Thomas v Thomas
Hello.
I’m the one
driving.
I’m Thomas, a Belgian travelling through Europe in a van I built myself. Her name is Petal.
I write about what happens along the way, make things and try to work out what I want work and life to look like next.
01 / How we got here
I built a van.
Then I kept going.
Petal started as an empty Peugeot Boxer. I turned her into somewhere I could sleep, cook, work and take far too many things with me.
Then came four months on the road and 16,000 kilometres around Europe. I came home with a lot of photos and a less straightforward idea of what I wanted to do next.
I lasted about two days before driving to Zeeland.
Now I’m travelling again, trying to make room for good work, making things and being somewhere new. The practical arrangements are ongoing.
02 / The longer answer
I liked my life.
I’m curious about
what else fits.
I’ve done work I’m proud of, lived in cities I wanted to live in and made friends that are still there years later. My friends and family matter just as much from here as they do at home..
I’m trying to work out how travelling can sit alongside the rest of my life. I wrote a longer piece about that. It still doesn’t contain a five-year plan.
03 / In practice
Most days are
quite ordinary.
I open the laptop, look for work, write, build something, go to the gym and find groceries. Friends get called. Laundry gets done. Some days I drive somewhere else.
There are also beaches, long walks and attempts at surfing. I’m very much still learning.
Usually making
A story, a website or another version of Petalander.
Usually looking for
A gym with a shower and somewhere Petal fits.
Worth stopping for
A good sunset. I have enough photos to establish a pattern.
The board comes with us. The ability is catching up.
Occasionally, the view from the office is quite good.
Petal has an opinion
“He wanted a simpler life. I now contain an office, a gym and several business plans.”
04 / What ends up here
I’m putting it on the record.
The places we like, the things that go wrong and the questions that follow me around. Petal gets a say. She would prefer a larger one.
The stories
What happened.
And what I made of it.
Notes from the road, small disasters and the occasional argument with myself.
The places
Somewhere
we’d go back to.
Beaches, towns and places where we were quite happy to stay a little longer.
The other resident
She’s already
had her own page.
The home I built, the things I changed and the van with opinions about both.
Work, too
Work is still part of the plan.
I’ve spent about twenty years in communications, digital and product work. I like good projects, good people and working out what the actual problem is.
I’m exploring how that fits with being on the road. My professional side lives over here.
Get in touch
Say hello.
A story that sounded familiar, a place we should see, something worth making together. You’re welcome to get in touch.