15 minutes off the ring road. Thankfully I managed to pull the car around in the tiny parking lot. After barely making it up the pretty steep hill on the way back from the canyon, we did make it home safely (miracles do exist!). It was a great roadtrip though, for me it felt more like the Iceland that you see in photos than the Golden Circle and it's certainly a must do when in Iceland.



Ps. all the hiking and pushing cars along the south coast made for good Mongol Derby training ;)

Something Blue

One of the hardest parts of writing this blog is actually coming up with good titles. Of course I want them to reflect the content a little, but I also don't want them to be too literal. And I like them to have a double meaning. I was staring at my previous blogs and this popped in my head, a bit cheesy but it'll have to do, so here we go!


So yeah, the ideal scenario would be if I could write about my visit to the Blue Lagoon. But unfortunately I can't, so I guess I'm cheating a little with my title. Of course the Blue Lagoon is a must see when in Iceland, the top tourist attraction and all of that, but what the beautiful photos in travel guides don't show you, is that it is super busy, super expensive (I am after all travelling on a budget) and the water is not even naturally blue, they put chemicals in it! Of course it's still a great spot to visit while in Iceland, it's just not for me. Instead we went to the Secret Lagoon, which is actually not so secret as there were quite a few people there, but still quite cool. The 'pool' is made of rocks and heated by the hotsprings surrounding it. The steam rising from the water and the old changing rooms which are now a ruin give the place a very rustic feeling. It was very nice to let our muscles relax and soak until our skin was all wrinkly.

In case you were wondering, I'm not just galavanting around Iceland. I work at a stables here for two months. My friend Ilona, who I met in South Africa three years ago, is here for five months and suggested it to me. Besides her, there are two other girls: Mary from Germany and Kathi from Austria. We spend our days doing stable work, training horses and taking guests out on tours. Same thing as before but a very different environment. The first week I really had to get used to the temperature, I was freezing with six layers of clothes on! But I'm a bit used to it now and it has warmed up quite a bit as well. The area here is beautiful though. Lots of hills and beautiful mountains and volcanoes in the distance. Every night we do a short workout so I'm already getting started on the Derby training a little ;)

Here in Iceland they only have Icelandic horses, which sounds very obvious but I think it's quite interesting: as soon as a horse leaves Iceland, it's not allowed to come back. This is to prevent them from bringing in diseases as the horses here don't get vaccinated. As you may know, the Icelandic horses also have two extra gaits (speeds at which they can go), the tolt and flying pace. I did it once before on my friend's horse, but it's actually a lot harder than it looks. We get weekly lessons though,  so now I feel a little less like I have no clue what I'm doing and like I'm making the horse worse. It's a lot of fun thoug and I think every riding style can teach you something useful. Riding Icelandic horses is teaching me to really have a deep seat.


As a tour guide, I've also learned a lot of fun facts about Iceland. This is my top five:
1. A majority of Icelanders believe in elves (there was an actual research done on this)
2. There is a volcanic eruption every 4 years on average
3. Beer remained illegal untill 1989
4. Mosquitoes don't exist in Iceland
5. First names not previously used in Iceland must be approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee

Something new

Photo by TheAdventurist

It has been a bit quiet on the blog the past month but now I’ve got a lot of exciting news to share. I’ve been working on a lot of different stuff lately and it’s been a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ work but now things are moving forward in a big way. I won’t keep you in suspense for too long so here’s the first reveal: I got accepted to compete in the Mongol Derby! The Derby, which will take place in August 2019, is the longest and toughest horse race in the world. The 1000km long course recreates Chengis Khan's legendary postal system that was created in 1224. Every year, around 45 competitors from countries all over the globe take part in the race (and usually half of them finish it).

Photo by TheAdventurist

I will have 10 days to complete the course, it will take not just horsemanship skills but survival skills and determination. I will ride 25 different, semi-wild horses through rough terrain including mountain passes, open valleys, wooded hills, rivers, wetlands, sandy dunes and open steppe. Besides it being an awesome adventure, I will also raise money for different charities and the Derby supports local people in Mongolia who play a huge role in making this race possible. If you want to support me, have look at this link: Aly's Mongol Derby Horse Race

Of course I will be blogging about the preparations leading up to the race (not looking forward to all the hours I will have to spend in the gym to get in shape). 

Photo by our partner in Montenegro

In other exciting news: Heleen and I are starting our own company! It’s called ‘Centaur Trails’ and focuses on helping people find the perfect horse riding holiday. This project is something Heleen and I have been thinking about for a few years now as something that ‘would be cool to do in the future’. I often get asked if I have any suggestions on destinations and stables, with all the travelling I do, so we decided this would be a good time to get started and see if we can make this into a business. In the first phase, we will focus on Dutch clients but over the years we are hoping to expand to an international market. We will be offering horse riding holidays worldwide and will also organise tailor made trips with or without your own horse. 

