The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Verlaat's insight into Vietnam: "You have to get rid of all this crap in your head..."

2023-01-13T16:39:09.553Z


Köllner's creative ways out of the crisis - that's what Jesper Verlaat talked about in Part I of our interview. Part II is about insights after a trip to Asia.


Köllner's creative ways out of the crisis - that's what Jesper Verlaat talked about in Part I of our interview.

Part II is about insights after a trip to Asia.

You are known for sometimes breaking out of the professional hamster wheel.

Others enjoy five-star luxury in Dubai, they've backpacked around Vietnam.

How was it?

Verlaat:

Completely different than I imagined.

A great experience.

Before that you picture yourself in your head: you'll sleep in hostels, get to know people.

But first of all it's about questions like: Where do you leave your money, your mobile phone?

How do you lock your things?

I had imagined it completely differently.

And then?

Verlaat:

It was particularly impressive when I stayed with the locals.

I'm from Hanoi to the north, six hours by bus, to the rice fields.

I hiked there for three days with a tour guide.

We slept with the woman who did it.

Cooked together, met her children, her husband.

There you can see how they live - without television, with plastic chairs in the living room.

Kitchen like a barn, there was the feed for the animals, for chickens and pigs.

This was exactly the experience I was looking for.

Let's see something different.

So far I've been to Portugal every summer and Holland every winter - I just wanted to get out of this routine.

I didn't have internet, and I didn't get a mobile phone contract either – that was very reassuring, as if I had logged off from the world.

Jesper Verlaat on decelerating while backpacking through Vietnamese rice paddies.

Were you recognized on your tour of Vietnam?

Verlaat:

No, not a human.

Nobody knew or spoke to me.

I've met a lot of people, but they're completely different.

There was a Canadian, 53 years old.

He quit his job and has only been traveling for a year.

Or one from Frankfurt.

He was unemployed, lives on Hartz IV money - and has been on the road for four months.

When he gets a job again, in February, he flies back to Germany and works again.

How relaxed they are, how they tick!

A completely different world.

+

Eye-catcher: Jesper Verlaat after a swimming stop on his backpacking tour through northern Vietnam.

©Instagram

What did you take with you from this trip?

Verlaat:

Appreciate what you have.

I didn't have internet, and I didn't get a mobile phone contract either – that was very reassuring, as if I had logged off from the world.

When I got back home I felt a bit overwhelmed.

Alone how many things are standing around with me!

You tend to want more and more.

And when you see the people in Vietnam: They don't need much and are still happy.

What the trainer also preaches: you live in the here and now, not yesterday and not tomorrow.

You have to get rid of all this crap in your head, that's what I'm about too.

The lesson: Be happy with what you have.

There are still enough days later in life when things might not go so well.

Would you do a trip like this again?

Verlaat: Definitely

, but plan a bit differently.

Going to hostels again, but no longer with eight people in the room.

One coughed all night.

So I went out and walked around town.

Also: Nine days are too short, you're just stressed out if you want to see everything.

hard break.

Back to sport, to opponents Waldhof Mannheim, the strongest team at home in the 3rd division.

What are they so good at and what does 1860 have to do to win there?

The ex-Mannheimer expects a Hessen boiler on Saturday

Verlaat:

From my two-year experience, I can say that home games can be incredibly powerful – but only if they had a big chance or something.

It's tight, acoustically.

So it can get very loud.

A lot of games don't decide that until the final stages, so we have to play smart.

Is it already a final with a view to promotion places?

Verlaat:

No, the first half of the season isn't even over yet.

It's an important game because it's also against a direct competitor.

It is always important that you steal points in such duels.

What will matter in the remaining 21 games?

Verlaat:

That we can get out of the winter break well - and get back into a run.

As it was in the first games: You don't have to be good in every game, but you have to get your points consistently.

We have to be cool.

Experience has shown that the craziest things happen on the last six matchdays, when the last wins against the first.

Until then we have to be in good shape.

Interview: Uli Kellner

Source: merkur

All sports articles on 2023-01-13

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.