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Books I Love

When I'm not talking to people or sleeping, I'm most likely reading a book in a park. If the weather allows that. Here's an incomplete list of books I've enjoyed while on the road. The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa During a catsit in the Netherlands, I picked up this strategically placed book from the shelf. I read it over the following weeks between sessions of building a cardboard cat castle. It's partially written from the perspective of a cat named Nana, the successor of a cat named Hachi to the owner Satoru's first cat from childhood. As adults, Satoru and Nana go on a road trip through Japan from Tokyo and Mount Fuji to Fukuoka in the south and Hokkaido in the far north. Nana loves the journey through Japan and meets Satoru's friends from school till college, as well as their pets. Without saying too much, it's a bittersweet story that left me sobbing at several points.… Read more >
Sion Valère Basilica from Tourbillon Castle

Two Days in Sion, Valais (Switzerland)

Iris Veldwijk

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

Avakas Gorge hiking trail in December Cyprus Paphos Pegeia Peyia

Avakas Gorge Nature Trail: A Popular Canyon Hike near Paphos

Iris Veldwijk

We did this touristy hike on the 30th of December, 2023. Despite traveling to the Avakas Gorge in the low season, it was rather busy Driving to and Parking at the Avakas Gorge The day before, Jonas and I did some shallow research into doing the Avakas Gorge hike. As we were doing a catsit in the mountains near Paphos, we had access to the pet parents’ car. Normally, we would do such a trip with public transport, hitchhiking, or not at all when the internet says it’s too touristy. If we’d done it by bus, we would have gottenContinue reading

accommodation in Serbia featured photo Airbnb Booking apartments digital nomad lifestyle Balkans Europe

Accommodation in Serbia: From Apatin to Novi Sad, Belgrade, and Golubac

Iris Veldwijk

What to expect of accommodation in Serbia as a digital nomad and/or comfortable kayaker? We stayed in Serbia from roughly the 28th of March till the18th of May, 2024. These are the places we booked to both work online from and rest on our off days during the Danube Kayak trip. Apatin: Pegasus Apartments Duration: 5 nights. Book Pegaz Apartmanhere on Booking We arrived at the apartment much later than expected after kayaking with a headwind all day and then waiting for a taxi. Luckily, it was self-check-in. This apartment was in an unassuming building from the outside, besides theContinue reading

Accommodation in the Faroe Islands Faroes featured photo houses apartments in Vágar Miðvágur Tvøroyri Suðuroy Trongisvágur Tórshavn Streymoy Smyril Line Norönna ship cabin

Accommodation in the Faroe Islands: Vágar, Suðuroy, Tórshavn + Smyril Line

Iris Veldwijk

What to expect from accommodation in the Faroe Islands as a digital nomad? We booked these places during a nine an eight-day trip to this Atlantic archipelago. We were in the Faroes between the 9th and the 17th of October, 2025. Then we took the ferry from the Faroese capital Tórshavn to Hirtshals in Denmark and had a cabin aboard the Smyril Line. Here’s where we stayed on the islands of Vágar, Suðuroy, and Streymoy, plus tips on how to avoid the booking mistakes we made! Miðvágur, Vágar: Wonderful Apartment Overlooking the Fjord ⭐ Duration: two nights We had originallyContinue reading

Danube kayak trip day 75 Ruse to Tutrakan Bulgaria kayaking Giurgiu bridge Romania 1000 kilometers paddled

Kayak Trip Day 75: Ruse to Tutrakan – New Kayak Sail + 1000 Kilometers Paddled

Iris Veldwijk

This kayak day happened on the 4th of July, 2024. We paddled away from the city Ruse where we had stayed for 10 days. It was more than 60 kilometers to Tutrakan, also in Bulgaria. Though we’d initially planned a two-night stop in Tutrakan, we ended up shortening it to one night because of the weather forecast. Departing Ruse After 10 Days of Rest My alarm went off at 4:40. I was nervous and excited at the same time to get back to kayaking after 10 days of rest. Was it too much? Maybe. But we were waiting for aContinue reading

Using My Content

Hey there! This page is about the things you can do if you found something cool on my website. I work incredibly hard to make Mind of a Hitchhiker a blog full of entertaining, unique, and high-quality content. Here are some tips on how to link to my articles from your website and how to reference or quote text that's on my blog. If you see a cool and unique photo on this blog, I also wrote something for you. Linking to Content on Mind of a Hitchhiker Awesome! I'd love a link from your website. If you're recommending my blog to people, you can add a URL in your post to my website so people can come and visit. Just copy https://mindofahitchhiker.com and paste it in your link editor. Alternatively, use HTML: <a href="http://mindofahitchhiker.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mind of a Hitchhiker</a> If you're recommending a particular blog post, it's also nice to put a link directly to that article. For example,… Read more >
tragedy strikes kitten rescue porto portugal

Tragedy Strikes – Kitten Rescue in Portugal, Part IV

Iris Veldwijk

Part IV: Downfall & Death This series of posts is mostly a way for me to process the trauma of going through this tragedy. If you’re expecting happy travel content, this ain’t it. This story is number 4 in a series of 5. To read it chronologically, start at Part I, Part II, or Part III. Here you can find the subsequent stories about rescuing a kitten in Porto, Portugal: Part V. Back to Normal (July 16, Continued) We say goodbye to Jan, who is leaving for Germany or something like that. It’s still morning, and Jonas and I are about to haveContinue reading

Walk + Work the Dutch coastline North Sea the Netherlands hiking trip beach

Walk + Work the Dutch Coastline: the Idea, Long-Distance Hiking Preparations, and Interactive Map

Iris Veldwijk

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