We are planning the official launch for May but of course there is a lot of preparation that needs to be done. We are busy building our website, social media and of course with finding the best companies to work with. I am super excited about it, it’s the perfect combination of my two passions: riding and travelling. I realize how lucky and privileged I am to be able to do both right now and have all these amazing experiences, sometimes it feels like a dream. I hope that we will be able to help people a little in living their dream. Of course I will keep you posted on our progress on the blog! For now, check out the new Centaur Trails logo, done by Heleen!

And in case you were wondering, I’m in Iceland at the moment and it’s pretty amazing. I will tell you all about it in next week’s blog so stay tuned ;)

The Broken Road

I’m trying to distract myself by writing this so I don’t have to think about the fact that I’m actually leaving South Africa. I already said goodbye to Hluhluwe last week. It was so weird to leave the place that has felt like home for the past months. Last time I left, I knew I was coming back. This time I don’t know what’s going to happen. Thankfully I had another week in South Africa, in Hoedspruit to be exact. After only two hours of sleep and not feeling too well on the plane, I finally arrived and went to pick up my rental car. I was feeling quite shitty so when the attendant told me he couldn’t give me the car because of a problem with my card, I was ready to break down in tears. There was nothing they could do for me so I was basically stranded at the airport. Thankfully there was a really sweet American couple who offered to give me a ride into town where I would meet Christine. She and I tried to come up with a solution but we couldn’t think of anything that would work. Eventually I called the lodge I was going to stay at and they have honestly been amazing. They have gone above and beyond to arrange the car for me. I am so grateful that there are people who care so much!

So yeej, I had a car! Christine and I made good use of that little car by driving it up to Mariepskop, we really didn’t think we would make it without 4-wheel drive but the car was strong and made it all the way up. The view from up there is breathtaking. We sat there for hours just chatting and laughing. Being so high up and far from everything makes you feel like there is nobody else in the world and nothing else matters, exactly what I needed ;) The next day we got up at 4am to go to Kruger for the day. I think we saw over 30 elephants during our drive, including lots of babies, but the best sighting that day (possibly ever) was of three lionesses with their six cubs right next to the road. We sat there watching them for over 30 minutes (no other cars!), the lionesses were very relaxed and the cubs were running around, playing and nagging their moms. Such a special sighting and an experience I will never forget! On the way back to Hoedspruit we almost got stranded without petrol but thankfully we found a gas station just in time, lucky again.

I spend two nights at Wait A Little, where they do horse safaris in a big five reserve. I had been emailing with them about their work experience program but since I was in the neighborhood I decided to ask if I could come by, and they said I was more than welcome. Everyone there was so lovely. They have some great horses and it's a beautiful area. They work hard but there is a nice atmoshpere and they all hang out together whenever they have some time off, I felt right at home and will definitely go back in the future. The highlight was bumping into two Rhino on a horseride one morning, such a special experience! My last night I stayed with Christine at Umlani Bushcamp in Timbavati, where she works. It was a beautiful lodge, very nice people and Hyena that walk around the camp as if they are pets ;)

It's weird to be away from the horses. In my last week in Hluhluwe I rode Attila to the plantations one afternoon, and just sat there for almost an hour watching the sun set behind the mountain. The view there is amazing and it is so quiet and peaceful. Another day, I rode Bullet along the lake in False Bay with Flamingos flying next to us. You just don’t get that kind of experiences in the Netherlands. I taught a few more lessons. Ka’tia has made so much progress over the ten lessons she’s had. Bundu made it hard on her during the last lesson, trying to turn around, stopping, even bucking, but she handled him perfectly and even though it was frustrating, she kept going. The whole Druce family came out for a little trail ride with Evan riding Tshoks without any help and even Emma was on a horse (Heleen and her were on Bundu together), so special! On my last day, Heleen and Mariette took me out for lunch and that night we went to Amorellos for the last time. It was a perfect day to end my stay with.

The hardest part about travelling is saying goodbye, to the place I’ve gotten quite attached to, this amazing country, the weather, the animals but most of all the people. Six months (in two three-month intervals) might not sound like a long time but so much has happened in these months that it feels like years. I’m grateful for everything it taught me but mostly for all the amazing people I’ve met. To everyone who helped me with the horses, who came riding with me, shared their stories, inspired me, encouraged me and was just there to listen and laugh with: thank you, I will see you soon!

Resolutions

Happy belated new year! Can’t believe how fast this year flew by, never had I ever thought I’d be where I am right now. If you had told me last year that I’d be celebrating New Years in South Africa I would have laughed. It was an interesting experience to celebrate both Christmas and New Years in the heat, I must say it just doesn’t have the same feel to it. Next year I want the cheesiest Christmas ever, with snow, markets, decorations, carols and everything to make up for it. It’s been a pretty awesome year though, mostly because of all the great people I’ve met on my travels. I’ve also learned that you don’t have to physically be close to someone to be really close to that person. So to all my friends: thank you for being there for me and always listening to my rants.

