Hi there!
We’re Rice and Fries, even though we don’t match on a plate, we do our very best to do so in every other aspect of life. Our goal is to share all our crazy traveling and craft beer loving adventures with you, even though we both have full-time jobs, a house and a big cat!
This blog is our way to give anyone inspiration to travel the world, find that perfect spot to taste awesome craft beer, or just relax and forget about everything… Big trips, small trips, far away, close to home, any adventure matters. The world is a huge place, with so many great things to explore. We hope we can bring everyone a little bit closer with our blog to anything that’s out there.
Always remember:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain
Where did it start?
Finance degrees and chance (or destiny?) brought us together in the beautiful university city of Leuven, Belgium. We have lived both in Belgium and in China, and over a period of five years we had a bucket full of travels and adventures in Europe and China. Yet, in 2016, we decided to take the big leap, change our small lives and go for it: the Big Trip.
Who’s Ms. Rice?
She is literally made in China, goes by the name of Xue (which means snow) and comes from a small city called Xinxiang (so small, only 6 million people).
She talks a lot (if not, then I am in trouble). She friends people around (real life, not virtual stuff), so we fit in a new place before we realize that we are new. She is a foodie but quite easy to feed. She does not want to be tanned and does make a lot of weird efforts. Plus, sometimes she does show the two figures thing (Chinese V sign) in the photos.
Likes: first of all, Bubbles (our cat), food, wine, beer, sleep (very long), six packs, travelling, challenging new things, most important, Mr. Fries.
Does not like: long bus rides, bugs, Mr. Fries’ budget speeches, unfriendly people, to hear NO
Meet Mr. Fries
Always difficult to write about yourself. I like normality, so I see myself as a pretty normal, down-to-earth straightforward guy. No extremes, on both ends. The beautiful modesty of a Belgian!
I’m the beer geek (lover, aficionado, …) of the travel couple, which already has led to several basements stocked with craft beer. If I’m not tasting anything new, I’m probably playing some amateur level football (yes, soccer), badminton, learning a new language (what’s next after Spanish and Chinese?) or a new sport (skiing/snowboarding, scuba diving, …) or reading about our next destination. Maybe not extremely brave, yet that’s what my name means in Dutch (Koen). Oh yeah, I love planning a trip!
And numbers: every team needs a number cruncher!
Likes: tasty beers, food (pretty much anything), hiking, road trips, oceans, snow
Does not like: too much rain, too long sleep, bumpy flights, getting sick on a trip
The Rice and Fries Adventures Blog
We started our blog in June 2016, when we were in full planning and preparation mode for our Big Trip. The whole concept of this blog is based on 2 pillars: our love for travel, finding exciting places in search of adventure, and our passion for craft beer, where true innovative craftsmanship is mastered in one glass!
What’s next?
- Japan – great food, special shops (you know haha 🙂 ), Chinese culture reserved in a non-Chinese country. And more food!
- Iceland – they all said it is beautiful, there’s some light thing
- USA – East Coast – a cool road trip with Mr. Fries, for hiking. And beer!
- Antarctica – see the penguins and do cool things (literally cool, I mean, swimming there, kayaking). Before 2021, as promised.
- Cappadocia, Turkey – to fly in the balloons
- Russia/Mongolia – by traveling via the Transsiberian railway towards Beijing
- Nepal – Mount Everest Base Camp hike is high on the must do list
- Kenya/Tanzania – catching the Big Five (with my eyes 🙂 ), hiking up Kilimanjaro and scuba diving at the Tanzania shores
- North Korea – solo trip, to see what’s going on over there
- Kyrgyzstan – chose one of the -Stans, because they seem such a black box.
Visited countries.
