Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stephanie Van Hoeijen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Stephanie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I am a traveler at heart. Traveling is not just something I “like to do”, it is who I am. It shapes my entire life and guides and determines every single aspect.

I was raised and drilled to have a career, to be successful. My entire childhood and young adult life built up to my university education and glorious entry into the job market, which I eagerly worked towards as a disciplined student. My graduation felt like a drum roll, and then… nothing. I looked around me. This is it? This is what I am supposed to do with the rest of my life until retirement? Zero excitement, full-on routine? It didn’t feel like me at all, it felt like copying the life that was meant for others. It wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t feel great either. And shouldn’t life be great, as we have only one?

So I stopped following society-driven expectations and quite it all. My fulltime job, my back-then long-term relationship, the rent of my apartment… even my material possessions. I grabbed what I could carry and took off. Somewhere, anywhere. Initially to find my place in this world. Soon enough, however, I realised there isn’t just one place for me. Everywhere is my place. The constant movement and change of horizons is what keeps my sharp and in love with life. Can’t stop, won’t stop. Gotta keep on keeping on, both a blessing and a curse. I realised I don’t need a whole lot of money. I spent about 25% of my initial life costs, as I suddenly didn’t have to pay rent, utilties, a car, or in most countries even health insurance. I didn’t buy anything unless I truly needed it, because I have to carry it all on my back, so less is by all means more. The little money that I needed to live was easily gathered, be it with little side hussles or with seasonal jobs in tourism and hospitality (my field). Jobs are everywhere, especially if you have your papers and your languages sorted (I speak 5-9), and the smart approach is to work where the salaries are high and travel where the costs are low. Three months work per two years will do. Yes yes, I know, you might actually like your job… but let’s speak truly frome one friend to another: on your deathbed, would you wish you had spent some more time working, or that you spent your time in full freedom to chase your dreams (which can be very different than mine) and design your own reality?

I started my travelwebsite (or “blog”, how the modern world likes to label it) to turn my travels into something tangible. To not just experience and let it fade from memory. To create a narrative of all the world’s destinations. It’s not about me, “Stephanie the Big Traveler” (unless you’re my mother, that seems rather uninteresting), it’s about the places. It’s about giving back to the travel community that gave me so much. Unlike the “travel bloggers movement” of today’s day and age, I’m not doing it for the money, even though I easily could. I reject SEO and advertising out of fear of ingenuity and loss of integrity… it’s a simple “me to you.” Value comes from all those people reaching out to me to tell them that crossing paths with either me or my website inspired them to go out there and travel. “If this woman can embrace a life of travel and adventure all alone without waiting for others, for the funds or for the right moment, so can I!”, seems to be a thought I tend to trigger. This is my legacy. Maybe “after I’m gone”, but hey, preferably also while I’m still here.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

A lot of life events formed the trigger of my drastic turn into a full-time traveler lifestyle. One of the key moments was an honest conversation with my mother, in which she expressed that even though she wasn’t particularly unhappy with her life, she felt like she didn’t live it to the fullest either. At the age of almost-retirement she was looking back on a lot of opportunites she didn’t recognize, take or created, and now she felt like she was too old to do so. That was it, I wasn’t going to let that happen to me. In a heartbeat I tossed all societal expectations, models and stereotypes irreversably out of the window and started doing exactly what the hell I wanted. In doing so, also inspiring my mother as well as many others I met or didn’t meet yet, to do the same (she actually turned retirement into a blast).

I’m not selling you any products or services. Keep your money for staying alive, so you can live it.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

That the world is a dangerous place full of bad people, with only a couple of good ones. It’s exactly the other way around. During my 10+ years of traveling (hitchhiking, camping, couchsurfing, cycling, hiking across the world) in about 90 countries, it was proven over and over again how truly caring and helpful most people are. Irrelevant to the country, complete strangers have taken me in, fed me, and reached out a helping hand, without me even asking for it.

Yet, everyone seems to think that they are the exception, that most other people embody evil. Especially in other countries, where they have never actually been. A whole lot of opinions are shaped by “the news”, even though most sensible people are clearly aware that mass media tends to focus on the negative and provide a one-sided story. Let me ask you, if I would line up all the news broadcasts of your country, would you say that represents daily life and the people? No. Exactly. Whenever somebody warns me for a certain destination, I ask “oh my, what happened to you there that made you feel this way?” If, as in most cases, they haven’t actually been there whatsoever, I thank them for their concern… and then ignore everything they just said entirely. If they actually have been there, I gather more reviews and advice of weathered travelers. as of course you can never judge an entire country on an isolated event experienced by one individual. And well, then I probably go anyway. I am far from naive, 10 years solo on the road in the style I embrace has taught more than my bachelor and master degree combined. There are some bad people out there, and their actions catch everyone’s attention… they’re just an overwhelming minority.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I started off as your standard mainstream backpacker. You know, the ones you’ll find in hostels, doing the things you read about on Instagram and TripAdvisor. After a year or so, that copy-paste travel behaviour fails to inspire though. Destinations, however incredible, all start to look like one another, experiences become stale and you can embrace yourself for a fresh wave of the infamous travel fatigue. I learned that the flavor comes out when you actually have to work for it. Everyone can take a bus to all the country’s famous cities and national parks and quickly shoot a few snaps for the ‘gram… but what if you walk for weeks through the mountains to get there? Then you’re not just at this destination, you deserved this destination.

Since I discovered that I can actually not just hike trails, but hike, cycle or maybe even run across entire countries, my traveling intensified. You come in places you would otherwise never even heard of, you meet people that don’t just want to sell you something, and every day you have to put in proper effort to be where you are, see what you see and experience what most people won’t. You get closer to the core of a country, unravel the very fibres of it. Examples of this style of traveling, which definitely has “resilience” as a prime ingredient, is walking 1000km across all three Baltic countries, hiking the longest trail of Poland, completing 900km of the popular “Camino de Santiago” and cycling 9,500km from coast to coast across entire Canada. All adventures that not just showed me a country in the most meaningful way, they are also by default paired with a physical and especially mental transformation. They’re also all adventures I never even trained or properly prepared for. I just shrugged my shoulders and went. I’m no wonder woman, I just have two legs and a zest for adventure… and yes, quite a bit of resilience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.budgetbucketlist.com
• Instagram: @budgetbucketlist
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/budgetbucketlist
• Twitter: @budgbucketlist
• Youtube: @budgetbucketlist
• Other: My website is my main platform

Image Credits

budgetbucketlist.com