Michele: “Eight years ago my wife Carla died of cancer. She and Marjan were colleagues at a holiday park.”
marjan: “During the time that Carla and I worked together, I visited here regularly. But the contact dwindled after I moved. When I heard that Carla was ill, we reconnected. After her death, I visited Michel to see how he was doing.”
Michele: “That was at Easter 2014. Marjan said that her relationship was over. I thought: she doesn’t say that for nothing. That’s how it came to be.”
marjan: “We are very different, so there were some hesitations about getting into a relationship.”
Michele: „I come from a Catholic family with eight children, I speak dialect and I am not much of a tidy person. I did a secondary school for two years and then went to primary horticultural school. I have been a tree nurseryman, but also a diesel technician. I live in my parental home.”
marjan: “I’m from the west. My grandparents lived in Amsterdam, we went with them to Madame Tussaud and the Rijksmuseum. I myself did fashion and illustration at the art academy in Arnhem. Unlike Michel, I have moved twenty-five times in my life. Before I came to live here, I had a nice house in a forest near the Mookerhei.”
Michele: “What we share is our love for nature. And doing fun things together, like going to the movies and eating out.”
marjan: „Michel is straightforward, honest and reliable. That is important to me.”
Tango course
marjan: „We have a lat relationship on the same yard. We see each other a lot during the day, but after dinner we go to our own house. Michel built me a house in a barn. I eat there three nights a week. I like to be alone.”
Michele: “But working together at the campsite is fine.”
marjan: „We once did a tango course, but that was not a success. Those steps were too complicated for him.”
Michele: “She also dragged me to a ballet performance once, but it wasn’t. I was able to stay awake until the break, but after that it became difficult.”
marjan: “But having a drink together in the evening under the lean-to near my house is going very well!”
Michele: „I am a morning person, Marjan is at her best during the day and in the evening. Sometimes I’m standing next to the washing machine as early as five o’clock in the morning. As soon as I wake up, the idea machine in my head kicks in.”
marjan: “I definitely don’t want to live together in the same house. I like having my own place.”
Michele: „I don’t care, I’m easy at it. What is an advantage of a LAT relationship is that we can both have private conversations with our children.”
Four Days Marches
Michele: „Our rush hour is between April and October, when the campsite is open. Between the departure and arrival of guests there is a lot of work, mowing the lawn and cleaning and all that.”
marjan: “Then it is busy seven days a week and we can only take turns leaving home.”
Michele: “The Four Days Marches will pass here in July. Then we have many runners among our guests. We serve soup and sandwiches for the walkers.”
marjan: „We have a clear division of tasks at the campsite. Michel prunes and mows and does the rough work, I do the administration, clean the houses and put my soul and bliss in the plants and flowers on the site.”
marjan: “But after October it will be quiet for five months. In the winter I usually travel for two months, on my own. I have been to Nepal, I walked to Turin last year and next winter I want to cycle to Spain. Or in Spain, I don’t know yet.”
Michele: “I don’t want to come. And also not allowed. She really prefers to be alone, then she can relax.”
marjan: „We have never been away for more than one week, that was long enough. Then I want to do my own thing again.”
Michele: „We go to Texel for a few days a few times a year. To a luxury hotel on Texel with a sauna. I can let go of things well at home. If I drive down the street, I’m gone.”
marjan: „We always book the same room on Texel, we have already been there about fifteen times. We also spend very little money.”
Michele: “Last year I bought a shovel and at the moment I am investing money in the refurbishment of an old saloon car.”
marjan: “I am wasting money on my travels.”
Michele: “And we spend money on good food and drink. And on heat pipes that heat water.”
marjan“We have a lot of help from volunteers. There is someone who makes jam from our fruit and we press apples.”
Michele: “And someone who makes beer with grapes from our greenhouse and quinces from the garden.”
marjan: “We have also created a food garden. We do as much organic and sustainable as possible. We do not spray, have solar panels and use our own groundwater to irrigate the plants.”
Michele: “We invest in sustainable self-sufficiency.”
marjan: “At the beginning of our relationship, we set a probationary period of one and a half years, to see how it would go. All these years, we have evaluated our togetherness in the meantime and have always added to it.”
In Rush Hour, couples and singles tell how they combine work and private life. Participate? Mail to [email protected]