Post by Ryan Knuppel on -

Playing poker can make anybody tired. Such is the case with Lex Veldhuis, who is not only a poker player but also a popular Twitch streamer. After becoming overly busy with his work, he made an important choice to relax from poker and travel abroad. Being in front of the screen for most of the day can be quite exhausting for the eyes and the brain. Veldhuis started experiencing certain negative effects of his commitment to his work that made him choose to travel. He is on the road with his girlfriend, as they drew a map of the locations they want to visit and went off to an adventure around the world. Veldhuis is one of the more popular and well-known streamers. By streaming poker, he became one of the most notable people in the poker industry. Furthermore, his winnings speak for themselves about his talent. He managed to earn $678,000 in live tournaments. He is a native Dutch and lives in the city of Vlissingen when not traveling.

The first place Veldhuis visited was Costa Rica. He traveled with Jaime Staples, another Twitch star. His plan was to be there for a while until he explored the country as much as he could. There is an interesting plot twist, though. Veldhuis did not stop his live stream. In fact, he continued streaming nine to eleven hours for five working days. His streams are not always about playing poker. Veldhuis became popular because he managed to create a strong community. He often discusses various hot topics and upcoming projects. According to him, the point when he decided that he needs to travel is after SCOOP. During that period, Veldhuis stated that he had “stress attacks.” He said that he couldn’t decide on simple matters after that. He was paralyzed over simple questions such as where to cross the street.

He initially thought it was just exhaustion. He experienced these attacks a couple of times during live streams and thought it was not a big deal. However, they started happening during his Hawaii vacation which made him think there is more to it than just being tired. He stated that he had done some research on it and talked to a lot of professionals. His conclusion: stress attacks. He came up with two solutions. The short-term one was to stop streaming for a while, which instantly gave positive results. Travelling was his long-term one and after three months in Costa Rica, Veldhuis and his girlfriend moved to the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. This was followed by many other countries including Panama and many Latin American states. Veldhuis remains on the road and enjoys his life. His stress is reduced and he managed to return to his first love – playing poker live. He is back in Europe and still has occasional mental health problems, but the progress is clearly visible.