It seems like where ever I go, I can still see comments on how awful 2020 was. And sure, it didn’t go as I thought it would. Pretty much all of my plans and goals got thrown out of the window due to the pandemic. 

At the beginning of the year, I was supposed to go on a Freediving trip but broke my toe so efficiently that walking alone was a challenge. Let alone squeezing my foot into a fin. By the time it healed, the borders to my destination country had closed. 

I had a trip planned out to Belarus to search and photograph wolf and other local wildlife, but that got cancelled. 

The pandemic also threw a wrench into all of my other planned story ideas and projects. Everything I had planned required me to travel. 

When things seemed to improve enough here that a window of opportunity to travel opened again, I had a horse-riding accident and ended up in a wheelchair. By the time I healed up and got back on my feet, the restrictions were getting tighter again. 

And like many others, I dealt with plenty of stress, overwhelm, uncertainty and doubt whether I can turn things around. 

But as the title suggests, it wasn’t actually that bad at all.

I started the year by joining Jacques de Vos and Arctic Freediving on an expedition in Northern Norway. Even though the season was coming to an end, and it was getting harder to find the animals, I loved every moment of it. Orca has been one of my favourite animals as long as I can remember. So the experience of being in the water, in their territory, and to watch them swim by was already incredible enough. But then on the last day, as I dove down, I saw an orca playfully swim towards me with its belly up towards the surface. As it got closer, it turned around, and for a moment looked at me before continuing on its way and disappearing into the darkness. After an experience like that, it’s impossible to disregard the whole year as terrible.

Since I couldn’t travel, I spent time exploring my neighbourhood and spent time looking for local wildlife some more. This isn’t always easy, since going into nature in the Netherlands is heavily restricted. And for a good reason. It’s a tiny country, with a lot of people, and very little nature. If everyone were free to roam where they please, there wouldn’t be any nature left. Of course, this also meant that my wildlife encounters were mostly limited to when the wildlife came close enough to the paths. I also had the opportunity to head deeper into the woods on a few occasions with a local forest ranger, to get closer to the real dutch nature. 

Another good thing that happened in the middle of the pandemic, restrictions and the lock-downs was that my partner and I decided to move to Finland. And we’re both extremely excited to start this new chapter, which will open up for me a whole lot wilder area to explore while staying local. And although the pandemic itself had nothing to do with our decision, it adds a lot more appreciation for the fact that in a few short weeks I can enjoy a lot more variety in my outdoor adventures, move more freely, stay the night in the wilderness when I want to, have more wildlife around me, and have the freedom to pursue more stories and projects, without having to rely on travel as much. 

I joined the Wild Idea Lab, and by doing that, I found my scenius! (“Scenius is like genius, only embedded in a scene rather than in genes. Brian Eno suggested the word to convey the extreme creativity that groups, places or “scenes” can occasionally generate.”) Joining was honestly maybe the best decision I made this year for my career. Wild Idea Lab is a membership community for photographers and filmmakers that have a passion for conservation and science communication. And it made a massive difference as I was dealing with all the bad things that the pandemic threw at me. Getting to pick the brains of some truly exceptional professionals in the industry, while connecting with like-minded people, battling with the same issues that I do, was a real game-changer. Knowing that you’re not alone, getting to bounce ideas off of others and being able to help others as they’re helping you has been so valuable, and I’ve learned so much. Despite all the good things that happened, I’m not sure how I would’ve managed without all these fantastic people and all of our zoom meetings. 

Since I wasn’t going anywhere, I had way more time to focus on working with my horse, and he is now actually quite the reliable camera-horse. Turning horse-back adventures into a creative project is one of my favourite things. In the past, I’ve documented my horse-riding trips from the saddle both in Iceland and in Mongolia. And now I can do that at home too. 

Since we’re in the middle of sorting out our move to Finland, we had to also visit in person to arrange some things. Which meant we also had the opportunity to end the year in style, away from the crowds, surrounded by nature and enjoying the outdoors. 

So, looking back at it all, 2020 was actually pretty good, despite all the negative things that happened. And I would prefer to focus on all the positives. Although, in all honesty, I’m also REALLY excited about what 2021 will bring.