We are Maartje and Alex, a mixed couple from the Netherlands and Indonesia who fell in love in 2023. Our home is based in Yogyakarta, were we spent half of the year, and in the Netherlands, where we spent the other part of the year.

Our first trip, one month after we met, was to Sulawesi, the island where Alex is born, but did not discover much of. After a family visit in Toraja, we started exploring the North of Sulawesi and both fell in love with all Sulawesi has to offer, and made the promise to each other to discover every part of this beautiful and still unique island.

The idea for Buka Jalan started a few months after our first Sulawesi trip. A lot of people kept asking us how to travel to Sulawesi and if we have tips. We found that Sulawesi is on the wishlist of a lot of travelers, but they do not know where to start and how to make their way around Sulawesi. We found out we love sharing all our tips about Sulawesi and for me, Maartje, it felt really good to give something back to the country I now also call my home.

With Buka Jalan, what means open road, we hope to open to road to Sulawesi, and soon also other islands of Indonesia, for you by sharing our experiences and offering help where needed, so hopefully, you will not feel lost, and can enjoy Indonesia as much as we do.

To support the local communities, we focus on directly working together with the local people. Therefore, we avoid working together with big organizations or tour operators. In this way, we support the locals and can provide a unique experience.