Karin Schimke

Karin Schimke (born 1968) is a South African writer. She has won awards for her poetry and literary translations. She works as a writer and editor. Quotes Last year, I was unexpectedly in Greece. On one of those days, floating in the warm water, I wondered why I didn’t live like this more. Travel has always felt beyond my means, but I’m a freelance writer, editor and translator, so in theory I could live and work anywhere I want. The notion took hold, in spite of all the reasons why it should be impossible, and I pursued ways of living a less structured, planned and predictable life for a few months. There are many years, if you’re lucky, between when your children are grown and death, and I wanted to travel while I could still walk with ease. No matter how we look after ourselves, our bodies start getting a bit crock at a certain age, and I wanted to expend all my restlessness while my knees and hips are still feeling well oiled. So many! Berlin feels fantastically foreign from the life I know, and yet familiar from my four previous family trips here. I revel in the smell that hits you when you descend into the U-Bahn, in the cadences of friendliness in the language, and in the quality of the beer and the Brötchen. And in the absolute joy of walking as a means of travel, not just leisure. I finally understand now what it means to “live in the moment” and that, although it’s sometimes uncomfortable, I can live without my beloved books and only two pairs of shoes. I’ve experienced a deeper level of “living lightly”. Minimalism has been liberating. External links [[Category:Living people]