Van Wilpe knows how to buy an old farmhouse that he renovated in the past year and a half. A total of eight people can spend the night on his site: in the B&B, on the motorhome and in the glamping tents on his site. “All kinds of guests come by and everyone is themselves. The camper boots are very independent. They park the camper and the first thing they do are two seats and sit down.”
Just half a year on his way in the renovation, he starts as a participant in B&B full of love, the wildly popular TV program in which single B&B owners look for love. “I thought it was a very great adventure, but becoming famous in one go that is a very strange sensation. I am happy that I did with it, but I would not do it again. It cost me so much energy and the social media storm was not always pleasant. But if I come across people on the street, here or in the Netherlands, then it is always super fun.”
The television hit, with more than a million viewers every day, did not give Van Wilpe new love. “Unfortunately not. The only wish I still have is that I can experience love here, someone where I can share everything. But that cannot be steered, that is chemistry. That cannot be forced.” His participation did, however, give him many more bookings. “That has given a boost. People also book regularly because they are curious who I am.”
Despite the simplicity of life, the days are not quieter. In this way he is no longer able to perform his biggest hobby: playing in a harmony. “I played at the Hoogeveense Harmonie for almost twenty years. I miss that very much, that club life and making music at a high level. I also looked at this, but I am fairly isolated, I would have to travel very far.”
That is farming life in France, according to Van Wilpe. “Running a B&B and building a new life takes a lot of time. You don’t have to emigrate if you think you can take it easy. You are busier. Everything takes more effort.”
The flip side is the experience of time. “I enjoy here a lot more of my days, the sun on my face, coffee, the critters in the yard in the morning. Life is clearer and easier. When I think in the afternoon: it’s done, I will stop. I rarely put an alarm. Life is more fluid.”