I’ve spend most of 2017 travelling and I hope to be doing that in 2018 as well. On that note, my next destination is *drumroll* Iceland! That will certainly be different climate wise ;) I’ll be going there over March and April to work at a stables, similar set-up as here: horsecare, training and trail guiding. But with Icelandic horses! And to make it even better, Ilona will be there as well! Remember her from my first South Africa adventure almost three years ago? Can’t wait to travel and work with her again. I don’t really do New Years resolutions but I do have a lot of plans for the coming years, and they involve travelling and horses. It’s still very tentative but I will definitely keep you posted!

We’ve been quite busy over the holidays. I’ve had a lot of trailrides with some really nice guests and I had some company on my training rides as well. It was nice to have some people to chat to and to help with the horses as it can get tiring sometimes, no matter how much fun it is to ride out here. For New Years we had a ‘recycling’ theme party where everyone had to dress in plastic (let me tell you, that’s not the best thing to be wearing in 30 degree Celsius weather). And of course half the people there (including me) ended up in the pool. Last week I went to Richards Bay with Trienke to do shopping. Being in the mall made me realise how secluded we are here, it was so strange to see ‘normal’ shops again, I felt like someone from a tiny remote town in the middle of nowhere who goes to the big city for the first time.

I had a few days off this past weekend and Heleen had invited me over again so I went back to the park. It was so nice to get away from everything for a while and I love spending time with Heleen and her family. It was very warm but we still saw loads of buffalo, rhino, giraffe, zebra, antilope, warthog, birds, monkeys, baboons and the lions (having a nap next to the road). We went to see the horses again and this time I worked with the third horse that I didn’t have time for on the last visit, while Heleen worked with Spirit. Storm was very grumpy and nippy but as I worked with him he got a lot better. He’s a sensitive horse but he was good when I rode him (after a few bucks) and Fi and I even took him and Spirit on a little ride into the park. Both of them were very alert but they didn’t spook or try to run so I was quite happy with that. Ow and we didn’t get eaten by a lion ;)

Year of summer

It’s hard to believe it’s almost Christmas. Listening to christmas music in 30 degree weather just doesn’t have the same feel to it as drinking hot chocolate at the ice rink or your train being delayed because of the snow. And I do love Christmas, the cheasier the better. But I must say it is nice to still be able to walk around in shorts and sit outside in the evenings. It’s different.

I’ve had a busy week with lots of trail rides and horse riding lessons. I’m happy the trails are a bit busier now, I’ve met so many interesting people, I love hearing everyones stories. And I went riding with Stefanie! Even though we ended up riding in the rain (felt just like home), we had a lovely ride and chatted the whole way. The riding lessons went great as well. I’m teaching a ten year old girl named Ka’tia. She just loves being with the horses, adores Tshoks and she’s doing great with her riding. She went from being nervous about riding without me holding the horse, to trotting around the arena over one lesson. After just three lessons she already knows how to do a rising trot and she’s even cantered. She is so excited about everything and very eager to learn. She made me the cutest card saying I am the best riding teacher ever, so sweet! Both Meghan and Evan have also come by for a few riding lessons and they’re making great progress. 

Even though I love working with the horses, it was really nice to get away from everything for a bit as well. I spent a weekend at Heleen’s, in the park. It was by far one of the best experiences ever. We saw so many rhino, elephant, giraffe, zebra, antilope and what not, we spend almost an hour looking at lions sitting about three metres from our car, I got the chance to see cheetah and wild dogs (they’re so beautiful, I loved watching them interact with each other). I also got the opportunity to work with three horses of which nobody knew anything, not even their ages or breed. The park had acquired them to use in the field but they didn’t have anyone to train them yet so they didn’t know if they were even ridable. One of them couldn’t even be caught at first. I worked with him for two hours and after that I was able to ride him around the paddock. It was such a rush to realize I had given him that trust and a very rewarding experience. It gave me some confidence in my abilities as a trainer.

  

I made some progress with our own horses as well. After training Bullet with the bitless bridle on the trails and training him to ride without a bridle in the arena I decided to take him for a ride around the property with just a rope around his neck to steer him. He was amazing, it felt no different from riding him with a bridle, he still responded perfectly to my steering and I could stop him just fine. Since I’m possibly insane, I decided to then try it on a proper training ride in the plantations as well and it went amazing! We even cantered without a bridle, made me really proud. Meanwhile, Lancelot’s training is going very well, Daphne and I started riding him at the beginning of November and he’s been very good. On some of the rides, he bucked during trotting but on my last ride with Mariette he was perfectly fine. I think I’m going to take him on a guesttrail this weekend, it’s just walking so that should be fine.

As for my plans for next year, I’m pretty sure about what my next destination will be. It’s something horse related but it’ll be in a very different environment, about 30 degrees colder for one. Any guesses on where that’ll be?