About me
Background story
The journey is being written....
I studied at Sint-Lodewijkscollege , where I developed a love of singing and music at the then-known Ons Dorado. I completed the full range of Scouting programs, which helped shape my vision of community and society.
Essentially, I'm a self-made and self-taught man. While waiting to study cabaret, I first completed teacher training (Dutch, history, and religion) at RENO in Torhout. However, it was after my military service as a conscientious objector that an impulsive, low-budget trip to South America gave me the travel bug, despite having to be repatriated from Costa Rica due to tropical viral meningitis.
That didn't stop me from diving into the travel and tourism world. I quickly rose from animator to chef de village (Mallorca, Greece, Tenerife) to cruise director and port lecturer for, among others, CTC Lines (London), Chandris Line (Piraeus), and finally luxury cruises with Cunard Line (NY) on the MS Vistafjord *****+ , and also briefly with Celebrity Cruises (Miami).
In my early days, I quickly acquired knowledge of German, Spanish, and Italian on my own. Along with English, French, and Dutch, this proved to be a valuable asset as a multilingual cruise director.
After my marriage in 1990, I retired from professional travel, although exploring and discovering the world remained my greatest motivation. This led to an impressive number of visits to islands and ports, mostly through tours and long cruises on all the oceans, with destinations all over the globe.
My Private
The journey lives and writes itself further....
I married Italian Fortunata "Nella" Cioce in 1990. We had a daughter, Tanya, a child psychologist, and in 2021, a wonderful granddaughter, Sofia. A game changer.
In 1997 we bought a large mansion in the center of Bruges, which for a long time was also the headquarters of my company Perfect+, which was successfully acquired in April 2021, after which I retired.
I write, cook, fitness, follow media, art, culture and football, design travel plans and cherish my family, friends and bon vivant side.