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"Believe me, my young friend. There is nothing, absolutely nothing,
half so worth doing as simply messing around in boats." 

The Wind in the Willows

Paddling highlights of 2019 and 2020

12/23/2020

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Picture
Just a bunch of cows curious about those big colorful things on their beach.
In my last post, I promised I would also share some paddling highlights of the past two years, which didn't make it onto the blog. Here you go! Lots of photos, not much explanation...

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A brief paddle on Lake Geneva, and a hut trip in the Alps!

10/2/2018

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Picture
The friendly cows we passed on our way up to the hut. What a perfect Swiss view!
When we recieved an invitation to Tanya and Ken's wedding in Switzerland, I jumped at the opportunity to go on another kayaking and hut trip in the Alps! My first kayaking trip in Switzerland, on Lake Brienz, was (and still is) one of my most beautiful paddling experiences, and I hoped to recreate it on another Swiss lake. We planned to attend the wedding on Saturday, do a hut trip on Sunday/Monday, and go kayaking on Tuesday before flying out Tuesday evening - busy to say the least! Before building it up too much, I'll warn you that the paddling experience was a bit disappointing, but the wedding and hut trip were wonderful! 

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Crossing the Wadden Sea: from Holwerd to Nes, Ameland

8/7/2018

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Paddling (and kayak sailing!) from buoy to buoy, across the Wadden Sea. Photo by Marianne.
In this whirlwind of a weekend, we camped and kayaked in Friesland, crossed the Wadden Sea to Ameland, camped and biked,  paddled back again, and made it back to Rotterdam in time for dinner. We encountered a bit of wind and waves, some friendly currents, big ferries,  and a (real!) message in a bottle. 

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Sea Kayaking in the Ionian Islands of Lefkada and Meganisi (Overnight Trip)

7/20/2018

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Picture
Henk paddling in the crystal clear water of the Ionian Sea
Greece, how you exceeded my expectations! When I first began brewing up plans to go kayaking in Greece (shout out to Doug!), I pictured steep coasts peppered with bright white houses and blue decorations. I had imagined that these dense developments would cover the Greek islands, and we would paddle from dense village to village, eating delicious Greek food and sipping red wine. So, when we began paddling away from the little town of Vasiliki on the Island of Lefkada, I was struck by how vast and natural the surrounding islands really were. Aside from some small villages in pocket beaches, we encountered undeveloped shorelines of steep cliffs, rocky/pebble-y beaches, and olive groves.

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Riding the IJssel River from Dieren to Olst (Overnight Trip)

7/12/2018

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Paddling past the city of Zutphen on the IJssel River
Last weekend (my birthday weekend!) I spent two extremely sunny days paddling along the IJssel River in good company, with plenty of assistance from the currents. We encountered sandy and very muddy beaches, swirling river currents, a little bit of wildlife (including a partying kayak-polo team), and an evening circus! Read on for photos, a map, and the story.

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Trip Planning 101: Keeping Track of Flights, Lodging, and Rental Cars

3/9/2018

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On a flight to Portugal in June 2015
This is the final post in a 6-part series about trip planning. If this is the first time you're seeing this series, I recommend you start here! For an overview of the complete series, please visit the Trip Planning 101 page.

Since this is the final post, the Google spreadsheet template is now available! Check out the main Trip Planning 101 page to get a copy. This post presents a few additional (and optional) tabs in the spreadsheet: Flights, Lodging, and Rental Cars. 

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Trip Planning 101: The Ultimate Outdoorsy Packing List

2/23/2018

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Packing for New Zealand in December, 2017!
This is the fifth post in a 6-part series about trip planning. If this is the first time you're seeing this post, I recommend you start here! For an overview of the complete series, please visit the Trip Planning 101 page.

What do you think of when you hear "packing list"? Does it invoke stress or a feeling of control? How often do you leave something important behind? When traveling with friends, do you try to coordinate so everyone can pack as lightly as possible? In this post I'll share my approach to packing, which involves a simple spreadsheet and step-by-step process for filling it in. 

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Trip Planning 101: Estimating and Tracking Your Travel Budget

2/16/2018

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Activity (biking), transportation (3 eur/day public transit bike), lodging (tent), and food. It doesn't get much better than that! Taken during a 3-day overnight bike trip in the parks west of Amersfoort.
This is the fourth post in a 6-part series about trip planning. If this is the first time you're seeing this post, I recommend you start here! For an overview of the complete series, please visit the Trip Planning 101 page.

Do you make an estimate of trip expenses before going on a trip? How do you keep track of who-paid-what? In this post I share the next tab of the "Best Trip Planning Spreadsheet Ever": the Budget! I'll explain how it can be used to estimate trip costs, log transactions during the trip, and keep all travelers happy and content by keeping costs low, transparent, and well documented. ​​Here in the Netherlands, it's a cultural norm to split costs equally (e.g. "going Dutch") and keep track, sometimes to the cent, via easy bank transfers and payment request apps. I hear this is also catching on in the US, so hopefully this precise approach won't alienate any of you readers! 

As a bonus, I also share the ways that I keep my travel costs low!

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Discovering Friesland by boat, and camping along the way

8/27/2017

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Taking shelter on an island in the middle of Fluessen lake in a storm.
Last weekend I went on my first overnight kayaking trip in Europe! Until now it's been too difficult to coordinate, since I don't have my own car/roof rack/boat. Just checked, and the last times were in 2013 and 2014 on Tomales Bay, California. So it's been a while... 

Our destination was West Friesland, a province on the northern edge of the Netherlands that's known for having it's own language (West Frisian - yes, there is also Friesland where they speak Frisian!) and a long distance ice skating race, the 200-km Elfstedentocht (Eleven cities tour) that takes place on the rare occasion that the canals freeze over. Instead of skating, we did part of the tour by kayak!
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The Frisian flag is so cute with its "hearts," which are actually a type of lily pad common to the region.

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Dinant Evasion: What happens when you combine a log flume, bumper cars, 7000 kayakers, and a sinking kayak on the River Lesse in Belgium.

9/13/2016

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The magical town of Dinant, on the Lesse River in southern Belgium. The kayaking route does not take you past here, so make sure to include a visit to the city in your itinerary! Photo by Rob.
​Before you read this post, I want you to know that Dinant and the surrounding areas are really lovely - I've visited twice and had some great biking and hiking experiences. But kayaking was a different flavor, and I feel it should be documented as a warning to any kayakers thinking about paddling here...

As we passed under the big welcome signs at Dinant Evasion, I couldn't help but feel like I was entering an amusement park. We obediently zigzagged through the queue lines to one of the (many) ticket offices. "Do you have your confirmation letter?" asked the ticket lady in broken Dutch (Dinant is in the French-speaking part of Belgium). I fumbled for my phone, hoping the confirmation email was still cached (I still use my US smartphone, so no cellular data for me). Phew, there it was. I've never arrived for a reserved kayak rental and been told that my last name was insufficient for accessing the reservation... Warning Sign #1. Okay, the super commercial website could also have tipped me off (Warning Sign #0)... 

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<<Previous

    Welcome!

    This is a blog about exploring the outdoors (mostly by kayak), traveling, trip planning, and coastal engineering. It currently focuses on kayaking in the Netherlands and Belgium, but previous posts cover Upstate New York, California, and much more. See the Complete List of Blog Posts for a history of the site. Looking for something specific? Search the site here.

    In addition to the blog, check out the Water Nerd section, where I write about coastal engineering and hydrology. 

    ​Happy Paddling!
    ​Nena

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