This Guy Has Been Holidaying at the Expense of the State for 20 Years

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This Guy Has Been Holidaying at the Expense of the State for 20 Years

Some days, Harrie does do some work: he shovels sand for a local seaside restaurant. Two holes a day—but only when he feels like it.

This article originally appeared on VICE Netherlands.

Harrie from Amsterdam is in his early sixties and has been celebrating life at the expense of the state for the last 20 years. Since he started receiving Incapacity Benefits—because of something to do with his cartilage—he's been loafing around, preferably in the tropics. He is currently in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, where he spends his days with sand between his toes and a can of beer in his hand.

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Some days, Harrie does do some work: he shovels sand for a local seaside restaurant. Two holes a day, to strengthen the terrace—but only when he feels like it. He drinks a cup of coffee in the morning but quickly switches to beer and vodka in the afternoon. On good days, he finds a girl to hang out and sleep with—not too long ago, he met a 23-year-old tourist. He has eleven children but he's never met five of them.

Photographer Sanne Zurné was in Sihanoukville to photograph Westerners on the beaches of Victory Hill. Victory Hill used to be a backpacking Valhalla but in the last couple of years, it's become a seedy hotspot for sex tourists, old hippies, and alcoholics. Sanne met a wide range of misfits from all over the world there, and decided to follow Harrie for a day.