Meet Karin-Marijke – Full-time Slow Traveler

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”
~Henry Miller

Through this blog I’d like to inspire you to:

  • Travel unhurriedly and allow the world to show itself on its own terms.
  • Connect with your surroundings – with people, food, climate, nature, animals, culture.
  • Be mindful of what you do, without fear and with an open mind for the unexpected.

From Fast Travel to Slow Travel

Fast travel is common to many of us: running around to see all the capitals of Europe, climbing the highest mountain on each continent, spotting each type of wildlife in the Amazon, or visiting every single temple of the Angkor Wat Complex (good luck: there are about one hundred).

In my previous life, vacations used to be all about doing as much as possible and I had a great time doing precisely that.

When Coen and I left the rat race in 2003 and set off to drive to Asia in an antique Land Cruiser, we ‘discovered’ slow travel, even though the term ‘slow travel’ was alien to us at the time.

We soon found more pleasure in staying in places and connecting with people than trying to see and do ‘it’ all. As Coen can so aptly describe it:

To experience the journey with all our senses: to feel the place, to smell the air, to taste the food, to see the sights but also what’s behind those hidden corners, and to hear the music, the cacophony of local life, or nature’s silence.

~Coen Wubbels

Slow Travelers by Car – Driving around the World

Coen and I left the Netherlands taking one guidebook and two maps, and with a​ vague plan to drive east as far as the Asian continent would allow us. During those first 3,5 years we traveled from Europe to Southeast Asia and found a new way of life.

Since then we’ve driven to all 13 countries in South America (which took 9 years), South Korea & Japan (2 years), and we are currently in North and Central Asia – Russia, Mongolia, and the Stan Countries (May 2020).

To travel by car has been one of our best decisions ever. It provides us with some sort of comfort zone and gives us the freedom to travel and spend the night wherever we want. The Land Cruiser BJ45 has 90 square feet of space to sleep and live inside in case of rain or cold. We mostly cook outside (when we are not eating out). Nature provides our bathroom, taking many of our baths/showers in rivers and lakes.

Slow Travelers on Foot – Long-distance Hiking

In between we like to hike, for a day, a weekend, long-distance. We have hiked a couple of long-distance trails: The Baekdu-Daegan in South Korea, the Jordan Trail, the Israel National Trail, and the Carian Trail in Turkey.

Hiking is a totally different way of seeing and experiencing the world. You travel slower, it’s physically (and often mentally) more challenging. Hiking not something to do for 17 years on end, like our overland journey, but a great way to alternate long road trips.

Slow Travel Stories & Photos – Publications

Our articles and photos have been published in various magazines around the world.

A sample:

  • 4WD/Car magazines: 4WD Magazine (the Netherlands), Auto Bild Allrad (Germany), Toyota Trails (U.S.), and OutdoorX4 (U.S.).
  • Overland / Travel / Food magazines: Overland Journal (U.S.), Expedition Portal, Explorer Magazin (Germany), BBC TravelAtlas ObscuraPaste Magazine, and Fodors.
  • Find our list of published work here.

Interested in our articles and photos?

Let us know!

Let’s Share our Notes on Slow Travel

While Coen and I chronicle our ongoing overland journey on Landcruisingadventure.com, Notes on Slow Travel is an outlet where I share my musings and destinations/activities that particularly fit the slow-travel narrative.

Feel free to reach out and share your tips or experiences in a comment section of this blog or in a message.

You can also find me on FacebookPinterest, and Landcruisingadventure.com.

Enjoy the world through Slow Travel!

17 thoughts on “About”

  1. Karin-Marijke ~ I love the new blog and I think your coining of the term “slow travel” hits a perfect spot with many people. We’ve been following yours and Coen’s adventures for several years now on the old .NL site and your new .com site. You are both our heroes (I know, overused term, but in this case its true!) and we hope someday to cut the rest of our ties and follow in your footsteps. Thank you for being “out there” for all of us!
    Our Best ~ Jeff and Shawna Kinsman (in Italy)

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  2. You and Coen are an inspiration. We hope to travel around South America in a few years time and also love to explore and hike the roads less travelled. Thank you for all the beautiful photographs and useful information. A wonderful site.

    Reply
    • Thanks for your kind words. Feel free to email us with questions for your trip to South America. We’re happy to help travelers out in whatever way we can. Another source may be our other website: landcruisingadventure.com where we have lots of practical info on South America as well.

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  3. I immensely enjoy your blogs and philosophy. We live a short life and we can extend this short life pleasures by traveling slowww….. Hope to see you on the road soon.

    Karl

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  4. where are you now? why no more stories… we are in a new 2015… let us know about your life now… i love you slow travel… 🙂

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  5. lucky to have come across your blog,I am backpacking solo across South America and further ,as long as the road appeals to me.Though clueless about what I want to see and do ,I just stay open and let travel happen.”The earth is spread so beautifully ahead welcoming dared footsteps”,that’s all I keep telling myself.It would be wonderful to get an opportunity to meet you during my travels here.May many many more beauties of the world unfold along your journey!

    Reply
    • Thanks. Just let me know if you have any questions about where (not) to go. Will be happy to help you out. Our other website, landcruisingadventure.com, may also be a good source on places to go. Enjoy your trip!

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  6. You do what many of us only dream of doing. I admire folks who have the grit to follow another path than the majority of “sheeple”. Maybe that’s why I love hiking so much – it’s a brief though tangible disconnect from the rat race. At 60 years young, I still dream of doing what you guys do. At least for now, through your website I get to live it vicariously. Thanks for the website and blessings you guys in your travels!

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  7. Hello Karin & Coen, I love your slow travel idea. Since both of you started it in 2003, hope that I can learn more by subscribing to your blog. And I do follow Landcruising Adventure too. Thanks.

    Reply

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