012 - Why I took a 6-month break from travel & work to stay at home
Announcing some major life events in a personal life update
I start this edition with some apologies. I promised you an update here on Substack every 2 weeks. However, life has been incredibly hectic lately, so 2 weeks ago there was sudden radio silence. But here I am, sharing why things are chaotic at the moment (in a good way!)
Since diving full-time into photography in 2018, I quickly noticed in the first few years that I barely knew anyone in the industry. Coming from a corporate background, without any formal education in film or photography, let alone an MFA under my belt, I wasn’t just missing a community of photography buddies, I also felt like I had to work twice as hard to creatively challenge myself and push boundaries.
Luckily, I come from a family where hard work is the norm, and now, 7 years later, I finally feel that I’ve arrived at a creative point in my career, that I’ve been striving toward for years. But getting here meant not a minute of rest, just go, go, go.
In those early years, I was on the road 10 months a year.
But when our daughter Lily was born in 2021, everything changed. I forced myself to be more mindful about what I say “yes” and “no” to. Those 10 months quickly became 6, assignments being no longer than 2/3 weeks at a time.
“How do you do that with a child?”
A fair question, and one I asked myself many times before she was born. And to be honest, without the incredible support of devoted, and loving grandparents and my wife Jess who fully stands behind all of my choices, it simply wouldn’t have been possible.
For the first two years, it worked well. But as Lily grew older, I noticed she became more aware of my absence. So I brought 6 months down to 4.
Her birth also shifted how I structured my business. I wanted to be more intentional with how much time I spent away from home versus the income that time generated.
That’s when the idea of running photography expeditions was born, initially as an experiment, with a first trip to Kenya for 8 guests. Fast-forward 4 years, and I now run a full-scale expedition business with annual, sold-out trips to Kenya, Tanzania, the Himalayas, Zambia, Patagonia, and many more destinations on the horizon.
It’s a dream come true.
But it also comes at a price. The obvious downside is being away from home, missing those ‘first times’ of your kids. But truth is, upon return, there’s always another ‘first time’ for me. A more silent downside, is the fact that 70/80% of my work-related travel now revolves around expeditions.
To stay creatively challenged and relevant in my field, I need to keep working on personal projects too. One of those, photographed in Chilean Patagonia, has been a thread running through the last 6 years of my life and will be published as a book in early 2026.
Which means it was time to start thinking about the next project. But then the next question pops up, how and when do you know you’ve started a new project?
Often that realisation comes in hindsight. I never really plan for it. But lately I felt I was on to something, until we found out Jess was pregnant with our second child earlier this year (woohoo!).
That news made me pull the brake and triggered another big round of reflection.
What do I want life to look like when we have two kids? One of the first things that came up, was the desire to have a more solid, quieter base. Away from the city buzz. Closer to ocean, with more access to nature and more space for our kids.
I decided to clear my calendar, and from March 2025 onwards, I’ve been home in Amsterdam. 4 months and counting, and I love it.
The past years were extremely hectic that I had forgotten how wonderful it feels to not always be on the move.
But it does not mean I am sitting still. Quite the opposite.
We decided to sell our Amsterdam home and leave the city after 12 years. Instead, we purchased an old house in Haarlem that needed to be completely renovated and restored. We’re doing the majority of the work ourselves, meaning I’ve been on-site every day for the last 3 months. So far, so good, we’re on schedule. The renovation is set to be completed just one week before our second daughter is due, mid-September.
Perfect planning, right?
In addition, the political situation in the U.S., and the global unrest it triggers, was a personal reason to relaunch Prints for Wildlife, my little fundraising baby I co-founded with Marion Payr in 2020 as a response to the collapse of tourism in Africa during COVID. Back then, we raised $2.1 million for conservation and, like the virus, quietly disappeared in 2022.
But now, with Trump actively dismantling USAID, and knowing the catastrophic consequences this will have, we felt we had to take our responsibility. Partly, because I always deeply believed in the soothing and healing power of art.
So this summer, we’re launching Edition Hope, a bold rebranding of the Prints for Wildlife initiative, supporting the work of Conservation International.
Launching a campaign of this scale takes focus, and time. And now that I’ll be in the Netherlands for 8 months, renovating our future home, the timing couldn’t be better.
Lastly, preparations for my next book are in full swing (more soon!). That means meetings with the publisher, designers, and printers, and building a big Kickstarter campaign that’s set to go live later this year (so get ready!)
The production of this body of work is my most important work related priority at the moment.
All in all, 2025 is a year of big life events for me, a year I’ve intentionally carved out to slow down and gain clarity on what’s next.
It’s also a year where I’ve had to say “no” to some amazing opportunities, but the bigger picture now takes the lead. And that feels really good.
When later this year, the 4 of us are settled in our new home and rhythm, I’ll pick up travel again, kicking off with hosting my annual Kenya Expedition in November ‘25.
In 2026 a lot of incredible assignments have been laid out. I can’t wait.
I hope you appreciate more personal life chit chat, drop me a comment below.
It’s one of the reasons I started this Substack, to engage with all of you on a deeper, more meaningful level.
Love, Pie
Where Else Can You Find Me?
Website: www.pieaerts.com
Instagram: @BecausePeopleMatter & @PieAerts
Let’s build something meaningful together.
So exciting!!