North Holland 2024 – out to the sea and back along the Rhine

Start: Darup, where the adventure still smelled of fresh country air Outbound: via Enkhuizen and Amsterdam all the way to the North Sea Return: chasing the Rhine, always heading home It began quite unspectacularly in Darup, out in the countryside, with the bike and the vague idea of just riding to the sea. From there it was on into the Netherlands: first the tranquil, waterside town of Enkhuizen, then Amsterdam, which didn't even try to seem calm – canals, bicycle bells and more bustle than you really need from the saddle. And then the North Sea. Wide beaches, wind that finished off whatever was left of our hair, and that feeling of having arrived – even though the longest part still lay ahead of us. Because the way back wasn't the same route, but along the Rhine – leisurely upstream, kilometer after kilometer, following the great river home. Every leg had its own tone: the quiet of the fields, the hustle of the city, the roar of the sea and the calm gliding along the river. In the end, what remained was exactly what you set out for – a few images, a few stories and the certainty that it had been worth it.