He writes about maritime affairs and the sea, history and landscape. Until 2005 he and his family lived in London, while he was UK and Ireland correspondent. He has published a prize-winning book on Britain, Eiland tussen de oren ('Island between the ears', 2006) and, earlier, a collection of European travel stories. Hans is a sailing enthousiast and owns a 32 foot sloop of German design. He hates writing about himself in the third person.