“From France to Friesland: Catching Up with Laurens and Brigitte’s Moving Adventure”

After leaving France and Germany behind, we see how Laurens and Brigitte leave for sunny Spain in 2020. But in 2023 we meet them at a campsite in Friesland. Have they now reached their final destination?

Update Brigitte and Laurens – Fryslan Boppe

Never thought we would buy a campsite in Friesland! But after being unable to do anything for too long due to the corona measures that were in place at the time, we decided to return to the Netherlands.

Actually, this is the highlight

And how beautiful it is here too. The sheep and horses that surround the campsite. The huge pond where ducks and fish swim. The forest strip where rabbits and squirrels roam. The deer and hares that come out at dusk. And the enormous amount of birds that fly around here and make themselves heard. We enjoy a lot. We like living here. Closer to the children and grandchildren, nice people around us in a place where it is beautiful every season.

The guests enjoy with us. Everyone who comes here is pleasantly surprised at how beautiful and peaceful it is here. The Frisian Woods are not yet very touristy and therefore suitable for peace seekers and nature lovers.

And we continue to build happily. We renovate houses, maintain a huge piece of land, chop wood, mow grass, offer Pilates lessons and take care of all the animals that live here. Running the campsite is great fun. In the winter we rent out a few cottages and we have more time for ourselves and to do odd jobs for the company. In the summer we rent out more cottages, receive campers and spend a lot of time with the guests.

Brigitte makes it up and I carry it out

Laurens

Where will we be in five years?

First, we’re going to make a wonderful company here. And by the time we sell the campsite, I, Brigitte, will start a foundation.

“My dream is to make the world a little more beautiful with a nice start-up capital.”

I don’t believe in charities where a lot of money stays with the organization. I believe in filling trucks with building materials, going there yourself and building with a group. Setting up castration projects for stray dogs. Providing villages with wells. Lots of traveling and building. But first a nice run of our campsite.

And then start that beautiful foundation, a foundation in honor of our wonderful sheepdog. The alpha bitch who could lead the whole group. She deserves it. And the world too.

Love, Laurens and Brigitte

⇒ Watch follow-up broadcast May 20, 2023

Update 18-12-2020 Laurens and Brigitte in Spain

After the opening, which you could see on TV, we received a few sporty groups. The applications came in, no lack of interest, until we ended up in a lockdown. Being locked up on your property for a hundred days, without guests, family and friends, is not conducive to having fun in your company. In Spain, only supermarkets, tobacconists and pharmacies were open. It was not possible to get materials from a hardware store and we quickly finished the jobs we could do.

Code Orange

When Spain reopened its borders in June, we immediately received guests and registrations for the retreats again. But from the moment the Netherlands gave code orange to Spain, everything was canceled again. However, Spanish and French guests continued to visit us who were enthusiastic about the special place. But that was not the intention of our company. We think rental is too passive. We would like to organize the retreats and sports weeks for guests; being busy with a group, making healthy meals and letting people enjoy sports. With all the restrictions due to the measures imposed, we cannot put that here.

Farewell to La Rocca Dorada

After travel was made impossible again, we were done! We sold our house and are now busy packing for the move. Together with the dogs we will soon be on our way to Germany, where we will stay for the coming time. We have all the papers with us, but we don’t know if we can drive on the French motorway during the curfew. So that might be sleeping in a parking lot.

We are looking for a location closer to the Netherlands so that we are more accessible for the sport and the yoga weeks. We will remain active on our Facebook page and website and keep you informed of our new plans.

We are thankful that we lived in a dream place

It’s sad that it turned out this way. No one could have imagined that the whole world would go mad. We are thankful that we lived in a dream place. Walking on the rocks, watching the birds of prey in the sky and listening to the silence around us, we know that this is one of the most beautiful places.

To be continued… Greetings, Laurens and Brigitte

Update 20-12-2020

Son Han leaves the following message on Facebook: Nice all those positive reactions!

“Unfortunately, due to the corona virus, everything turned out differently than expected. Tourism in Spain has completely collapsed and has become a very uncertain sector. Uncertainty there cannot be built up and it is not known when tourism will pick up again. After the recordings (December 2019) Laurens and my mother became grandparents, Karlijn gave birth to a healthy son in July and a week later I also became a father. Beautiful moments that unfortunately cannot be shared with each other due to the lockdown. Europe is small and everything has always been easy to get to. But now with the borders closed, the distance is greater than you think…”

And Brigitte adds: “we languished from loneliness, no one comes to Spain because another pcr test is now needed. We cannot receive guests and do not see any change. The region’s borders are closed, so Spaniards can “Now we can’t travel freely either. We would like to organize the sports weeks and retreats and also want to be able to see the children, friends and family. Being inaccessible due to all measures and not being able to run the company breaks us down. And a company does need income.”