Straight through the Low Countries is addictively lazy television: ‘We are not used to allowing boredom’

All things considered, it was a stroke of luck. Forced by corona to stay closer, the Netherlands and Belgium tracked down the popular television walker Arnout Hauben. Nothing Mediterranean or further away: no, Hauben just goes here on foot. The report of this walk through Belgium and the Netherlands, broadcast in the Netherlands by VPRO, unexpectedly became a big hit two years ago.

Now Hauben (48) is walking through the same area again. This time from Lauwersoog to the southernmost seaside resort in Flanders, De Panne. A journey of 1000 kilometers, again with the same friends, cameraman Philippe Niclaes and soundman Ruben Callens. Of course walking again, with our backpacks on. “This trip is almost a celebration,” says Hauben. “We thoroughly enjoyed it from the first step. I think that is also reflected in the images.”

As always, you strike up conversations along the way. What is also striking this time: those conversations often start very modestly.

“I don’t have bigger goals. Of course, I am not an interviewer looking for current events. People feel safe with that, I think. Safer than when I start talking about current events. Let me give you an example. We had only just left. After walking twelve kilometers through Friesland we came across the first farmer. He got very angry with us because we were filming in his yard. Of course he thought: that’s a film crew, and the newspapers are full of nitrogen, everyone is inciting each other. It’s the farmers against the media. But we just said, ‘Sir, no problem, we’re just looking for a place to have a picnic’.”

“We offered him a piece of French bread. And the moment he saw that French bread he thawed. Complete. Because he had family in France, he said. Our conversation then turned to that family. Who no longer speaks Frisian. And so, over the years, it had become more difficult for this farmer to communicate with them. This led to an intimate conversation. Based on a French baguette. While at first he saw us as intruders. What also makes a difference: of course we simply walk past with backpacks. We are not slick reporters who get out of a van, question people, steal their story and quickly drive back to home base.”

You actually don’t choose the tourist hotspots at all. Why not?

“It is often not what you look at, but the way you look that is important. For me it doesn’t have to be the largest cathedral or the largest market square. I actually enjoy experiencing something special in less special places. I have embraced walking myself. I see walking as wandering. I know in advance where I want to end up, but I can just as easily leave that idea behind me intuitively and take a side path. And yet paying attention to a detail, or to someone else than I previously thought. It doesn’t all have to be done quickly. There is a slowing down of life in that walking. That slow way of traveling anchors me to a landscape and the people who live there.”

That slow one also sounds a bit old-fashioned.

“Yes, that’s old-fashioned, but it’s also authentic, I think. We are no longer used to doing things slowly. To allow for a bit of boredom. Walking brings us back to that base. Only to be surprised again. I also like to be amazed and inspired myself.”

What does the viewer learn about the nature of people in your programs?

“If you watch the news or read the newspapers every day, you cannot help but become an anxious person. But when you go for a walk, your worldview is completely adjusted again. Then you will indeed notice that you can always find a place to sleep. That people always want to show the way. And offer you coffee. That gives confidence in the world. I’ve been on a lot of hikes, but I’ve rarely gotten into any real trouble.”

Major changes await the public broadcaster. Do programs like this still have a future?

“I hope they are not in danger. A look at the world and at ourselves, with some humor and perspective, and history: I like that mix in our type of programs. And I like the polyphony that TV offers. We must continue to embrace that. If we start cutting that… In a democracy, public broadcasting has an important role to play. Precisely because of that polyphony and the view of the world. Money must be handled with care, I understand that. But to put the ax to it? That is taking the ax to a democratic window on the world.”

Dwars door de Lage Landen can be seen every Sunday at 8:15 PM on NPO 2.