24 The Planet
When people ask me where 24 The Planet really began, I usually go back to one period in my life when everything became quiet. Covid had shut the world down. I was suddenly home in Amsterdam with time to think. For the first time in years I did not have back to back flights or meetings. And in that stillness, a simple realisation surfaced. I cared about the state of the world, but I was not doing anything about it.
At that moment the refugee crisis in Lesbos was all over the news. I kept thinking about the people stuck there and I felt a pull to help. My first idea was naive. I wanted to rent a truck, fill it with supplies and drive it to Greece. The organisation I contacted told me politely that this was not useful at all. What they really needed was money.
I had raised funds before during my Ironman, so linking physical challenge with social impact made sense to me. I asked myself what I could do without preparation. I knew I could walk. That is how the idea of walking for 24 hours came up.
I convinced three friends to join me. We walked loops through the Vondelpark and used something we called Mini Moments to get through the night. That idea came from a man who once rowed from New York to Rotterdam. He taught us to focus on the next two hours rather than the whole distance. That structure became part of our culture.
Because Amsterdam was still in lockdown, everyone was desperate for something social. By accident our strange all night walk in an empty office became the most exciting thing happening in the city that weekend. People showed up to cheer us on. We raised more than thirty thousand euros. That experience showed me something important. If you create a simple path for people to do good together, they will show up.
The year after, we shifted our focus to climate. That is when 24 For Lesbos became 24 The Planet. It was harder. Only eleven walkers joined. There was no lockdown magic. At one point I wondered if I should stop. Then Budapest reached out wanting to organise their own local walk. That message changed everything. It showed me this could become a movement and not just my personal project.
Today 24 The Planet has grown far beyond anything I imagined in those first quiet weeks of Covid. Together we have raised more than EUR 400K for climate action and humanitarian causes. Through our partnership with Justdiggit we have already supported the regreening of more than 450 hectares of dry and degraded land in Africa. That is land that can now hold water again, grow vegetation and cool the local climate. And we are only getting started.
The walks themselves remain my favourite part. You see people step into something they are not sure they can do. Twenty four hours on your feet sounds extreme. But somewhere between the night hours and the sunrise something shifts. People finish. They surprise themselves. And when they do, the world around them feels a bit more possible. That effect stays with them long after the walk ends.
It also aligns with how I tend to approach life. I believe that anything is possible when you understand the system you operate in and take the next tangible step. 24 The Planet gives people both. A clear action. A community around it. And a direct line of sight to real world impact.
Looking ahead, I see walks happening in every major city. Local communities taking ownership. Corporate teams joining to contribute in a meaningful way. Students raising their first fundraising euro. Families walking together. A global movement built around one simple idea. Show up. Walk. Regreen the world.
It still amazes me that all of this grew out of a quiet moment during a pandemic. But when I look back, it feels inevitable. A small idea. A few friends. A willingness to try. And the belief that real change does not start with scale. It starts with a step.