It all started with a cat named Monday. At least, that’s what we called her. And after finding a forever home for her, we wanted to have more cats in our lives without the drama and the tears. More happy stories of beloved felines that receive regular veterinary care. Fewer stories of kittens discarded on a hiking trail or born in a colony on a rooftop. Just taking care of cats for a few days or weeks or months and then handing back the responsibility to their pet parents who missed them dearly and are grateful for the help. ThatContinue reading
Author: Iris Veldwijk
Four Days in the Aosta Valley (Italy)
Between two catsits in Geneva, Switzerland, and The Hague, the Netherlands, we took the bus from Geneva to Aosta in Italy. Aosta is the capital of the autonomous Aosta Valley region, which is bilingual (Italian and French). From the 30th of May till the 3rd of June, we spent four incredible days in the Aosta Valley. We used the city of Aosta as a base for day trips to the surrounding villages. Plotting Our Trip + Bus Ride from Geneva to Aosta But First, Pizza + Gnocchi I don’t know man, but we got off the bus, saw some stuffContinue reading
Two Days in Sion, Valais (Switzerland)
Between two catsits in Geneva from the 22nd till 24th of May, 2023, we took the train to Sion in the Canton of Valais (German: Wallis) of Switzerland. We spent two wonderful days in the town and the surrounding villages before hitchhiking back to Genthod, Geneva. Planning our Visit to Sion I really wanted to visit more parts of Switzerland that I hadn’t been to before. Jonas and I had successfully visited the (unofficial) capital Bern a week earlier and had a lot of fun. Our schedule in Switzerland was very tight, with commitments to take care of people’s catsContinue reading
One Day in Bern: Bundeshaus, Bridges, and Bears
After hitchhiking from Freiburg im Breisgau to Bern, we had half a day plus one night’s stay in the Swiss capital. The next day, we departed Bern toward Geneva by train for a catsit. Bern Ticket: Free Public Transit in Bern by Staying One Night When we booked our hotel in Bern a week before going, we received an email from our hotel that explained the Bern Ticket. It’s a ticket for free public transportation in the city for the duration of your stay. The email explained to us how to get it. There are two ways: Download the BernContinue reading
Hitchhiking to Bern from Freiburg im Breisgau—Jonas’ First Time in Switzerland
All this happened on Wednesday the 17th of May, 2023. We kissed Moritz goodbye after catsitting him for two weeks in Freiburg im Breisgau. We walked to a hitchhiking spot to travel from Germany to Switzerland. Jonas hadn’t been to Switzerland before and we were both excited to go hitchhiking to Bern. Doing the Research for Hitchhiking to Bern During our stay in Freiburg, Jonas and I had to decide how to get from the catsit of Moritz in Germany to the one in Switzerland. I really wanted to hitchhike and I really wanted to visit Switzerland’s de facto capitalContinue reading
Walk + Work Day 1: Vlissingen to Westkapelle
This hiking day happened on the 16th of March. On our first day of traversing the Dutch coastline, we walked from the city of Vlissingen to the village of Westkapelle on the island of Walcheren. This ended up being a 16.2-kilometer hike. Departing Vlissingen: Meeting the Paalhoofden Though we aimed to leave Hotel De Concurrent at 8:30, it was only at 8:50 that we walked across Bellamypark through some small streets to the waterfront. We walked on the seawall past people on their morning routine going to work while walking out of the city. At the restaurant near the windContinue reading
Walk + Work the Dutch Coastline: the Idea, Long-Distance Hiking Preparations, and Interactive Map
After traveling by hitchhiking for long distances and kayaking a generous portion of the Danube, we felt it was time to return to the basics: feet. As Jonas and I were both born able-bodied, walking was our very first mode of transportation as little shitlings. And now we’d like to experience traveling on foot for a bit. But because our fitness levels for hiking are atrocious, we decided to make the first long-distance hike something easy and flat: the Dutch coastline. Here’s how we planned for this trip. Mind of a Hiker While traveling in parts of Asia, Europe, andContinue reading
How to Get an Ethiopian SIM Card
We arrived in Ethiopia on the 26th of January, 2023 and immediately bought an Ethiopian SIM card at the airport. Here’s our experience and how you can get mobile data in Addis Ababa and beyond. Ethio Telecom Monopoly Doing the research on what SIM card to buy in Ethiopia was simple; there’s only one company. Ethio Telecom (ኢትዮ ቴሌኮም – pronounced ītiyo tēlēkomi) is a government-owned provider. Though this makes things easier than in Madagascar, there’s also a risk that the government sets the price too high. Luckily, this turns out not to be the case in Ethiopia, asContinue reading
Ethiopian Food and Drink I Scarfed Down as a Vegetarian in 30 Days
As a traveling vegetarian, Ethiopia is quite an easy country to visit. Many national dishes are vegetarian or vegan. These are the Ethiopian food and drinks I wolfed down during my one-month stay in Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar, and Lalibela. How to Find Out Which Ethiopian Foods are Vegetarian? Ever since the start of our journey of learning about Ethiopian food, we’ve used this handy glossary to figure out what’s what. I use ctrl + F or page search to find out which dishes are veg. We basically started with the beyayenetu (በያይነቱ – meaning ‘variety’), which is vegetarian unlessContinue reading