Man visits all 285 Flemish municipalities in four days for song's music video

Jan De Troij, a man known for his stunts, has embarked on a new challenge: creating a song and accompanying music video that features all 285 Flemish municipalities. De Troij, a former record holder on the TV show 'Blokken' for his 15 participations, found inspiration for his latest project during his time on the program.

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I'll make a song about it, then I'll remember them even better.

"The idea came about through my participation in 'Blokken'," De Troij explained. "I noticed there that my knowledge of the municipalities could be better. So I started learning them by heart, province by province. Then I thought, 'I'll make a song about it, then I'll remember them even better.'"

The result is an impressive rap where De Troij lists all the municipalities consecutively, with some phrases proving to be quite challenging, like a tongue twister. "I tried to link the names together. Some sentences are real tongue twisters. Think, for example, of: Oud-Turnhout, Hulsthout, Houthulst, Torhout, Herenthout and Buggenhout. That was quite tough to sing."

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Some sentences are real tongue twisters. Think, for example, of: Oud-Turnhout, Hulsthout, Houthulst, Torhout, Herenthout and Buggenhout. That was quite tough to sing.

Accompanying the song is a remarkable music video. De Troij traveled to all 285 Flemish municipalities in just four days. His preparation involved extensive research on Google Maps to locate the signs for each town. He spent hours mapping out the fastest possible route to visit every municipality, a process that took weeks.

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I spent hours literally sitting behind my screen, while I walked around the streets with that little man. When I found a sign, I wrote down the coordinates. And then I mapped out the fastest possible route to visit all the municipalities. The preparation took weeks.

During his whirlwind tour, De Troij spent an average of just two minutes at each municipal sign, setting up his camera, recording, and immediately moving on. He managed to visit about 70 municipalities per day. While choosing a favorite is difficult given the sheer number, he was particularly charmed by the Kempen region, especially Grobbendonk, which he found beautiful and green.

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On average, I stayed about 2 minutes at the sign. I set up my camera, recorded the image, and drove on. About every 10 minutes, I arrived at a new municipal sign. I had to do about 70 a day. It had to go fast.