Live one month without electricity.

June 1

Woke up by Martijn knocking on the door, since I don't have an alarm or clock anymore (background info: I'm currently in Paris cause I'm perfoming with a piece from Liat Waysbort). To avoid the metro I decided to rent a bike and was confronted with my first dilemma, how to rent a bike at a machine without using a bankcard? Didn't have much time before rehearsal so decided to rent for now. Arrived at the theater all sweaty and fully awake after a rather exciting trip in the Parisian traffic in which I got lost with a bike which was stuck in the fastest gear :-) Happy to be alive!!

 

 

ps. The performance went well btw.

 

June 2

Prepared a talk for Inspiration Shots in Nijmegen, it was easier to concentrate since I couldn't distract myself with news, facebook, etc… Still checking my left pocket every now and then form my phone, but it's not there.

 

Started to really enjoy biking in Paris. Especially in the middle of the night it really makes me feel like I'm part of the city and not a stranger/tourist.

 

June 3

I have to be in Nijmegen tomorrow, so I decided to accept the already payed train ride from Paris to Rotterdam but to go by bike from then on. A compromise which I was not so happy to make, but secretly I really enjoyed the super speedy train ride to Rotterdam. There I picked up a very nice bike (which I could thankfully borrow from Bart) and started biking to Utrecht (55km, 4hours) where I could stay at my brothers.

 

After biking for 15 minutes I started seriously doubting if I was ever going to arrive and how I actually thought this was going to make the world a better place. But somehow I got to Utrecht and somehow I as still convinced this was a good thing to do tor a month. It at least made me appreciate electricity more then ever… :-)

 

June 4

It was a very cold rainy day which made me bike very fast!! So I even arrived early in Nijmegen (65km, 4hour). There I had a SUPER inspiring evening at Inspiration Shots, I met so many nice and great people. Many thanks to everyone at IS for the warm welcome and positive energy, Nils Roemen for explaining for the first time what #durftevragen actually is all about, Pieter for talking about the plastic soup, Annette for making me aware of Keep It Clean Day, Marianne for letting me sleep at her place and Jochanan for being such a curious person…

 

Inspirations Shot lived up to it's name.

 

This was the talk I did at IS (in Dutch), didn't use a microphone or lights so it's a bit dark :-)

 

 

June 5

Got invited to visit 'de Waarmakerij', which is a great place where they help people help themselves and others.

Then went to drink some tap water at Pieters place. Was nice tapwater!! Btw. I know that when using tap water I also use electricity because of the pressure to push the water up. But any alternatives (bottled water, etc…) I consider to be less environmentally friendly so I'll keep enjoying my tap water.

 

Then biked back to Utrecht with pain in my knees but a very happy spirit!!

 

June 6

Was planning to go back to R'dam, but instead I went to a #durftevragen workshop Nils invited me to at MVO Nederland, inspiring!! And after I enjoyed my time with my brother and his girlfriend...

 

June 7

Today I gave a Pecha Kucha presentation in Utrecht and of course I couldn't use the projector, so I made my own slides!! Thanks Anette for being the slideshow girl :-)

 

June 8

Surprised my parents with a visit since it was on my way home. It made them (and me) very happy!

 

June 9

Arrived back in R'dam, wanted to surprise some friends with a visit but they were all way or still sleeping (yes, that's you Gerline & Casper!!) I guess that's the disadvantage of not being able to call and check where people are. The advantage is that when I got home I got surprised by a lot of nice sweet cards from a lot of nice sweet people. Me so happy!

 

June 10

Spend a nice day with friends in the park, eating and slacklining. Via via via (tnx Annette, Dave & Jeroen) I heard that the day after I was going to talk at Stand Up Inspiration in Amsterdam. Nice!!

 

Slacklining, what's that?!

 

 

June 11

Biked to A'dam (it's getting easier), surprised my sister and spoke on Stand Up Inspiration. I really like these inspiration evenings!

 

June 12

Biked back, started reading this book about #durftevragen that Nils gave me. Super inspiring!

 

June 13

First day at work. Using the computer again without doing anything personal on it, which is difficult because it becomes so tempting to quickly check the news or something. But I managed. I do think I ate a lot more cookies then normally and that I was a lot more productive!

 

June 14

I'm very used to live without phone now, don't even bring it with me anymore in case of emergency.

 

June 15

I have the feeling I'm experiencing a little bit how it's like to be blind, especially in dark toilets and kitchens. It's funny to rely only on touch, sound and memory.

 

June 16

Tonight it's the first time I'm home alone, even though it's nice it's also confronting. There is no way to distract myself from myself, nor movies, facebook, phone. I'm alone, and unless I go out and look for somebody, I'll be alone.

 

June 17

Somehow landed in a place where people were watching the EK :-) Sadly enough the dutch lost :-(

Also did the laundry today, it was a lot of work and hopefully I'll have enough clothes for two more weeks.

 

June 18

Couldn't vacuum clean, so I did it with an old fashioned broomstick…

 

June 19

Passed by two solar companies in R'dam, but no one was home. I left notes and hopefully they'll get back to me. It would be interesting to see how much electricity I could generate myself.

 

June 20

Received and send a lot of postcards again, I am really enjoying this!

 

June 21

Had a very very relaxed day at home, time seems to slow down without electricity.

 

June 22

Had nice talks with Adi, I noticed I'm much more present when I'm with people, simply because I'm not getting any input from my phone or computer. Nothing to do, so I can just be.

 

June 23

I'm officially stressless :-)

 

June 24

Wanted to go to my parents today but it was so windy and rainy that I stayed comfortably at home instead. Will visit them on Wednesday, I promise!!

 

June 25

Did another Pecha Kucha (in English) with cardboard slides, was nice! Even though I felt like I talked a little bit fast… And got in contact with Nynke from the Hub. Sounds like an inspiring place!

 

 

June 26

Got a little tour in the Hub Rotterdam, seems like a great place where people try to make change happen and work together to do so. Inspiring!

 

June 27

Biked to my parents and back, thank god they were home!! And very happy and surprised to see me.

 

June 28

Friends were watching the game between Italy and Germany, I happened to be in the same room and enjoyed it! :-)

Ps. I admire the perseverance and dedication of the German team, they didn't give up until the end!

 

June 29

Friends were having a nice party, at some point I even go so excited from all the music I hadn't heard the whole month that I forgot about not using electricity for a second and put on one off my favorite party songs…

 

 

June 30

Last day!! I spend it at the Hubshop (very nice little shop in R'dam where they sell things from local entrepreneurs) painting swings with Swings in Holland

 

 

Tomorrow I'll probably go slowly online again. I have to say, I really enjoyed this peaceful, slow, stressless month. Wow, was like a holiday in my normal life. But I am also looking forward to talk to some people again...