Author Liesbet Collaert is back with us today to share her #TenThings list, and it’s a great one, folks. I know you’re going to enjoy it, so let’s get going. Liesbet, you’re on! 😀
NOTE to ALL: I am heading to a medical appointment and won’t be able to respond to comments until this afternoon, and Liesbet’s internet situation isn’t always stable. We will both do everything in our power to catch up with all your wonderful comments as we can. In the meantime, just know we appreciate each and every one of them!
Ten Things You May Not Know About Me
Thank you, Marcia, for giving me the stage on your amazing website today! I’ll quickly introduce myself, before sharing some secrets. 😊
My name is Liesbet Collaert, originally from Belgium, but a non-stop world traveler (aka digital nomad) for twenty years. Apart from being a writer, translator, editor, proofreader, and photographer, I recently became an author with my debut travel memoir Plunge – One Woman’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary, which has garnered a lot of praise and positive reviews. It captures – and captivates – a decade of my escapades, mostly at sea, drawing you into the good, the bad, and the ugly of a so-called dream life. Currently, my husband Mark, rescue dog Maya, and I are exploring the South American continent for a few years in Thirsty Bella, a truck camper disguised as a cow.
Thirsty Bella
#1: Being old school
I have been able to avoid the Smartphone bandwagon for a long time. I was happy and fulfilled communicating with good old emails and infrequent calls via Skype and Messenger. A digital camera offered high-quality photographs for my blog posts and it was easy to stay off social media, because sharing photos there meant transferring them first from my camera onto my laptop, resizing them there, and emailing them to myself on my tablet to access and post on Facebook. Phew!
In the summer of last year (2022), my husband found a really good deal on a Pixel 6a Google phone. That’s when I was converted. He calls it a dumbphone, because it doesn’t have a SIM card (by choice) and only works at its full capacity on WiFi. But that’s fine by me. This phone now functions as my camera and you can’t believe how easy it is to share photos on Facebook with that thing! When I have WiFi. 😊I did close my Instagram account, though, as the ads and hashtags drove me crazy and my posts are often delayed, so rarely ever instant.
Liesbet & Mark – Santuario de Las Lajas, Colombia
#2: Trying “everything” once
I think my main reason for traveling is curiosity. It has to be, because I am someone who pretty much likes to try everything at least once: bungee jumping, skydiving, airplane steering, rafting, paragliding, or peculiar food items, new-to-me drinks, or exotic flavors. Living on the road internationally brings a new experience around every corner. Literally!
Liesbet Paragliding over Jerico, Colombia
#3: Shame or pride?
Following the previous fact – and this nobody knows! When I was in my early twenties, I participated in the Miss Belgian and Miss Flanders contests. I am turning red out of shame right now, but I needed to try this before the age window closed. I never got anywhere (of course), but I have no regrets.
Also, in the heydays of the TV program “Big Brother,” which also aired in Belgium and was very popular, there was a local version called “The Bus,” a production collaboration between Belgium and The Netherlands. The TV team gathered a group of six Flemish and six Dutch participants in a built-out tour bus. I auditioned successfully for the trial run before the main series aired and lived together 24/7 with strangers in a bus for one week. Oh, the stories I could share about that experience. But the main thing I remember is that we were not allowed pen and paper and I had to pause my diary; a sad side effect.
A Tropical Treat in Ecuador
#4: I edit my diary
Which brings us to the next fact: I have been keeping a daily diary since age 14. Yep, that’s 33 years of commitment, sometimes adding up to an hour each day. Because, you know, not only is my life quite exciting, but I also proofread and edit my entries. Right! I now justify that as my diary being my writing practice.
Liesbet & Maya in Northern Ecuador
#5: I never took writing or English literature classes
I feel every fact builds on the previous one. Dutch is my first language. In Belgium, we have three national languages: Dutch, French, and German. I learned English in high school, from songs (kind of, I never really listened to lyrics and if you’d ask me about the meaning of certain songs, you’d be surprised about the – totally absurd – explanation I have!), movies (they are subtitled in Dutch in Belgium, so you hear the original language), and traveling. Having a serious American boyfriend at some point and then marrying a different American also helped. But I learned to write and speak well solely from practicing.
Thirsty Bella in Good Company (or Vice-Versa)
#6: Language adequacy revised
All you need to speak several languages is guts. Honestly, I truly believe that many people have a fear of trying to speak a new language because they don’t want to make mistakes. Trying is the first step – and locals appreciate that. By knowing a selection of words and using hand signals, a lot can get achieved. Therefore, it is my belief that language adequacy is better than (waiting for) language proficiency. And while I have a bit of that, I’m happy to “just” get by in French, German, and Spanish. That being said, I’m perfectly bilingual (as a translator, editor, and proofreader) in English and Dutch. But everybody knows that already!
Anchored in the Galapagos
#7: No bucket list
The word “bucket list” is overused. I’m not a fan of trends or checking things off lists when it has to do with anything organic, like living your live or going with the flow. Sure, who doesn’t like efficient grocery and to-do lists? Yet, a list of places to travel before you die, only to check them off? No, thank you. (Unless you’re really dying…) For the same reason, I don’t keep track of the countries I visited. What’s the purpose, and how do you define “visited?”
