A Holiday Whithout Shame

30 mei 2025

The morning sun shines on campervans and tents, drying the dew. Willows rustle softly and the smell of camping coffee rises from a small gas stove. The campsite slowly awakens as the first children shuffle toward the water-and-mud playground in their sandals.

This is sustainable camping.

Look a little closer, and you’ll see a man loading his breakfast dishes into the dishwasher. A woman strolls calmly toward the sauna.

This too, is sustainable camping.

Going on a sustainable holiday—we all feel it’s necessary. But many people still find it difficult. After all, a holiday should feel like a holiday, and giving up comfort doesn’t exactly evoke that feeling for most.

With growing awareness of the climate crisis came a focus on the footprint we leave behind. It had to be smaller, and that meant doing less. Less flying, less meat, less consumption. Separate your waste, use energy-saving lightbulbs, and no more plastic cups. And if you slip up? Then flight shame, ski shame, or even lifestyle shame lurks around the corner.

But how meaningful is it really if we strip down our old lifestyle so much that no one truly enjoys it anymore—and the planet isn’t fundamentally helped either? That 1.5-degree warming has already been reached. It’s time to look beyond.

Forward

It can be different. If we stop focusing on what’s no longer allowed and start focusing on how to do things better. We found confirmation of this in recent years, right here on our own patch of earth: ONS BUITEN.

Around 2020, we changed course. The soil on the grounds was exhausted—and, truth be told, so were the people. First, we planted willows and herbs. By pruning them in summer and shredding the energetic, green trimmings to lay back on the soil, that soil gradually became richer.

Mounds of pruned wood—Hügelkultur—appeared. Hundreds of new trees were planted. The landscape regained gentle slopes so that excess rainwater could collect in lower-lying areas: the wadis.

These changes have attracted more birds, insects, and small mammals to the site. The soil is already looser, more fertile, and increasingly alive—allowing new trees to root more easily.

This isn’t just about protecting nature—this is about creating it.

Spiral Thinking

In the midst of all this abundance, space opened up for a sauna and swimming pool. Not as a compromise, but as part of a philosophy. The building is circular in design, the technology is innovative, and the energy required for heating is partly generated and stored locally.

Dishwashers stand in the sanitary buildings. A rare luxury while camping—but one that uses less water and energy than washing by hand.

Waste? Those are raw materials—and that’s exactly how they’re treated here. This is how ONS BUITEN is becoming an eco-effective enterprise, step by step.

Luxury?

Old luxury might mean a hot tub, air conditioning, or an all-you-can-eat buffet. But in a world where overstimulation, climate anxiety, and resource scarcity are the norm, peace, space, mindfulness, and a connection to nature are becoming increasingly valuable. New luxury might just be waking up to birdsong instead of traffic. Sipping your coffee in the morning sun, enjoying the shade of a tree—without the hum of an AC unit in the background. New luxury is a dishwasher and a sauna with the feeling that you’re not a burden to the planet.

Not despite, but because of our sustainable choices, many guests describe ONS BUITEN as a luxurious place.

Flourish

Sustainable tourism is still often placed in a niche. Something for idealists with sleeping mats and bare feet. That image no longer holds. More and more people are consciously looking for destinations that reflect their values. Where you don’t have to choose between comfort and a clear conscience. New generations are setting a new standard.

This creates a responsibility for the industry. Sustainability is not a sacrifice or an empty marketing buzzword. It is an opportunity—for innovation, for beauty, for abundance.

The time of pulling up paving stones is over. It’s time to let the earth flourish again. Not by taking less, but by giving better. To the planet—and to ourselves.