OUR STORY
We are Ansan and Saskia, India and Netherlands, Black and White Travelers.
The non-profit organisation Sebastian Indian Social Projects (SISP) and the Kovalam Surf Club have been of great value in our lives. This is the place where we have met and where our story together begins.
After Kovalam and some time separate, we could live and work for one year in Pondicherry (Tamil Nadu); as physical education teacher at a local primary and secondary school (Akshara Vidyaashram, Cuddalore) and surf instructor at Kallialay Surf School.
Then we got the chance to work again for SISP and the Kovalam Surf Club (Kerala), this time for 2 years as Sports Coordinator and Surf Instructor.
In 2018 we got married in Denmark and moved to Portugal to work in a guest house and as surf instructor in Ericeira, a fisherman village and surf town just north of Lisbon.
And here we are now; travelling through Europe and ready to share our adventures with you!
Our dream is to explore the world, but also to combine our travels with doing something good for local projects like SISP, who are working with and for the poor. That's why we decided to start travelling through Europe, to enjoy the nature, see more culture and to share our travel story with you. Our aim is to bring more attention and finally financially support (from the money we make with Social Media) to this project. At the same time we want to live our life simple and happy.
ANSAN & SASKIA
(and our buddy Scooby...)
ANSAN
I am Ansan Albert, born and grown up in a small fisherman village called Vizhinjam (south India, Kerala, near the capital Trivandrum). My father still goes fishing and my mother sells fish to the houses. I have one older brother, he is married and has a child.
After finishing my school (10th standard), I was a tuk-tuk driver in my village. While driving tuk-tuk I worked in the fish factory in my village as well. Here they buy the fish from the fisherman, early morning arriving from the ocean, to export them to bigger factories all over India. When I was 18 I started surfing with Kovalam Surf Club and my whole life started to change.. I met so many people from other countries, learned English and became a Surf Instructor with the help of Kovalam Surf Club and SISP. One year after I met Saskia and we fell in love. With the help of Saskia her parents, the Surf Club and SISP, I got the chance to come to Europe for the first time (2014). It made a huge impact on my life; I felt like I was in a different world..
I want to use Social Media to share our travel photo's and video's, to give more awareness about different cultures and to show the world without judgement, just the way it is.
SASKIA
I am born and grown up with my two brothers in Uitgeest, a village in the Netherlands. I have always been interested in sports; as a small girl I loved gymnastics and after that I practised kickboxing for around 10 years. I feel very lucky and grateful for the way I grown up, for the safety and support my family gave to me.
For my studies as Physical Education Teacher I went for an internship to Zambia, to start up a sports project in the communities around Livingstone. After my graduation I have worked as sports teacher in different primary, secondary and high school in the Netherlands. Sport is a great way to connect with people, with children. In 2011 I have been to Brasil, to volunteer in a surf school, to teach sports and give awareness classes in the communities of Fortaleza. I guess, my heart lays with social- and development work because for the same reason I went to India, to teach sports at Akshara Vidyaashram, a primary and secondary school in Tamil Nadu (India). After my work there I came to volunteer at the Kovalam Surf Club in the south of Kerala, where I met Ansan :)
I would like to continue supporting social projects like SISP, to help other people wherever I can.
SCOOBY
Last Christmas our friend Scooby chose to hang around with us instead of living in the streets. Since then he is joining us on our journey, guiding us on our hikes and being our guard in the nights. But most of all, he is our best friend :)
