Island rhythm: wadden island Vlieland, a photo diary

June 1, 2017

Finally I’m back! Vlieland, my refuge in a hectic life. Everything about a visit to this wadden island radiates peace. The trip with the ferry gives me the feeling that I’m leaving the world behind. It’s easy to leave all worries, noise and chaos behind when you see the mainland becoming smaller and smaller. On an island the real world seems so far away. ‘Nothing in life is as important as you think it is, while you are thinking about it’, I read in a book by Daniel Kahneman. He is right and only this thought helps me to recharge, even before I put my first steps on the island. But why do I need an island trip to really feel this? On Vlieland, the dogs immediately run to the cottage I’m renting for years now. I put down my bags and climb the dune. There she is again, the endless sea. I’m home.

This little island is so familiar, but yet always different. The tide always changes. All seasons are beautiful here. And all weather types are good, sun, rain, thunder. The sea nourishes your soul in all circumstances. Life is at ease with an ocean breeze and I am able to see the big perspective again. I hear the voice of the island; the wind and the waves rushing endlessly on the shore. I listen to the gulls and I talk to the seal that swims with me as I walk along the beach. Every time I pick up a beautiful shell, I look up to see if he is still there. Would it be the last year’s seal? Here it’s easy to go with the flow. To follow the rhythm of the island.

A wonderful routine creates itself. Nothing is a must and everything is a possibility: a long beach walk, taking too many photos of the beautiful colors of the sunrise. After breakfast I edit some photos from my previous travels before I go for a 10k run with my dogs. After we ran upon the Vuurboets Dune, it’s time for a second breakfast. I take some quiet hours to write my new book and then it’s time to go to the forest for a dog walk. After lunch I take my bike to rediscover the island. What remained the same and what changed? Back in the cottage I work on the many photos I took strolling on the island and after dinner it’s time for a beach walk again. I get lost in a good book and later when the sun goes down, I climb the dune again to take pictures of an other spectacular sunset.

The rhythm of the island. A rhythm I can get used to.