I spent 7 days in the wild and this is what I learned #2
Written on August 30, 2025
Last July, I spent seven days kayaking and wild camping in Sweden, something I had never done before. I went into it with high expectations, convinced it would be the ultimate nature connection experience.
Living in the Netherlands, a country where true wildness is rare, I’ve often felt frustrated about being born in such a densely populated place. As a lifelong nature lover, I dreamed of living somewhere wilder, somewhere I could be immersed in untouched landscapes (and for eight years in Bali, I did just that).
Since returning home last year, I’ve been slowly rebuilding my relationship with this land, though, if I’m honest, there has still been a lingering sense of resentment about the lack of wilderness here.
It was from that longing, and that resentment, that I booked the trip. I thought: the wilder the environment, the more deeply I would feel connected to nature, free from all disturbances of human influence.
But as so often happens when we step into nature with expectations, things didn’t unfold the way I imagined. In the first part of this series (which you can read here), I shared how being far away from the “civilised” world didn’t deepen my love for plants and animals, but, surprisingly, opened my heart more to humans.
Today, I want to share another expectation that unraveled on that journey—the belief that the wilder and more untouched a place is, the stronger the sense of connection, belonging, magic and beauty will be.
Last year, I graduated from The Forest Bathing Circle as a certified forest bathing guide. During my training, I learned the art of nature connection and how to guide others into their own experiences with Mother Nature.
Forest bathing is built on three pillars: slowing down, becoming quiet and making a conscious connection by activating the senses. When I practice this, moving slowly or not at all, being still and focusing my awareness on my body and senses, something magical happens.
It feels as though I enter another dimension. I am no longer separate from the world around me; instead, I feel at home, safe and deeply held by forces greater than myself. I begin to notice things I had overlooked before: the glistening of a single raindrop on a leaf, the abundance of insects buzzing in harmony, the dance of shadow and light. I feel my own roots reaching into the Earth, reminding me of my unbreakable bond with her. Tension leaves my body, worries fade into the background and I arrive in a state of pure presence.
It is like doing drugs, but better ;) And without any of the harmful side effects. This state feels like my true nature. Not the stress, fatigue, racing thoughts, insecurities or confusion of modern life, but peace, harmony, love and joy. Each time I practice forest bathing or consciously connect with nature, I return to this natural state of being.
This is why I believe forest bathing is one of the most valuable and emerging practices of our time: it helps us remember our wildness and guides us back into living in harmony with our human nature. It invites us to soften, to let go of living solely from the conditioned mind and to return to the wisdom of our heart, body, and soul.
You can probably imagine that I became a little hooked on that state of being. After all, I was already experiencing magical moments in these higher dimensions, bathing in the frequencies of unity and love, while forest bathing in city parks, on ordinary dog walks and even in human-made forests. Naturally, I couldn’t wait to step into the wild and take it to another level.
But here’s the thing: it didn’t happen. That entire week, it felt incredibly hard to enter the state of being where I usually experience such deep beauty and belonging in nature. I assumed that simply being in the wild would make it effortless, but it didn’t. Instead, I found myself stuck in my head. Discomfort set in. I discovered (to my surprise) that I actually hated camping (lol). Old patterns and buried emotions resurfaced. Being surrounded by water all day felt like everything I needed to look at was being reflected back to me. It was as if my whole being was being rearranged, layer by layer, releasing what no longer served me.
What I came to realize after that week, and something I always emphasise in Nature School, is the importance of releasing expectations. Every experience with nature gives us exactly what we need, even if it’s not what we hoped for. For me, that week wasn’t about transcending into higher states of bliss. It was about diving into the depths of my inner waters, processing and letting go of density I was ready to release.
What I also discovered, and what I really want to share in this blog post, is that nature connection isn’t something only reserved for deep wilderness trips, off-grid getaways or once-a-year offline retreats. Those experiences can be beautiful (if you enjoy them), but the real magic lies in making nature connection a daily practice in your everyday environment.
It’s just like meditation, you wouldn’t go on a week-long retreat and then expect to feel calm and centered for the other 51 weeks of the year. In the same way, nature connection is a practice, something to weave into your life regularly. And the best part? You don’t need to be deep in the wild. You can connect with nature in your garden, on your balcony, in a city park, or even with a single tree on a busy street.
Nature is everywhere, always available to us. Even as you read this, perhaps sitting indoors, you are surrounded by the element of air. In fact, all the elements are present within you. The mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms are part of your own body. This means that the first and fastest way to connect with nature is by connecting with yourself.
I invite you to pause for a moment. Take a few deep breaths. Feel your body. Feel your connection to the Earth and how you are part of her living ecosystem through your own physical vessel.
Peace, harmony, belonging, safety, deep connection; we can experience these feelings at any moment when we practice slowing down, becoming still, and awakening our senses. And it’s not only about the physical senses of smell, touch, taste and sight, but also the subtler ones we don’t always validate, such as imagination, intuition and inner knowing. It has nothing to do with our environment, or how ‘wild’ it is, but all about practicing our ‘nature connection muscles’.
This is why I created Nature School. Through guided nature meditations, I help you enter this state of awareness so you can reconnect with your own nature and remember the language of the Earth. If you feel the call to deepen your connection with nature, and with yourself, I would love to welcome you into Nature School.
Nature School isn’t about escaping the human world for the more-than-human world, it’s about seeing them as one, about weaving the magic of nature into your everyday experience, no matter where you live. Whether you have access to a forest, a city park or just a single tree outside your window, you’ll learn how to create moments of harmony, belonging, magic and joy.
All in all, I keep coming back to the same conclusion: there is no real difference between the more-than-human world and the human world. We are all nature, woven into the same web of life. Any form of separation - including distancing ourselves from the human world - only creates more (dis)harm(ony) and imbalance.
