I was born in Liverpool in 1991. I stayed there until I was 29.

I completed my bachelor’s in graphic design & illustration (BA (Hons) Graphic Arts) at Liverpool John Moores University in 2013. I completed the first half of my master’s degree in philosophy (MA Philosophy) via the Open University in 2019 but am yet to enrol for the second half.

I came to The Netherlands in December 2020. It was a bit after the second lockdown, and I’d noticed that the people around me had changed. The withdrawal agreement for Brexit would come into effect at the beginning of the new year. I’d already wanted to emigrate to The Netherlands for years so I had to, as the expression goes, “shit or get off the pot”.

I handed my notice in at my railway job (where I’d garnered the nickname Mad Bob), ensuring that I was off on my last day of employment. I used the staff pass to take my racing bike, a pannier bag, two rucksacks, and the clothes on my back, on the train and ferry. The border was to be shut at midnight due to the “Kent variant” of Covid. The ferry’s departure time was 23:00. Every five minutes, there was another delay due to a storm over the North Sea.

I had to stay in isolation over Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Then I had to wait half a year before I could work, thanks to the bureaucracy surrounding Brexit. During that time, I practised my Dutch. I began as a line cook/dishwasher as soon as I could work. It took a further year and a half to reach the position of chef de cuisine, and now I’ve found my niche in Amsterdam society.

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