Off the Charts 1 - Beat Columbus to America

📅 Sunday, 11 October 2026 🕥 10:30 📍 Venlo Station — P+R Stationsplein On 12 October 1492, Christopher Columbus reached the Americas. On 11 October 2026, we’re going to try to beat him there. Columbus had three ships, a compass and an experienced crew. We have a few cars, Google Maps and what we hope will be a reasonably competent navigation team. Our mission is simple: REACH AMERICA BEFORE LUNCH. 10:30 — Venlo Crew assembled. Vehicles assigned. Confidence: unnecessarily high. Our first destination is Egypt. So far, everything appears to be under control. 🇪🇬 Egypt We have successfully reached Egypt. This is encouraging. America is unfortunately not here. We continue. ❄️ Siberia Things have taken an unexpected turn. This was not on Columbus’s route. We appear to have travelled in almost entirely the wrong direction. Questions are raised about the navigation team. The navigation team declines to comment. 🇦🇹 Austria Things are looking better. For the first time in some time, we are actually travelling west. Confidence in the navigation team begins to recover. Perhaps America is still achievable. We continue. 🇦🇺 Australia Never mind. Somewhere between Austria and America, something has gone badly wrong. There are no kangaroos. There is also no convincing explanation for why an expedition travelling west has somehow ended up in Australia. Confidence in the navigation team is revised accordingly. At this point, turning back would only make things worse. Columbus sailed west. We’re taking the scenic route. 🇺🇸 America Eventually — assuming the cars, Google Maps and basic human judgement all cooperate — we should reach America before lunch. One day before Columbus. Admittedly, Columbus crossed an ocean. We will have driven around Limburg. History will decide whether this distinction matters. Once America has been discovered At this point, the expedition becomes unexpectedly respectable. America is a small Limburg village on the edge of the Peel, with its own local history and a landscape worth exploring even without the deeply questionable route required to reach it. We’ll have lunch in America, discover some of the village’s history and visit the Peelmuseum. Afterwards, we plan to head into the Peel for an approximately 8 km walk through the landscape (if time and weather allows it). Finally, assuming the expedition has not irreparably damaged group morale, we’ll celebrate the successful discovery of America with drinks. 📈 What is Off the Charts? Off the Charts is where Art Food and Fun puts the ideas that don’t really fit anywhere else. Unnecessarily complicated journeys. Questionable concepts. Strange places. Plans that probably should have remained jokes. This is our designated nonsense department. The only requirement is that somewhere beneath the questionable decision-making there should still be something genuinely worth discovering — history, culture, landscapes, unusual places, food, drinks, or preferably several of those at once. Please do not expect good judgement. 🚗 How it works This is a car-based event. We meet at 10:30 at Venlo Station, where we’ll organise ourselves into cars before departure. When you RSVP, please indicate whether: you are driving and can take passengers; or you need a seat in someone else’s car. You only need to reach Venlo independently. From there, responsibility becomes collective. 🥾 Important: the afternoon walk The planned afternoon programme includes an approximately 8 km walk through the Peel. Please make sure you are comfortable walking that distance and bring suitable shoes and clothing for the weather. 👟 Practical information This is a full-day event, involving several stops, driving, lunch, a museum visit and walking. Lunch, drinks, museum admission and personal expenses are paid individually. Car allocation and final practical information will be shared with participants before the event. MISSION: Reach America before lunch. ROUTE: Egypt → Siberia → Austria → Australia → America. ATLANTIC CROSSINGS REQUIRED: 0. CONFIDENCE IN NAVIGATION TEAM: variable. See you in Venlo.