Who am I?

Hi, I’m Nick Platje, 39 years old and owner of travel agency Rewild. I love being physically active and especially outdoors. As a wilderness guide and Mountain Leader, I guide a lot of trips in all kinds of places. Therefore, I spend a large part of the year on the road in nature, sleep a lot outside, visit special places and my network and frame of reference is not limited to the Dutch borders. When I’m in the country I work a lot on my health, make my best contribution to Rewild together with a fantastic team, put energy into a vibrant social life (often combined with sporting activities!) and study Arabic. My days here fill with versatility: one day I’m hanging over a map to puzzle out a new trip and finish the day in the climbing gym, the next day we’re working with the team and going for a run in the dunes. Something else I enjoy doing on a regular basis is photography, especially while traveling of course.

If you had to draw a caricatured cartoon of yourself, what would it look like?

A little doll with black hair, shorts, t-shirt, trail shoes, headband and camera engaging in wild activities in an unfamiliar mountain area, in an unusual place, in a totally different culture and regurgitating local vocabulary with great abandon while failing hard, surrounded by local mountain people and Dutch companions, looking for adventure and food for curiosity.

What drives you in guiding?

In a previous life I worked in the Marine Corps where I was introduced to the outdoors on the road, self-reliance in nature and overcoming challenging circumstances together. Developing myself in these areas has brought me much personally and has been the beginning of an inquisitive driving force behind a life path full of idealism of which Rewild is an expression. As far as I am concerned, these wilderness journeys are not just adventures. For these kinds of ventures together imply a lot more.

While the trend of more inside, more digital, more comfort and more convenience continues, things on the go outside are often hard work, sometimes cashing in and very minimalist. Hands off and old-fashioned physical work, putting a lot of effort into basic things. Pioneering in an unfamiliar place and dealing with an unpredictable reality full of difficult situations that you know are going to present themselves but not yet in what form. So why seek this out anyway? Because that effort pays off in satisfaction, pride and euphoria. Because doing it anyway, creates confidence in one’s own abilities and at the same time healthy humility, prompted by the uncontrollability and grandeur of the wilderness. The feeling of being able to manage yourself and that things will work out even though at times you may not yet know how. To find contentment in simplicity, find richness in sobriety and learn to put things into perspective with humor. And perhaps most importantly, to feel oneness with the nature around you.

Being thrown back together at the base depending on each other creates an atmosphere of belonging, a sense of connectedness, regardless of everyone’s origins and backgrounds. A state beyond cultivation, conditioning, ideological frameworks and status where mutual understanding emerges. The encounters with other lifestyles, dissenters and other cultures that sharpen your mind and enrich your perspective. The feeling of being off the radar days away from civilization. Experiencing real things, memorable things. Experiencing the serenity and nature intensely. The dynamics of the group and the sociability among themselves. For me, this is pure fuel for life. And it gives me fulfillment to be able to be of service to others in this when I can contribute in an equally meaningful journey for someone else.

Do you have a great anecdote or special wilderness experience worth sharing?

During one of the covid years, we went on a group trip to the nomads in Iran. This ended up being one of those trips where everything went wrong and then came right again. It started with the covid travel documents. Iran had relaxed them, but the inspectors on duty thought otherwise. So: testing, then being late, rebooking flights, adjusting program and improvising. Once in Iran, things had been left behind in Istanbul. We had to make do with what we had. But the bags that were there then bounced along the Iranian highway because the tailgate of the cab was closed Iranian style. Once on the road in the mountains with the caravan, we lost some sleeping gear from the donkey during a move in the dark. Fortunately, the nomads still had a Persian rug to lie on. With first light but a hike the same way back to pick the gear out of the field. After a firm trek through the Zagros Mountains we arrived at our final destination where our pickup was supposed to be waiting for us, but by now we knew that everything on this trip would be Iranian. After hours of searching to make contact I stumbled upon a little house where we finally managed to call for the pickup with a land line connection. And it was so late that we had to rush to the airport. To make matters worse, stuff was left behind in the rush. Fine lesson in flexibility!

Which wilderness destination is still on your bucket list and why?

A tiny crossing right through Socotra seems like a great experience!

Do you have a message for the people reading this?

I wish the feeling of the wilderness for everyone. Would you like to experience that but have doubts? Then reach out and let me know. Because we are ordinary people without supernatural powers and if we can do this, so can you. From watching to participating. From uncertainty to confidence. From screen to outside. From ignorant to self-reliant. We will help you with this.