Illustration: Henk van Ruitenbeek Text: Redactie Resource
Dianne Smits, BSc student of Food Technology
‘I had a number of holiday options but nothing planned. I could go with my parents, or with friends from back home — we always organize everything a bit last minute. I also had a plan to do something with my student house, for example a weekend hitchhiking. And our KSV drinking club (KSV= Catholic Student Society, ed.) wanted to go to Sziget, a big festival in Hungary. None of that will be going ahead, of course. In retrospect I’m pleased we hadn’t booked anything. My only plan now is to promote KSV during the AID week. I’m not sure yet how we will be doing that but our society can play a nice role in that week. I will also be working as much as possible.’
Jaap van Raffe, Forestry Management researcher at WENR, in his free time GPS and geocaching fan and organizer of GPS trips
‘I am busy setting up a GPS hiking trail across the Veluwe. It will be a six-day hike from campsite to campsite, through nature wherever possible with as little contact with other people as possible. No, not straight through the woods. We keep to the rules, which means sticking to the paths. But you can still roam across the Kootwijkerzand area. The trail was actually prompted by the coronavirus crisis. We normally do a lot of walks abroad, but that’s not possible now. We have been working on the route for a couple of months. We have walked individual sections. The daily distances are about 20 km. We start in Wageningen, walk to Otterlo, De Hoge Veluwe park and Kootwijkerzand and end up in Nunspeet. A total of 120 km. The route will be published on a dedicated website I will be creating later this year.’
Sofia Wolfswinkel, MSc student of Management, Economics & Consumer Studies
‘I wanted to go on holiday with my boyfriend this summer but that wasn’t certain anyway because we both had internships planned. Now I will be doing an internship in The Hague in August; I’ve already moved there. So there is plenty for me to discover here in the Netherlands and I don’t feel the same need to go abroad. I might visit somewhere in the Netherlands for a few days because there are so many lovely spots I’ve never been to. I wouldn’t feel comfortable travelling further afield even if it is allowed. Anyway, I’m a creature of habit. Being at home so much gives me more of a routine, which only makes me happier. Even so, I miss my friends and spontaneous trips to bars, but those are luxury problems given all that is going on.’
Guido Camps, lecturer in Nutrition and Health
‘I was supposed to be going on holiday this week to Normandy with my in-law, wife and two children — a third is on the way — but that was cancelled. Instead we are spending a weekend with the in-laws in a holiday cottage in the Netherlands. There is also a plan to spend the first two weeks of August with my entire family — my parents, two brothers, sister and their families and us — in a large house in France. I am hopeful it will go ahead. It’s a huge country house in a remote location with its own swimming pool so we won’t be among the crowds. We organized this holiday a year ago. You never know whether the coronavirus epidemic will flare up again — if it does, we have a problem.’
Lea Esser, International Office employee
‘I have no idea what I’ll be doing this summer, whether I’ll carry on working or take some leave. I normally travel to Asia with my family but fortunately we hadn’t pre-booked anything. I don’t think we’ll be going this year. Perhaps a week in Austria if that’s possible and allowed. We normally always go there for our winter break but my daughter suggested it for our summer holiday. But if there’s nothing you can do there, that’s not much fun either. So I might end up spending two weeks on leave at home. Then I’ll stay in the house and the garden and perhaps put up a mini-swimming pool. You can complain about not being able to get away but it is what it is. I’m not afraid of the virus but I don’t put myself at risk either. I won’t be joining the crowds on the banks of the Rhine, for example.’
Cor Meurs, HR project manager
‘We are taking a house in Friesland for a week this summer. It’s on the water’s edge with a boat outside the door. I prefer not to go far on holiday anyway, and certainly not to fly, mainly for sustainability reasons. There are lots of lovely places in the Netherlands. I’m going with my husband, our two daughters and their mothers. We shall have to see how it works with the rules, as we are a combined family. Our daughters live with their mothers, who are a couple too, and my husband and I live together. So officially we shouldn’t be all staying together in one house, because we form two separate households. When rules have been set, I think you should stick to them. On the other hand, all the campsites are reopening and you share the washing facilities there with a lot of different people, so then you can share a house too.’