home alone – Roaming About

Girl time with Maya

On the last day of July, Mark left for his annual visit to Massachusetts, USA, leaving Maya and me behind in Belgium for two weeks. When you live together 24/7 with your partner, it’s nice to have some me-time once in a while. Maya and I enjoyed this special time and bonded with lots of cuddles, attention, and walks.

Mark on the train to the Brussels Airport

Maya is a bit sad at first

The goslings along our walk are getting big!

(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)

That time apart also allowed me to meet up with four different girlfriends, which allowed us to talk in Flemish and foster our relationships without any hurry. One of my friends, Rosy, had just obtained an 8-week-old puppy, Bonnie, who joined her for our day together. Maya was the perfect oma.

Meeting my long-time friend Hilde in Lokeren to catch up

Maya and Bonnie

Liesbet and Bonnie

Maya and Bonnie curled up under the table

Going for a walk with Rosy and Bonnie

I also cooked a lot, wrote a bunch, ran errands, did research, studied German, saw my parents frequently, called Mark daily, cleaned Duke’s interior, had long nights of sleep, witnessed the partial solar eclipse, visited my nephew for his twelfth birthday, and sweated a lot during more heat waves.

A healthy couscous salad for dinner

Vegetarian pasta bolognese

Another vegetarian dinner at home

A comfy spot during the partial eclipse

The partial solar eclipse seen through my dad’s welding glasses

Maya in the dimmed light

There were some hot days in August in Belgium

I finally met a famous overlanding couple when they passed through Belgium. I’d been online friends with Geneva (and her husband, Mike) from “It’s Not a Slow Car, It’s a Fast House” for at least six years, but we never managed to meet up before, despite coming close. Our morning together was a bit rushed, but it was still special. And they had brought a dissolvant product for us from the UK, which is not available in Europe. The Vario T2 remained front and center in our lives even while we were apart.

Meeting Geneva and Mike – and their two dogs – in Maldegem, Belgium

Geneva and Mike’s famous stickers seen on campers all over the world.

Another highlight for this reggae lover was watching the Wailers (yes, from Bob Marley fame) through a fence during the Fonnefeesten in Lokeren. Why through a fence during this free concert? Because, unbeknownst to everyone, event security didn’t allow dogs on the premises anymore. Two years ago, Maya joined Mark and me without any problems…

Our spot outside the fence

Watching the concert through the fence

The Wailers in Lokeren

Photo of some of the band members

Every six months for the last five years, Mark had to return to Boston, Massachusetts. No matter where we found ourselves in the world, this was a priority. In the summers, I’d usually join him, but in the winter time, I’d rather not. I’d stay at a house sit by myself whenever possible. Last year, I ended up joining him in January, because all else failed. I wrote about that in my post “The Desperate House Sitter“. This year, having Maya, we better found a solution for me to remain in Florida!

Usually, we don’t plan where we go, how we get there, or where we stay. We use iOverlander when it’s time to find a place to camp and boondock based on what we find. We rarely stay longer than a night anywhere, mostly because these places – especially on the East Coast of the US – aren’t often comfortable or private. The exception was Osceola National Forest in Florida, where we spent almost a week at the Hog Pen Landing primitive campground mid-January, after a hectic start of the new year.