The first talk was of a young TUE student (Gijs de Boer) and his friends who wanted to go on a road trip around Europe in the beginning of summer 2015. Being Dutch, they wanted it to be cost effective too. Most would think yes, they would have got a good old caravan or a camping vehicle and gone, the typical Dutch way to travel and of course most cost effective. But hold on - they are a bunch of creative young minds and wanted to put their talents to use. They wrote to few manufacturers of electric cars and asked if they would fund their trip! What do the manufacturers get in exchange? A documentation of their trip, publicity and generating interest among the youth for such an adventure. So at the end they had electric cars and a <link http: www.electricroadmovie.com _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>trip to remember. 
Second was a young girl from the borders of The Netherlands and Belgium, who received an email asking “Do u want to live in a castle?”. While most of us would have marked it as spam, she replied to the email saying Yes! When called for a visit, it was indeed a castle but in very poor shape and no amenities at all. The decision had to be made on the spot, she chose to say ‘Yes’ once again, due to a strained budget. However living there, she and her twin slowly started<link http: www.kasteeltweeling.nl _blank external-link-new-window external link in new> restoring it! And are now in the process of partnering with rehabilitation centers and other interested parties to make it visitable and livable! -
At the end of these two stories, I thought to myself, maybe the Dutch seem to be thrifty, but it is in the pursuit of doing something adventurous, something creative, something different! Being the pioneers of many things and further ahead than most countries, I can only imagine this to be the reason at the moment.