About Tieme

Tieme was that kid who crawled out of the classroom, was always covered in band-aids and made up ridiculous games on the playground. He could not sit still for a second and was full of ideas. School was never his best setting. After some detours and a lot of hospitality work with others who also couldn’t sit still, he ended up as a writer at a desk with a pen in his hand. But even journalism could not hold him for long. Rather, Tieme followed the dream that arose when, as a child, he asked Dad about all those distant countries on his globe. His father, who taught him the art of storytelling, told him about African tribes, distant deserts and the great troll forest. The dream stayed alive.

After a few years of freelance work for Dutch print media such as National Geographic Traveler, it really started to itch. From one day to the next he decided it had to happen: out into the world. He didn’t know how, but after the idea of horse and carriage (thank God) had died an early death, the bicycle suddenly popped up. Pretty obvious for a Dutchman right? This way he could really get close to the people he had been reading books about for years. Countries like Armenia, Iran, Mongolia, Laos and all countries ending in -stan had a kind of magical sound to Tieme. He dreamed of forgotten caravanserais, nomad camps, paradise gardens, castles in the desert, mountain villages, rice terraces and wild camping. But most of all about the people. What do they do? What do they eat? Are they like us or not? The writer understood that the real answer to those questions was not in his books, so he decided to see for himself. As slowly as possible, in complete freedom. With the ability to stop at any little farm, to take any turn and have a chat with crossed his path.

During his journey Tieme shared his experiences with Dutch magazines, newspapers, radio stations and TV. Mainly in the form of lively travel stories about inspiring people, strange adventures and daily life in the more than thirty countries he crossed. Because a life as a desk editor was not meant to be, this form of travel reporting seemed tailor-made for him. Readers, listeners and clients alike praise Tieme for his enthusiasm, his lively style and his ability to take the audience along into his eager experience of special places.

After two and a half years, Tieme reached his final destination of Bali. But the writer was not tired of Asia yet and decided to put his experiences on paper from his new home in Saigon. That’s how his award-winning book Noosh-e-Jaan came to being. Then he got on his bike again for a trip to India, where he currently lives in a farmhouse in the mountains.