One of the first articles I wrote started from some information that people preferred to keep to themselves. My informant wanted to remain anonymous, so I could not publish the story. But armed with this little hint in the right direction the hunt for the news had started.

I got on my bike and thought over how to handle things. I didn’t want to ring these people up, so I decided to pay them a visit.  ‘Good afternoon, I’m from the newspaper. I have heard about….,’ I bluffed with my most innocent face. ‘I already have enough information to publish. I just wanted to give you guys a chance to respond and tell your side of the story.’ 
 
I never saw such a surprised face before. The guy was clearly alarmed and wanted to know how I knew this, but of course I didn’t give him my source. ‘I just know, and that’s enough,’ I said while I looked him straight into the eyes. ‘Wait here,’ he said. A few minutes later he opened the door again and invited me in. I got nervous as hell. I had bluffed my way inside, what would happen next? How do I get out? I thought. 
 
I was led into a big room where people offered me something to drink. The guy who opened the door started to talk and others confirmed or corrected him. Half an hour later I stood outside again, with a big smile on my face. I had gotten my story. 
 
It’s moments like these that fan my journalistic flame. With thanks to my informant I got a few more of these scoops on “internal affairs” that were all controversial.

Writing is my passion, just like travel. I prefer to do both at the same time, as when I travelled to New Zealand and later to the Australian Outback and worked with the Aboriginals. I lived on the red sand, between bushes and wild animals. The ‘real’ world was three hundred kilometres away and I blogged about my experiences within a culture of which I had never heard of.

Back in the Netherlands I gathered information and wrote texts for digital counters. Municipalities use this tho help disabled people and immigrants to get through the jungle of rules and various authorities. After several digital counters changed assignments and worked out the process of buying and selling houses with the help of NVM real estate agents and wrote about the ins and outs of the insurance company Eureko/Achmea.

Even last summer in Gibraltar, I couldn’t resist writing. This time only a few lines, on a postcard for mem en heit (mum and dad). Today I wrote a new message on my weblog. And tomorrow? I’ll experience a new (writing) adventure, perhaps together with you.

Regards,

Henk