zaterdag 8 maart 2014

Why the Nomads Bus?

This Why the Nomads Bus? is written on Let's be Nomads.


Tim was sound asleep while I was going trough my Facebook newsfeed and clicked on the “Livin’ Tiny: A Quest For Powder” video my uncle sent me. While I was watching the video something clicked in my head, it felt like a puzzle piece just found its place. Watching the video reminded me of my favourite thing in the entire world, the only thing that gets me out of bed in the early hours, to stoked to sleep: fresh snow. A few weeks before I saw this inspiring video, we had come up with a plan to create a hostel on wheels and drive it through the Americas. So, my next thought was why not combine the two; a hostel on wheels and snow? Why not do what we love to do most?


To be honest, even though we do feel the need to have a home that we don’t have to carry on our backs all the time, we’re not ready to settle in one place just yet. Most of all because we have no idea where. I fell in love with Canada when I did my first winter season there, Tim feels his home is in Val Tho where he spent 10 winters, and we both feel that there are so many other options out there to be explored.


During our travels we are constantly confronted with pictures of friends riding pow on Facebook and try to watch all of the big snowboarding contests. We are having the time of our lives in Central-America, but whenever we can we choose to be in the colder mountains, away from the heat, preferably watching the Dew Tour and already dreaming about our next season in the snow.


Don’t get me wrong, I am having a blast during this whole journey, but I discovered my greatest passion by walking away from it. I discovered that I’m not a part of the hippy culture even though I love baggy pants and managed to get one (let’s keep it mellow) dread in my hear. I am, and am proudly to say so, part of the snowboarding culture.


Another thing I have learned during this journey is that a culture is like a family, it’s one of the many stickers we wear. Hippies for example, seen as the free people of this world, are also wearing a sticker, they might not be wearing fancy brands but they all have the same style, they love the same kind of music and they make each other happy. Because that’s what cultures are all about; no matter where you are in the world, when you meet someone who wears the same sticker there is an instant and real connection. You share the most important thing in the world: the same passion, whether it’s fighting for peace, riding the best lines of your lives or dancing around a bonfire like pirates with a bottle of rum, it doesn’t matter.


This is why we are creating the Nomads Bus and are more stoked than ever. Our original idea was to do our first winter tour in the US and Canada, cruising through the rockies and along the powder highway, but as Europeans this was very hard to realise, especially due to liability issues in the US and Canada. But to every downside, there is an upside and if it wasn’t for all the rules stopping us from realising our project in North America, we would have never thought about trying to get this off the ground in Europe. A change of plans that actually made us happy, it made us realise how much we loved the idea to be closer to our families and friends while still living a nomadic life and chasing pow.


Creating a project like this, feeling like an entrepreneur, has given me more motivation than any challenge I ever put up for myself. That night when the puzzle piece fell into place I knew that this is what I’m supposed to do, so challenges come get me, I am sure there are many of you to come, but I’ll conquer you one at a time. Nah.


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