So this is how this 'Columbus' must have felt. Sailing the Seine, I found a spot that did not exist.
Children in the Netherlands (I know this because I grew up in the Netherlands) are taught that a certain Spaniard named Columbus one day went out sailing in his sailboat. After a few days, he discovered land. That turned out to be America. The remarkable thing about this story is that people were already there, and so they were quite surprised when this man stepped onto land and claimed to be the one who had discovered it. "Hey, buddy, how do you think we got here? We were already here when you arrived with your boat, weren't we? So, whoa, 'I discovered this land.'" Every year, this is taught in history classes at school, and we swallow it whole. It's said that Santa Claus exists too. Children are frightened for the first seven years of their lives, only to discover they've been lied to. By the people you should be able to trust most: your parents. So, from that age on, it's time to take everything they tell you with a grain of salt and do your own research. The latter is the reason why I am making this trip anyway.
Back to Columbus. I also discovered new land today. It didn't exist when I was preparing for this trip, and now that I've arrived with my boat, I've discovered it. Starting in 2026, my story will also be shared in history lessons at schools.
In Summer of 2023 I had the plan to sail from The Netherlands, to Belgium and then to England to visit London. But 2023 brought a Summer full of hard wind and bad weather, so I had to cancel that plan.
In beginning of 2025, I introduced the plan to sail motorvessel Lady Liselot to The Med, The Mediterranean. Since this trawler yacht has an airdraft of 5.3m with the mast down, I can only reach The Med, by sea or by the river Danube. I decided to pick the most challenging route: Via The North Sea, The Channel, which later becomes The Atlantic Ocean.
But, that brave decission caused a lot of stress in my head, causing weeks of procrastination.
Weeks became months.
BUT, on one point in August 2025, I decided: "F*CK IT, JUST DO IT".
All this also caused that I decided not to produce any longform videos. The footage is there, but whilst travelling, I want to be in the journey and not being a content producer.
Part of my procrastination is the 'fear' of not knowing what will happen when I arrive somewhere. I claim I am searching for new destinations, but that sentence is way, way out of my comfort zone. Because of my ASS, new destinations always create underlying stress. The problem is that I often have 10 scenarios planned out in my head, which then turn out to be completely inaccurate in practice.
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So this is how this 'Columbus' must have felt. Sailing the Seine, I found a spot that did not exist.
