It’s impossible to capture my daily office of the last 8 years in one picture: palm trees, white beaches, turquoise waters, wind, sun and loads of fun. Beach bleached blond curly hair, long brown legs, daily kitesurf sessions and, at least 8 guests per week around me to guide and coach. A dream came true!
After living as a nomad for 8 years straight, +/- 300 days per year, with even flying from an extreme snow kite camp in Finland (-17c) to a sailing yacht on the turquoise waters of the Grenadines (+38c) in one day…. These and all other memories will have a spot in my heart forever.
Oceanbirdz in numbers: 21 destinations, 68 camps, 31 weekend/day events, 207 camp weeks, 2131 guests, 21 nationalities, 7 private custom camps, 5 magazine articles, 1 television interview, 19 coaches/ colleagues, countless progression sessions, 300 tubes of sunscreen, 23 bikini’s…; well, for sure the best chapter of my life, there are no words to express my office for many years, but…. 2022 will be the final year of Oceanbirdz as a travel agency… Say what?! Yes… It’s time for a new ‘chapter’, which will focus more on a balanced quiet life and a home base at one spot.
After traveling the world to explore beautiful deserted spots and trying my best to perfectly organize all the details of every progression camp I did, my goal was to search for the ultimate spot to stay and build up my own accommodation. Guess what? The search brought me back ‘home’; to the coastline of the Netherlands. Funny, as I would have never expected, but it did surprise me in many positive ways, I missed the simple things over here and of course my friends, family, and spending time with the ones I love.
Living my dream, that’s for sure what I did and will continue to do: being able to live from the wind sounds awesome and it is, but it also contains many lonely moments, especially during the last 3 years. Traveling became more complicated, guests became more demanding and the sport moves away from passionate life, culture & nature lovers to a trendy and fast-growing ‘hobby’, which doesn’t always match with who I am as a coach and human being overall.
For sure Covid-19 gave me a hard time, but we survived and are still a healthy travel company with many requests daily. Being forced to stay in the Netherlands, made me realize this is the place where I do feel at home, balanced and happy… Although, I do admit a bit more sun and some palm trees wouldn’t harm ;).
An often-asked question: why don’t you sell the company or find a new chief commander? Well, I tried… and I spoke to many options the past years, but I do believe the heart of this company is based on passion and love and I didn’t succeed in finding someone that keeps the spirit alive, can take over as an entrepreneur, knows how to coach, treats everyone with love and patient, but most of all keep the groups and camps small, instead of becoming a huge ‘ fabric’. That is why it feels best to close the book and keep the memories the way they are. Who knows, I might organize a reunion trip once or twice….
Yes, we will stay frequent travelers and kiteboarders, but for now, it will turn back into a passionate hobby, instead of my profession… And as you all know, I still like to give some tips & tricks, preferably during the weekend and combined with a nice beer afterward.
Oceanbirdz will organize our annual Dakhla Camps from 30/04 till 16/05 and two of our kite safari’s in Brazil (November 22) before we close down. Both camps got some last spots left and are only bookable via hello@oceanbirdz.com, as we want to give our frequent travelers a fair chance to enjoy our coaching, sun, fun, and wind one more time. So, sign up fast, as we won’t expand this time ;)
I will miss all the fun, lovely guests, and adventures. I would like to thank all my partners, coaches, and most of all, my beloved travelers for this amazing journey! A super special hug to Ozone (Kitekings), Kelly Schouten, and Paul, without you guys it wouldn’t have been the same…
Don’t forget to sign up for the 2022 camps and all others:
We always reply asap, if we aren't outside playing with wind and water. Don't worry we will get back to you within 24hours. Let's plan your upcoming kiteboard camps. :)
