Pack Chat
When trying to fit our bicycles and everything we need for the trip into two boxes without exceeding the weight limit demanded by the airlines swearing usually helps! Compromises will have to be made there will be last minute changes, additions, readjustments and, almost certainly, some arguments...ah - but that's all part of the game.
Shortly after writing this we will be on our way. Ahead of us five weeks without radio, TV or newspapers and only occasional internet. Which means five weeks without politics... hasn't there been a lot of that around this last year. People in Africa walking for miles and queuing for hours in the burning sun in order to vote while in America half the electorate just didn't bother! In Britain they're still suffering from a post- referendum hangover as they realise what a fine mess they've got themselves into. The votes were so splintered in the Dutch elections that it is proving difficult to form a coalition government and probably impossible to form one that will last. The French elected an unknown. The Germans stuck with what they had... and the snowball of right-wing populists, at least temporarily, has been halted...possibly due to the emergence of green parties and a resurgence of old- fashioned socialists but the election of Trump as leader of the western world may have been a bigger influence!
Meanwhile my part in the whole democratic system is a very small one. I mean really small! When Britain leaves the EU I will loose my European citizenship and my right to vote for the European parliament and that was one of the few opportunities I had. I've been away from England too long to be eligible to vote in Britain and, of course, as I'm not Dutch I'm not entitled to vote in the their national elections. Just about all that's left for me to vote for is my local city council and 'Holland's got Talent' !
Despite being unable to participate directly in the democratic process, when an election is approaching I log into the Dutch online voting advice site – to play my political version of 'Fantasy Football'. Twenty-eight parties took part in the recent Dutch election and due to the polling system many of them had a real chance of winning at least a seat or two. To find out who I should or would vote for, if I could, I fill in the lengthy questionnaire and the answer is usually GroenLinks (The Green Left Party) the clue is in the name. However this year it came up with PvdD (The party for the Animals) which is not as fluffy as it sounds, in fact PvdD is slightly more green and slightly more left than GroenLinks! So no real surprise there.
When I left The British Isles politics was fairly simple there were just two main parties to choose from and only one other that had any serious chance of winning seats in parliament. Due to various changes there are now more options, so just before the recent, hastily organised, general election in Britain I looked for, and found, an online voting guide. Again I filled in the questionnaire, as with the Dutch version there were several items that I know, or care, little about, but I did my best to be honest and accurate. This time the result was less predictable.... it turns out that this Englishman, living in The Netherlands with an Irish surname, possibly a mad, deaf or French grandmother who has been at various times mistaken for an American, Canadian, Russian and more frequently German or Scandinavian is, according to this site, a Scottish Nationalist! Now, that has certainly given me something to think about....
…..but that's not all... with everything already packed and puzzled into two large bicycle boxes, weighed and reweighed... there is plenty of time left for doubt and indecision: should I take an extra pair of cycling shorts , have I packed too many socks and too few underpants......OMG it's 40 degrees in Tbilisi! I won't be needing that thick fleece jacket then...maybe another T-shirt instead....and
…should I take bagpipes instead of my travel guitar........................ ?
