Who am I?

As you can see from the mug shot, I'm no longer a young man (63 at the last count) - but I haven't lost my inclination to wander off the beaten path. Now that I'm no longer a salaried employee, my curiosity is limited only by my budget and anything my wife thinks is more important.

When I'm introduced to someone, it's not usually long before they ask, "What do you do?" That's the way we pigeonhole people in the western world. I'm tempted to answer "Nothing much", but it's better for my chances of staying in the conversation if I say "I'm a travel writer and photographer".

I do write, and I do take photographs. I also publish them whenever I get a chance, and people sometimes say nice things about my articles and my pictures. That's enough to persuade me to carry on, and to work at writing better articles and taking better pictures, so I suppose I am indeed a travel writer and photographer - but I'd starve if I didn't have my pension and a wife who can still earn money when we need more. Phyllis, what would I do without you? (Live a boring, low-stress life, is my usual answer. She's the one who left me in Africa looking after 14 dogs for a year while she managed the renovation of our ruin in the middle of France.)

France for Freebooters is about France because that's where our hearts are, and that's where we plan to live the remainder of our lives. Phyllis and I were both born and bred in colonial East Africa. Somehow, the French version of civilisation matches our values better than the UK version does. There are people who would say that we just feel happier living in a culture with which we empathise, but in which we'll always be to some extent aliens - because that's what we're used to. So what? If it makes us happy, we've made the right choice.

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