Mattijs Wijnmalen

In 2014, Mattijs drove to Wiesbaden to visit his brother. It should have been a straightforward trip. Instead, he discovered he needed a German environmental sticker just to drive into the city.
What followed was hours of confusion—searching websites, figuring out the rules, and trying to understand where to buy the right sticker.
 
Frustrated by the experience, he thought: there has to be an easier way.
 
So he built one.
 
Together with Freek Jurg, he launched Duitsemilieusticker.nl—one of the first websites in the Netherlands to sell German Umweltplakette stickers. In the early days, they packed every single order themselves. Thousands of envelopes per week. By hand.
 
That first project eventually grew into more than 30 platforms helping travellers all across Europe.
 
Mattijs’ first drive through the Czech Republic also happened in 2014—and it didn’t go smoothly. He didn’t realise a vignette was required and was quickly issued a fine.
 
That one stung.
 
But it’s also the reason we spend so much time building our guides, writing simple and clear explanations, and making sure drivers have all the information they need before they set off.