Barbara van Schaik

I was born and grew up in London (United Kingdom) where I worked in publishing, firstly as a proof-reader then contributing short articles for the magazine. Moving on from London I followed my interest in Interior Design and gained a diploma.

After meeting my husband, we both began to take steps towards our chosen way of life - by entering the world of International Aid and at last our first post came up, in Africa - with 2 young children, one nearly 4 and the other only 18 months.

Spending four years in Lesotho, we moved onto Australia, Alice Springs - and work with Aborigines. After that came our most life-changing experience in Kathmandu Nepal, a magical place back then and where we had the unforgettable experience of a trek to Everest Base Camp.

Then came a return to London - 3 sons by now and the need for schools and 'touching base' in the West for the teenage years.

Returning to Aid consultancies, the next four years we spent in that most memorable of countries Bhutan. Together with my time in Kathmandu, these two periods became the most important to my development in that I was able to solidify my attraction to Buddhism, to visit the temples and lhakangs, and even to spend time with the doctors at the National Institute for Traditional Medicine in Thimpu, Bhutan. I consider I was so lucky to be able to do this and it has had a profound effect on my life. (My novel The Cloud Garden) is set in Bhutan.

Since then I have also made a study of TCM - Traditional Chinese Medicine. (My books The Nature of Life - the Tibetan Approach to Diet and Wellbeing, and The 3Natures Guide to Diet&Lifestyle).

A hard act to follow, it was Bangladesh next where I worked with a small NGO creating opportunities in design and textile in the local community, using the new idea of micro-credit developed by a Bangladeshi, Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank.

Since then we have lived and worked for shorter periods in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Calcutta, Rwanda, Azerbaijan.

Our latest, and last experiences were in the Middle East, Cairo and the very last, Damascus in Syria where the incredible 'ancient-ness' of those areas is never to be forgotten.

Between the spells in these countries we converted an old donkey stable into a barn in the beautiful hilly area of Northern Tuscany, north of Lucca. After a while the snowed-in Winters convinced us that sadly the location was not sustainable and we left our stone home on the hillside, with its lavender, rosemary and sage bushes.

Nomads as ever, we currently spend our time between Cape Town, South Africa where one son and his family live, and back in England. We haven't given up on adventures - last year we returned to Nepal for the first time in 30 years (my book Kathmandu - a Journey in Time) and whilst in France we took time out to visit the Greek Cyclades (my short story The Fish).