26/07/2019 – Going Wild

After a morning dip in the swimming pool, I headed off with Rotterdam in sight.

Amazingly I set off at 8:18 which meant that I could make the most of the cooler morning. Lovely flat roads again, got to hope I don’t get used to this as it won’t last much longer.

The kilometres ticked by and quickly ended up in Rotterdam. After a whistle stop tour, I headed for The Hague and went through the beautiful town of Delft.

The afternoon was getting really hot so an afternoon stop by the beach was in order. In this time I tried to figure out where I was going to stay.

It said online that wild camping was illegal, but there were ‘pole camping’ sites where you can pitch up and stay for up to 72 hours. Luckily there was one of these relatively close by and on the way to Amsterdam so I headed there.

Not really know what to expect, I arrived to find what looked like a teenager by himself. It turns out it was a 16 year old kid from Russia who was walking round the Netherlands for 3 weeks by himself. He wasn’t old enough to stay in hostels so wild camped, he didn’t even have a tent, just a sleeping bag and a mat to sleep on. Can’t imagine doing that now let alone when I was 16.

After an average nights sleep in the forest being careful not to let too many bugs into my tent, I set off for Amsterdam.

I hadn’t had a shower yet today so was in real need of a wash. Fortunately, on route there was another lake that people were swimming in.

I then headed to Amsterdam and left my bike in the Rapha shop who were more than happy to look after it for me. After a quick walk round and a pizza, the heat got the better of me and I headed back to the shop to watch the thrilling end to the Tour de France stage.

Not fancying a €35 bed in a hostel, I went in search for another pole camping site near Utrecht and headed there in the slightly cooler evening past some stunning houses.

Feeling like a bit of a pro at this whole ‘wild camping’ thing, I rocked up and set my tent up in record time. We probably have it quite easy over here, can’t imagine how tough life must be in Russia for that 16 year old Russian kid’s parents to this ‘yeah, he’s fine to go round the Netherlands by himself camping in woods’.