A Trip to Freedom

Stef himself

I hear of Stef before i even get to meet him. Duncan tells me about this “Dutch Guy” who left for Ibo the previous day and both Pippa and James met Stef in Malawi and both took “A Trip to Freedom”.

He sounds like a guy i wanna meet, and when i pass a young guy resting on a wall wearing a “Life Is Good” t-shirt i know i have found him. Within 5 minutes we have covered Chomskyism, Buddhism and the nature of connections.

In his blurb on his flyers he describes “The Trip” as “an ideal way to gain awareness of:
• Where are you on your personal development
• What you would like to change
• What is keeping you from actually doing so
He’ll also buy you a “soulful drink” providing you pay him for his services.

Stef van Beek describes himself as a self-awareness coach and life artist. He writes material that can be found at www.triptofreedom.com and www.globalsoul.nl/English/coaching He vehemently denies my accusations of being a hippy and makes interesting company. No doubt our paths are likely to cross again as he heads northwards up the continent also.

Like so many of his compatriots he is a multi-linguist, but tells me speaking Portuguese has barely helped him through Mozambique. He is quite scathing of the Mozambicans’ soul and has been giving “free Trips” to some of the locals. He does indeed make connections with others.