{"id":150312,"date":"2023-02-27T17:02:12","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T16:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=150312"},"modified":"2026-01-16T16:37:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T15:37:42","slug":"this-alumnus-became-a-goat-farmer-in-norway-and-now-he-builds-camper-vans-in-north-brabant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/02\/27\/this-alumnus-became-a-goat-farmer-in-norway-and-now-he-builds-camper-vans-in-north-brabant\/","title":{"rendered":"This alumnus became a goat farmer in Norway, and now he builds camper vans in North Brabant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maarten Bellaard earned a dual Bachelor\u2019s in Law and Business Economics and a Master\u2019s in Philosophy of Law. However, he was not interested in getting a job in his field. He wanted to work with his hands, preferably in nature.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPietro Carbucicchio<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

In the middle of the workshop, two stripped vans wait until they are ready to make a big trip. Around them are pieces of wood and all sorts of tools. The occasional sound of a circular saw can be heard, along with a happily barking dog. Here, on the outskirts of the town of Boxtel in Brabant, alumnus Maarten Bellaard (33) is accompanied by his dog Trom as he builds camper vans: converted vans in which you can travel, sleep and even cook.<\/p>\n

Confined<\/h2>

At the age of 15, Maarten says he was already \u2018doing a bit of tinkering and working on mopeds\u2019. However, in 2008, he chose a different path when he began studying Law and Business Economics in Rotterdam, with extra courses in philosophy. Eight years later, he also picked up a Master\u2019s degree in Philosophy of Law from Leiden University.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\u2018I felt confined, and I missed the freedom you have as an entrepreneur\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

But he discovered he did not really want to pursue that route. \u201cI thought the legal theory issues were interesting, but not the jobs\u201d, he concluded after internships at offices and a stint at a law firm in Rotterdam. \u201cI can\u2019t sit on my bum for eight hours\u201d, he says. \u201cI felt confined, and I missed the freedom you have as an entrepreneur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later on, as a freelance programme creator and debate editor, including at Studio Erasmus, he still was not fully in his element. \u201cI felt the need to try something different, because I didn\u2019t feel like doing something that didn\u2019t make me happy.\u201d One thing that still made him happy was working with his hands. \u201cOnly then did I realise that a hands-on job was also an option.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In a garage in Boxtel, Maarten builds camper vans.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPietro Carbucicchio<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Goat farm<\/h2>

Meanwhile, he and his girlfriend were \u2018itching\u2019 to trade Rotterdam for a more natural environment abroad. In 2017, Maarten therefore decided to study the senior secondary education programme in Biodynamic Agriculture, with the desire to become a farmer in Norway afterwards.<\/p>\n

That desire also meant building his first home-made camper van. He and his girlfriend regularly travelled through Norway in that van, looking for a farm to work on. And they found one, surrounded by nature on an island off the west coast. A Dutch couple there was looking for people who wanted to buy their goat farm. Six months later, in 2019, Maarten and his girlfriend packed their things and set off to become goat farmers.<\/p>\n

Most beautiful place ever<\/h2>

They initially worked together with the Dutch owners, with the aim of taking over the farm completely later on. Every day, Maarten would milk the goats, mow the grass and chop wood, which he then sawed into firewood in the sawmill. \u201cThat\u2019s also where I picked up my hobby, which taught me better woodworking skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maarten lived and worked on his own piece of land three times the size of the Woudestein Campus, with a forest, a lake and a stretch of the mountains where the goats roamed. \u201cThe most beautiful place I\u2019ve ever lived\u201d, as he describes it. And yet he never bought the farm. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the birth of his daughter caused too much uncertainty. \u201cIf you take over that kind of business, you don\u2019t do it for a year or 2 \u2013 it\u2019s a 15-year life choice\u201d, he says. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t make that choice at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Maarten on the goat farm with his daughter.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOwn photo<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Best job<\/h2>

Once he was back in the Netherlands, first in Barendrecht and then in Eindhoven, Maarten still had a few months of parental leave. \u201cIn the meantime, I wanted to do something with my hands, so I started fixing up another van.\u201d He soon discovered that he wasn\u2019t the only one who likes to travel around in camper vans, and he started his camper van business Nieuw Loof in Boxtel.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018I\u2019m working more now than ever before, but it doesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

His days are now \u2018super diverse\u2019: from talking to customers to making wooden furniture and installing solar panels on vans. He mainly spends a lot of time \u2018fussing over millimetres and fiddling around in crazy corners and spaces\u2019. \u201cIt\u2019s the best fun I\u2019ve ever had in a job\u201d, he says. \u201cIt\u2019s more intellectually challenging than being a goat farmer. As a farmer, you are bound by certain subsidies and a milk price, but that\u2019s about it. Now I have to figure out what I\u2019m going to do all by myself and come up with my own way to make money.\u201d<\/p>\n

And his business is doing well. He is getting more and more customers \u2013 \u2018mostly adventurous types\u2019 \u2013 and two self-employed workers have recently joined him at the workshop. He expects that, together, they can refurbish two vans each month. \u201cI\u2019m working more now than ever before, but it doesn\u2019t feel like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stark contrast<\/h2>

Still, Maarten misses life in the Norwegian outdoors. \u201cThat kind of place is in stark contrast to the Netherlands\u201d, he says. He is not exactly sure what his next stop will be. \u201cWe came back from Norway to reorient ourselves, and we\u2019re still in that phase.\u201d Still, he does not plan on leaving the workshop just like that. \u201cI\u2019m having a blast right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t