«I’ve always followed the road less traveled»

I was born in South Africa and arrived in the former “South West Africa” (now Namibia) on my first birthday. I was then baptized here and have lived here for my entire life. I am exclusively a Namibian citizen.

What do we know about Namibia. That’s the oldest desert & highest sand dunes. Namibia also has some of the most fascinating geology in the world with vast mineral resources. It has many different types of semi-precious and precious stones, a lot of uranium and is a very ancient country dating way back to the Gondwana period.

Although I would love to see different countries in the world one day and meet different people, I would always return to my country. Namibia it is for me. However, should things go wrong (which I don’t think it will, because we are peace-loving people) – I think I will go to Patagonia.

I have done a lot of different things in my life. I did parachuting when I was younger (I was a die-hard adrenaline addict back than).

My life is currently centered around working freelance as an editor for UvoСorp (which is very convenient for me) and supporting my daughter who is studying Law at the University of Namibia. My main goal is for her to be successful in her studies – so far, so good.

There are some things that are way more important than money, like one’ s health – once this deteriorates, it is difficult to recoup. Freedom of movement and proper control over one’s life is also important, as is peace of mind and overall quality of life.

I worked for the government in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, then for the newspaper. I started working for UvoCorp while I was still working at the newspaper – used to work late shift every day and would then come home, eat and do my Uvo work. The ultimate aim was to build on my freelance work so that I no longer needed to work full-time for the graveyard shift of the newspaper.

The life one lives is dependent on the quality of the life you lead, so when one is constantly restricted and forced to work under stressful conditions, the quality of one’s life deteriorates. And you are only granted one life.

Working for UvoCorp means flexible schedule, the comfort and the feeling that I am doing something worthwhile. I value my independence most of all. Further, if I decide to lock myself away from the rest of the interesting world we live in, I can do so at any time.

At the moment I can safely say that UvoСorp helps me to cover close to 100 percent of that which matters most in my life. I can attend to the needs of my daughter (which are manifold). I can go and visit my 94-year-old father in Swakopmund and attend to his needs as well – I just take my computer and my WiFi along and do my work there. I don’t know how I would have coped with all my current responsibilities if I had continued working full-time, it is only my work at Uvo that made it possible.

When I’m alone in a car I think about my life and what I need to do, especially when I drive long distances (I like long distance driving). It’s a time of reflection.

For fun, entertainment and distraction, I tend to binge on Netflix series/movies (I like psychological thrillers, adventure, mystery, documentaries and historical dramas). I used to read a lot previously, but after editing I don’t have much inclination towards this any more. I like shopping (when I have money), drinking coffee, eating out and visiting my father and going to the beach.

The best book I have read in 2018 was ‘What Would Boudicca do?’ by E. Foley & B. Coates.

It’s about the “superwomen of historical times” and what they would do in difficult situations and how they would handle difficult people. Completely hilarious. Some of them would have chopped off a few heads.

If writers want to improve their skills, it’s best to start with reading articles (like newspapers and magazines) and then progress to the English classics, mainly because the English is well-written and free of modern slang.

If I were the one survivor in a plane crash, I would probably sit and think about my questionable situation and think “why me” and “why now” and of course “how now”. Then I would go for a swim in the sea (and hope there are no sharks around). Yup – would clear the head, especially if the water is ice cold like in Namibia.

The simplest things that bring me pleasure are the great beauty of the Namibian landscape, when my daughter is happy, having my father around at the age of 94. The unconditional love of my two cats and dogs. The smell of the rain in Namibia. Waking up – I was on life support for 12 days once and I appreciate just being there and being able to wake up – it is like twelve days of your life that is just gone – disappeared… No memories.

Just remember: people come and go, but the right ones will stay.