Man in the Saddle

Paul Andre Jan van Hooff was born on the 19th of March 1964 in Kaduna, Nigeria, where his father was employed as a pilot at the time. He does not have any memories of his residence in Nigeria. He grew up in De Zilk, a village located by the North Sea in the Dutch province of South Holland. He moved to Amsterdam when he turned twenty-one and remained there until his early forties. His favorite hang-out there still is Cafe De Koe. He studied journalism at the School of Journalism in Utrecht from 1987 to 1991. After graduating, he kick-started his career as a press officer for the Catholic Broadcasting Association (known as the KRO in Dutch, comparable to the British BBC). He changed his career to freelance journalism after realizing that the routine of a steady job was just not for him. He developed a specialty in two niches: that of broadcasting and motor journalism.
To Paul, besides journalism, motorcycles are a way of life. Cars mean nothing to him; he never even bothered to get a car driver's license. “In a car you're locked up in a far too confined space, alone with your thoughts and the smell of your own farts. On a motorbike your senses are in sync with what happens around you. You are one with the landscape, with the sun, the wind, the rain and the cold. You are part of the elements.”

His first real motorbike was a Laverda 750SF, after which several Ducatis and Moto Guzzis followed, along with different off-road bikes such as the Yamaha XT500 and the Honda XR650R, as well as the odd outing to Buell. Italian motorbikes have his preference—after all, Italians understand the power of seduction like no others.

In May 2005, Paul combined his passion for motorbikes and writing with his other basic need, travelling. He closed the “Netherlands door” behind him, shipped his faithful Moto Guzzi V7 to Alaska, and rode a three-year epic trip from Deadhorse, Alaska, to Ushuaia, at the tail end of Argentina. To fund his trip, he continued writing for several newspapers and magazines. Van Hooff lived his dream. When in Sucre, Bolivia, he met Roxana. Together they had twins: Santiago and Sebastian.

In November 2016, Van Hooff slipped onto the saddle of the Moto Guzzi V7 again and rode from Amsterdam to Tokyo in what was mostly wintery weather. This still-to-be-published book will bear the title From Here to Tokyo. Paul is living in Sucre with his twins..