Hi! I’m Antonette, an active outdoor enthusiast from The Netherlands. Since 2011 I’m sharing my personal travel and hiking stories on We12travel with the aim to make my readers enthusiastic about an active way of traveling. In addition, it’s my mission to give hiking and outdoor a more powerful image among young people in The Netherlands and to change the somewhat dusty image of the outdoors within my country.
From childhood I knew that I wanted to travel. After I walked my first multi-day trek, the Inca Trail in Peru in 2006, I knew that this way of traveling suits me. Since then I have made treks in New Zealand, Nepal, Patagonia and Iceland for example. After graduating in tourism management, I worked in the travel industry for 17 years. In the summer of 2017 I gave up my office job and I started to focus completely on We12travel. In addition, I work as a freelance copywriter for various organizations within the tourism sector.
After a world trip of 9 months I am now living in the Netherlands again and I am happy to call the beautiful Veluwe my backyard. From a small cabin in the forest I work with great pleasure on We12travel and I combine my passion for writing with hours of wandering through the Veluwe and other beautiful places in The Netherlands.
When I’m not at home (about four / five months a year) I travel all over the world while writing and sharing my stories. After all, I can practice my work as a blogger and freelance writer everywhere, I only need a wifi connection and my laptop.
Where does the name We12travel come from?
My former partner Martijn and I came up with this name in 2004 and for a long time We12travel was an online photo gallery. Since 2011 I write (travel) blogs and from 2013 also for the greater public. Although Martijn and I have not been together since 2016, you may still find his name on the site as many adventures we experienced together. I decided to continue using the name We12travel as a brand as I could not imagine otherwise.
In the summer of 2022 I left The Netherlands for a while and from October 2022 I’ll be hiking 3.000 kilometers on thru-hike Te Araroa in New Zealand for a period of 6 months.
Are you interested in collaborating with me? Check the possibilities here!