Here we go!

A long time ago we tried to travel to China. It must have been somewhere in May 1999 and we were backpacking through South East Asia. Our plan was to travel from Vietnam into China and take the Trans-Siberia train back to Europe. As we learned already then, travel is about flexibility and dealing with ever changing situations. Because, while we were happily exploring the rice fields, far away in Europe the Chinese embassy in Belgrade got bombed by NATO by accident during the Kosovo war. As a response, China closed its boarders for foreigners from US and Europe. And so we traveled into Laos instead, made great friends along the way and forgot all about it.

Since then we have visited friends in Hong Kong a few times, but we never got back to our original plan and never visited mainland China.
But now, finally, it looks like it’s happening!

The past few months have been a lot about dealing with change, with disappointment, frustration and loads and loads of uncertainty. At times we had to bend our minds in the most lenient directions to stay positive, and to keep optimistic that our adventure would eventually pick up again. And now it finally does! With less then 2 hours before boarding, our bags are packed and checked-in and we are ready, so ready to go. A last coffee with my father and Anneke in the sun, enjoying the last minutes of fresh air.

What will happen in the coming 2 weeks, we have no idea of. Again we will need to be flexible and go with the flow during our 2 weeks of quarantine. Luckily we became quite the expert in that matter.
What we do know: we will be in separate hotel rooms for 2 weeks, we are not allowed to leave the room at all during these times and we will be tested and temperature will be monitored ongoing. We will undergo it all as our minds are set for new adventures.

So now we can finally, FINALLY say: Yalla, yalla, let’s go!

See y'all!