A beginning
Buying this piece of land brought a whole new experience with it — one that has been slowly changing the way we live and think. From the moment we first stepped onto it, it felt like coming home in a way we hadn’t even realised we were longing for.
I wanted to create a small, quiet corner to share that feeling. A place where I can write about what’s unfolding in our minds and lives as we get to know this land better. We’re not the flashy, in-your-face kind of people. So no YouTube videos to peek behind the scenes. Just a calm place where you can follow along with a warm cup of tea, where we share our thoughts, inspirations, and the road we’re taking — and perhaps recognise something of your own longing in it too.
Sunset during Winter break
So, let’s start at the beginning.
Didi (aka Diederik) and I had been looking for a small piece of land in the Belgian Ardennes - or just across the border in France - for years. We searched all the immo sites, randomly drove to areas we loved to stop at local immo shops, went to house-visiting days (together with 30 other couples with much bigger budgets - we haven’t won the lottery just yet), and even drove up and down streets we liked, stopping at ‘for sale’ signs and ringing doorbells out of sheer desperation.
We visited so many places: land in crowded recreational parks, on steep hills, squeezed between busy roads … you get the picture. We’ve seen a lot. And at some point, we kind of let it go. I remember telling the universe that if we were meant to find something, it had to go smoothly - an instant connection, no doubt and easy process.
In June of 2025, after not checking for months, I opened my immo app again, just to scroll. And this piece of land caught my eye. We were able to visit quickly, and you know the good thing about having seen so many places? You just know when it’s the one. We both fell head over heals. Everything went so easily. We were the first to make an offer, and got accepted the same week. The previous owners are absolute gems - incredibly welcoming and so generous in helping us settle in.
It felt almost unreal.
…Which, of course, was followed by bureaucracy, a lot of paperwork, delays — all the things — lasting until October before the deal was fully sealed.
You didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you ;)
But back to the land, and why we fell in love.
It’s two hectares - larger than we were originally looking for - with a large pond, a wetland, and a forest area. And while it’s absolutely gorgeous, it wasn’t just about how it looks. It was about how it made us feel. It truly felt like coming home. We both felt our bodies physically reacting to the environment, as if something inside us finally exhaled.
It reminded me of a book my sweet sister-in-law once gifted me, ‘The Japanese Way of Forest Bathing for Health & Relaxation’ (she knows me well).
It describes the relationship between humans and nature: our ancestors appeared on this earth around seven million years ago, and it’s only in the last 200 - 300 years - since the Industrial Revolution - that people started living in cities.
That means that for 99,9% of our time on this planet, humans have lived in natural environments. Our genes simply can’t fully adapt in a few hundred years, which means our bodies still recognise nature as home!
That’s exactly how it feels here.
Of course, it’s not everybody’s cup of tea. We heard it plenty: Why would you want to buy a piece of nature with nothing on it? No toilet, no running water, …
We just do. We followed the pull of our hearts - and our bodies - and we couldn’t be happier.
We got the spend our first summer here, celebrated my 40th birthday, and stayed during weekends and school holidays. We went boating on the pond, took long walks in the amazing regional natural park where the land is situated, deciphered animal footprints, visited flea markets, discovered lovely restaurants, …
Slowly, we got to know the land better and better.
Nature preservation is our main goal, but we do have some small plans to improve the place over time (we did already install a comfortable compost toilet — that was kind of a necessity ;) ).
We truly believe this place is special — a kind of quiet that’s becoming rare — and that’s why we want to share it. With people who feel drawn to the same kind of stillness.
So if you’re curious and you feel a pull towards slowing down, towards waking up close to water and trees, you’re very welcome here.
Bring your tent, your mobile home, or your campervan, and come experience it for yourself.
Before moving on, I’d like to invite you to slow down for a moment.
A pause
This land keeps reminding me that coming home isn’t always about arriving somewhere new — sometimes it’s about remembering what our bodies already know.
If you can, place both feet on the floor. Let your shoulders soften. Take one slow breath in through your nose, and let it leave your body a little more slowly than it came in. You don’t need to go anywhere. Just arrive.
If you feel like it, take a notebook and sit with these questions:
What slows me down and brings me back into my body?
What is one small way I could make more space for this?
Just notice what feels true.
Thank you for being here, and for reading along.
Warmly,
Carlijn & Diederik