Travel is about immersion, experience, the good and the bad, curiosity, expanding your horizons, and – sometimes – digging deep. How do you do this on a one-week vacation? All that being said, I do have aspirations of witnessing the South Pole with all my senses, going on an African safari, and taking the Trans-Siberian railroad (ever since I was 16). Whenever – if ever – I’ll be able to afford any of those. Oh, and since I’d like to try everything once, this means exploring every country in the world.
Beautiful Maya
#8: Never bored
This is a guarantee: I will never, ever get bored. As long as I can see and type, anyway. I feel life is too short. Every. Single. Day. There is so much I want to experience, see, read, write, share, photograph, achieve. So many memories to turn into stories, blogs, and books. So many adventures to be had. And, I have to make money as well. I wish I could be retired at 47! But at the dismal rate I’m earning, I doubt I’ll ever retire. Even less chances to get bored!
#9: The worst thing about our nomadic lifestyle
The unhappy (stray) dogs we meet and not being able to save any. We have our own 60-pound rescue dog in a small camper and don’t have the means to foster or adopt them out. And, honestly, it is a losing battle in some of the (indigenous) communities we travel.
#10: What do I miss the most?
Other than a comfy couch? A community. We sometimes meet likeminded travelers but always split ways. We have friends and family in our home countries (Belgium and the US), but visits there are short and infrequent, and there is little common ground. While we are happy, just the three of us, it would be nice to indulge in happy hours and extended social times on a regular basis. Luckily, I have an extensive and healthy online community and thrive on communications in blog comments!
BLURB:
Tropical waters turn tumultuous in this travel memoir as a free-spirited woman jumps headfirst into a sailing adventure with a new man and his two dogs.
Join Liesbet as she faces a decision that sends her into a whirlwind of love, loss, and living in the moment. When she swaps life as she knows it for an uncertain future on a sailboat, she succumbs to seasickness and a growing desire to be alone.
Guided by impulsiveness and the joys of an alternative lifestyle, she must navigate personal storms, trouble with US immigration, adverse weather conditions, and doubts about her newfound love.
Does Liesbet find happiness? Will the dogs outlast the man? Or is this just another reality check on a dream to live at sea?
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Have you ever wondered how life could be if you had made different choices? If you didn’t marry early, commit to a large loan for the house, focus on your career, start a family?
Maybe you’re just curious about how a person thinking outside the box manages? A person without boundaries, striving to be flexible, happy, and free.
What you are about to read is how one such person follows her dreams, no, her intuition, and how she survives her naivety, life altering twists, and a relationship in close quarters.
Plunge is a story of what happens when you go with the flow, when you have a bright idea – or thought you had one – and ride the waves of the unknown.
Liesbet & Darwin in Barbuda
Reviews in the Written Press
“Plunge is not your typical sailing story. The author and her husband sail to incredible places but the real journey is a personal one. Collaert doesn’t flinch away from honesty, even when it’s not pretty, and many cruisers will relate to the couple’s trying situations.” ‒ Cruising World
“As much as this book is the story of life onboard the catamaran Irie, it is the story of Liesbet’s relationship with Mark. A no holds barred, achingly intimate recollection from the purely practical to the deeply emotional. It is this unflinching honesty that sets Plunge apart from other books written about the cruising lifestyle. Liesbet has an easy to read, confident, and fluent writing style. Each chapter’s subject matter reveals itself like a captivating short story.” – Caribbean Compass
“Plunge is an apt title for this cruising narrative as the author doesn’t simply dribble hints at what the cruising life can really be like–no, she tosses you right into the deep end of the pool. It’s an account of the inner and outer turmoil a nomadic existence can bring. It’s refreshingly honest, real, and never dull.” – Good Old Boat
“There is much in this bracingly honest memoir to recommend it, not the least of which is Collaert’s engaging writing. Her considerable skill in conveying the quotidian, as well as the emotional peaks and valleys, shapes this book into more than just a sailing diary. It’s a life memoir of a born wanderer always seeking out her next passage.” – Ocean Navigator
“I absolutely loved Plunge! A wonderful and all-too-real look at the ups and downs of the cruising life; the adventures, the stresses, and the reality of living with someone else 24/7 in a space about the size of most bedrooms. Many of us dream about a life less ordinary, but Liesbet shows the reality of making it happen: the good, the bad, and everything in between. Highly recommended, whether you’re thinking about a plunge of your own or just wonder what it is like for those who do it.” – The Boat Galley
Author Liesbet Collaert
Liesbet Collaert’s articles and photos have been published internationally. Born in Belgium, she has been a nomad since 2003 with no plans to settle anytime soon. Her love of travel, diversity, and animals is reflected in her lifestyle choices of sailing, RVing, and house and pet sitting. Liesbet calls herself a world citizen and currently lives “on the road” in South America with her husband and rescue dog. Follow her adventures at
Roaming About
BUY LINKS
Amazon Author Page
For general info on my blog, including free chapters, reviews, and purchase links HERE
Buy on Amazon universal link HERE
For eBook versions worldwide, go HERE
For paperback distributors worldwide, go HERE
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
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Email: lbcollaert@gmail.com
Blog URLs
Roaming About
It’s Irie
The Write Stuff 