Micro camping on the Zeeland coast Wolphaartsdijk, Zeeland

We want to inspire people by sharing special stories of travelers who travel in their own country. Also we introduce to you hosts who make that possible by inviting people to their Campspaces. This is why we have started the movement #Staylocal together with Columbus Travel Magazine and Honeyguide. For more information, check out our #Staylocal website.  
 

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“A holiday park is being built nearby for five thousand tourists. That is bigger than the nearest village! I don't even want to think about going on vacation there. My philosophy is: if every person in Zeeland takes in one tourist, then there is no need to build those terrible parks.”
 

“Maybe it is a bit naïve of me. But we have so much space here. I mean: I live alone in a room of a house in a beautiful location. I am always on vacation when I am at home. Why would I keep all this beauty to myself? My Campspace is adjacent to a dike. People think it is crazy when they notice that there is not water, but agricultural land behind it. I then tell them about the watcher, the sleeper, and the dreamer: the watchman is the dike on the water, the sleeper comes behind it  who catches the water when the watchman breaks through and then you have the dreamer, the next dike. Now the system is no longer applicable, because the Veerse Meer has no tides anymore. The watchman still has historical mural walls. They served as a cheap way to make the dike higher. There are old fruit trees in my yard that you can tie a hammock in between. I also have a bathtub in the garden. If you light a fire under it, you can look at the starry sky from the bath. You don't have a disco or bingo here. You really come here for your rest. Many guests also find it interesting that chickens roam around and that they can eat a fresh egg in the morning. For them, that completes the farm feeling.”

Joel (56) describes herself as a free bird. She is devoted to her book shed. Her collection holds no less than thirty thousand copies. She sells them online, via deboekenwurm.nl Every guest can choose a book.
 

“I am always on vacation when I am at home”

If you climb the sleeper first and then the watchman, you look out over the Veerse Meer and the harbour where people used to bring in the beets.
 

If you like it, you can rent a boat, sloop or canoe at Kanoa Outdoor Events and paddle or sail to an island on the lake. Zeeland is the perfect cycling country. Using the bike junction system, you can compose your own route, outside the dikes, on the edge of land and water; or over the flower dikes in the Zak van Zuid-Beveland. For special natural pearls, download so-called pearl routes from the Zeeland app. Pearl routes are interactive walking routes of up to five kilometres, making them suitable for the whole family. On the walk, you can watch videos and answer questions, for which you earn a reward. Good to know: Middelburg is only twenty minutes away. Great for a change!

Put a Stay Local adventure at Joel micro camping on your bucket list.
 

© Photography Stijn Hoekstra