Blog: Natalie Vermorken

"Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, we are never leaving here!"

As I write this, so many beautiful memories of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen come to mind. When I was young, I lived with my parents, my brother, and my sister on a farm in Schuddebeurs (Hulst). We had a vegetable garden, some animals like horses, sheep, free-range chickens, two dogs, and cats to keep the mice away. And although it mostly started as a hobby at the time, it eventually turned into quite a serious venture. My father mainly worked outside the home, so my mother ran the farm for the most part. Man, what a life we actually had. It was never boring with us. I saw lambs being born, saw lambs being saved on the kitchen table while I was eating a sandwich, and I even got to bottle-feed them. I skated in the meadow with my brother and sister because sometimes there was water there and it would freeze over. I could throw the best birthday parties in the barn. And whenever we felt like having a smoothie, I would just pop into the garden. I grew up with a kind of freedom that I didn’t appreciate nearly as much back then as I do now. At the time, I didn’t realize I was growing up in such a free way. By the time I was old enough to go to college, I oddly couldn’t pack my suitcase fast enough to go live my “own” life. I was ready to discover the rest of the world.
 
I started in Vlissingen and then went to Heerlen, and for an internship I eventually ended up in Tilburg. And I really enjoyed that last part, because it felt like almost everyone from Hulst was in Tilburg. So every Sunday evening, we would leave with a car full of people for our little apartment where we lived with a bunch of people from Zeeland. In hindsight, this was the first sign that I always enjoyed having a connection to Zeeland.
But still, I stayed far away from Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and even left for America for a while. When I finally returned to the Netherlands, I lived a bit everywhere. Pretty soon I met Koen. The sparks flew quickly and we both knew it was serious. Before I knew it, I was building a life in Eindhoven. I had a fantastic job, we bought our first house. And soon after, we had our first child, Willem. And as the cherry on top, we had the most beautiful wedding we could have wished for. Our life probably seemed perfect to everyone around us. But still, I was missing something.
 
I wanted more peace and after three years we decided to move to Duizel. An idyllic little village because everything looks so beautiful there, I had to be able to find peace here! Of course, it didn’t help that we decided to almost completely renovate this house. And when that was nearly finished, we got a puppy and not long after, our second child, Lieke, arrived. Even with what was for us the perfect house, beautiful children, and a dog, I kept feeling a kind of restlessness.

This restlessness always disappeared as soon as we went to my parents in Hulst. Usually, we would stay for the weekend. And when, on the drive back from Hulst to Duizel, I once again felt resistance to going home, Koen said the redeeming words. Words that felt unreal to me. Words I had certainly heard in my head before, but which I didn’t think could be reality because I thought Koen’s job was very important. But he really said: “Why don’t we see if we can live in Hulst?”
 
This was the moment to take this step. Even though it all happened very quickly. We knew there were a lot of job openings in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen for Koen at that time, and my business (photography) could easily move with us. The housing market had reached its peak in value, which was good for selling our house. We found our dream house in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in no time, in Sint Jansteen (just a few minutes from Hulst). That same week, Koen also found a great job.

We literally gave up everything in Brabant and took the plunge, fully trusting that the Zeeuws-Vlaanderen region could offer us everything. And it has worked out fantastically! Was it scary? Yes, sometimes. But it felt so right that it just had to work out. And I don’t know if it’s the Zeeuws-Vlaanderen air, or the fact that you can be at the coast in just under twenty minutes, or that my family and friends are all so close now, or because my roots are really here (or all of the above?). But my restlessness is gone. We are never leaving here!