Ramon
Born on a ship, traveling and being on the move is in my blood. For the first three years of my life, I lived on the ship, and after that, I grew up on land but always joined my father on board whenever I had the chance. Even vacations with my parents were adventurous. We would load the car into the hold of a sea ship, sail past the Norwegian fjords, and then be dropped off to explore Norway by car. There were also countless hours of hiking in the mountains.
As an adult, at the age of 23, I walked the Camino de Santiago for the first time, starting from Somport in the Pyrenees. This was just the beginning of many journeys to come. Together with Miranda, my wife, we walked the Pieterpad, from the Netherlands to Santiago, the Via de la Plata, and part of the Olavspad in Norway. I’ve never felt completely free living in a house – the responsibilities of maintenance, bills, and being tied to one place didn’t suit me. So, in 2022, the decision to travel permanently was an easy one; I didn’t have to think twice.
I’m self-employed, working in inland shipping, healthcare, and as a professional sports masseur, which allows me to organize my life the way I want. We travel with our camper and our backpacks. Outside of Europe, we travel with backpacks, while within Europe, we use our camper. Besides the hiking trips we now also do with our 10-year-old son, Venry, we’ve explored Scandinavia, the United States, England, Austria, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Curaçao. There’s still so much to discover.
Over the past year, we also started working on our website, Jack-of-all-trades-travel. What began as a personal initiative to help out wherever we traveled has now become a platform. After all, there are so many people with various skills and professions who can offer help or need help while traveling. Not everyone is a digital nomad. We hope to create a beautiful community together with you.
Travel, work, and discover – your journey, your adventure!
Miranda
In 1998, I met Ramon at a party hosted by one of his friends. We talked all evening about all kinds of things, and not long after, we started living together. I come from a family that wasn’t very adventurous. Our vacations were usually short trips, like going to the Moselle in the summer. I enjoyed these trips a lot.
Ramon’s adventurous life really inspired me, and after our first holiday, where we walked part of the French Camino, I was hooked. In 2001, we planned a five-month walking journey from the Netherlands to Santiago de Compostela. That trip completely changed my life, and the desire to travel never left me.
At the time, I worked as a pharmacy assistant, but after that trip, I studied sports massage and reflexology. Over the years, we went on more walking journeys, including the Via de la Plata and part of the Olavspad.
In 2014, our son Venry was born, but that didn’t stop us from traveling. We continued to explore by car, taking small hiking trips. In 2017, we bought a camper.
Then, in late 2021 I felt done with living in a house and wanted to completely change our way of life. I wanted to leave behind the house, regular schooling, and all the usual obligations. Ramon didn’t need much convincing—by the next day, we had a “For Sale” sign in our yard.
A new adventure was born. We sold our house, and after a short time at the campsite where we had first met, we left for Spain at the end of September. In the beginning, it was an adjustment to live together like this, but soon, new opportunities began to arise.
We started helping out at campsites or for people we stayed with in our camper. Over time, this gave us the idea to do something more with it—to let people know they could ask us for help.
At the start of this year, we decided to create Jack-of-all-Trades Travel. It’s a platform for ourselves, to let people know they can contact us for work, but also a platform for fellow travelers to connect and help each other.
Venry
Venry was born in 2014. His name comes from the book ‘Between Life and Death’ by the Dutch metaphysical writer Jozef Rulof. The content of Jozef Rulof’s books, which I discovered at the age of nineteen, has played an essential role in my life ever since. These teachings have deeply shaped my soul and thoughts.
In the book, Venry is a priest who lived during the time of Ancient Egypt and mastered cosmic powers. He fought spiritually against evil high priests. In the afterlife, he received the Great Wings and became a Prince of the Universe. This is the meaning we have given to his name.
From the age of four months, we raised Venry with the knowledge of Wim Hof, also known as The Iceman. This helped him build a strong immune system and a powerful mind. We began traveling with him as a baby, taking long trips by car, later by camper, and on foot. At first, he traveled on our back, then in a walking cart, and from the age of four, he started walking as much as possible on his own. We quickly took him on short walking trips of 100 to 150 kilometers – real adventures! Every morning, the first thing Venry would ask when he woke up was, ‘Where are we going today?’
Venry’s ambition is to work in hospitality when he grows up. He has a strong will and doesn’t let the opinions of others affect him. He knows what he wants and is determined to go after it, which isn’t always easy for us as parents.
In 2022, we began traveling full-time with our camper, and Venry now follows homeschooling through the Wereldschool. We believe it’s important for him to learn the basic subjects like math, language, reading, and writing. We’ve been doing this for three years now.
Venry loves to explore and eagerly wants to try and taste everything. He is always ready for the next adventure!
