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Comment by tdons | Hacker News Reader

Don't think of this as dropping your kids in say, the High Sierras or Death Valley ;-)

This is actually an extremely safe thing, nothing much can go wrong. Some supporting facts:

Our entire country (The Netherlands) measures roughly 161mi by 93mi and is densely populated. There's always a dwelling nearby. Consequently it's impossible to get really lost.

We also have no natural dangers to speak of, no deadly animals, no dangerous terrain, no raging rivers (we don't have mountains).

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There's a small 707 acre park in the middle of a small island in Canada (Gabriola island, next to Nanaimo city), you wouldn't believe the number of people that get lost every year and don't get found till the next day or two.

I think it is important to say this indeed. I also did "dropping" as a kid, and later with kids, but the only thing that "spoiled it" was cheaters that find a phone in 1 hour and call a cab.

I haven't heard It being done for a while now, is it still a thing in this time of fear and smartphones?

Yes, their own phones are confiscated (for most of the camp).

TBH last time we did one each group just had one adult with them, they'd just stay silent the whole time and follow along. So it was a bit boring. But we did that because we only had a few people and one car, and couldn't keep track of the whereabouts of the groups otherwise.

Well, I can understand that, it depends on the age of the children also.

>We also have no natural dangers to speak of

Except for the eikenprocessierupsen

For the English speaking folks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_processionary

This particular caterpillar has seen explosionary growth and when it sheds its copious hairs, they cause extreme irritation.

Sounds like it needs a sign. Beware of attack caterpillars!

Drug addicts are known to keep attack caterpillars locked and loaded, protecting their stash. Rumor has it they’re distantly related to attack porcupines

Fun fact: You may find signs warning of the oak processionary moth in some of the woods in Vienna, Austria[1].

[1]: https://www.vienna.at/2018/05/eichen-wien-16-9-017650366-650...

"Our entire country (The Netherlands) measures roughly 161mi by 93mi.....Consequently it's impossible to get really lost"

You aren't really lost until you aren't in the country you thought you were in. Its possible to lose yourself to Greece say, without crossing a hard border. So the area to get lost in is quite a bit bigger.

It's really obvious when you cross the NL/BE or NL/DE borders though, signage becomes different, houses look different. So unless you cross the border in a wooded area, you will definitely know.

"houses look different"

Really? Just over the border? I would have thought cross pollination over the years would have rendered housing styles identical. Plus aren't there streets where one half is Dutch, the other half Belgian?

Edit: Like here for example

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Hertog

Yes, just over the border. I live really close to the German border and you instantly notice, everything suddenly looks, well.. German.

A lot of things don't cross-pollinate because they are decided on a national level. So things like the style of signage, traffic lights and other 'street furniture' are all different. Germany also still uses a lot of above-ground cabling which is another instantly obvious difference. Building codes are probably different too, which affects how buildings look.

It's not just the country, it's the people too. Living in a city near the German border we get a lot of people from Germany shopping on weekends. Often you can spot the Germans simply by how they are dressed, especially older people. I can't really put my finger on what is different (as an IT guy I'm kind of oblivious to fashion) but there must be some subtle differences as even I subconsciously pick it up.

> Plus aren't there streets where one half is Dutch, the other half Belgian?

It's even easier to spot when you're crossed the border into Belgium, if you suddenly feel like you're driving off-road you're in Belgium.

Yes, really. Regulations in the Netherlands are much stricter than in Belgium. In Belgium you van have a row with 5 completely different houses, sometimes you have a free standing rowhouse (yes, really) next to bungalow. In the Netherlands, houses on a street will usually look very much the same and everything is planned. In expensive neighborhoods with big houses it's more differentiated, but even there you have to adhere to many rules.

Baarle-Hertog is indeed a bit of an exception to this rule, but generally you can see it quite clearly.

I once did a dropping where we started in NL and found out we had ended up in Belgium in the morning. We didn't notice because we never left the woods. And we were way too drunk to notice anyway (I was a student then, not a small kid)

>> (we don't have mountains).

Woah, you forgot about the Vaalserberg?

Also, what about that boterberg I used to hear about?

Are you referring to an actual butter surplus or the eastern peak of Storm King Mountain in New York (Butter Hill, but known as Boterberg when the area was a Dutch colony)?

Technically not a mountain, since mountains start at >500m and Vaalserberg is only 322m high...

On the other hand, we do (technically) have mountains, as Saba has Mount Scenery (887m) and Sint Eustatius has The Quill ( 601m)...

There is no universally accepted definition of what a mountain is. For whatever it's worth, Wikipedia says things like "official UK government's definition of a mountain, for the purposes of access, is a summit of 600 metres or higher", and "At one time the U.S. Board on Geographic Names defined a mountain as being 1,000 feet (300 m) or taller, but has abandoned the definition since the 1970s".

"is a summit of 600 metres or higher"

I didn't think this had been officially metricised (metricated?), I was wrong.

Anyway, found an interesting related article.

http://metricviews.org.uk/2008/09/what-is-a-mountain-mynydd-...

Broken link, has a quote at the end that's too much. Here's the right one: http://metricviews.org.uk/2008/09/what-is-a-mountain-mynydd-...

Thanks, fixed mine also.

we just call that a mountain :')... it's hardly a hill :D

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