Pokkeloks - Join the Adventure!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself?

I was born in Cape Town but grew up in a town called Mahikeng in the North West Province. 
I have always had a need to travel and to change the world wherever I can. After backpacking through Asia with my partner, we realized how important it is for the local people to speak English. Speaking English opens up so many doors for them, most of them rely on tourism for an income. We felt a strong need to help and decided that we will teach English abroad. After long Skype interviews we both landed a teaching job in Hong Kong and have been living in Hong Kong for about 9 months now. 

Exploring Hong Kong:

2.Here on NationInspiration we celebrate passion,talents and purpose. What are you passionate about?
I am still trying to figure out what my passion is! ;-) I guess for me it's people and travel. Trying to help wherever we can. When we came back from our backpacking trip we had this restlessness inside us. It was like something was calling us. Telling us that we are destined for greater things than sitting behind a computer screen the whole day. Maybe this is what passion feels like. All I can tell you is that I have never looked back. If you follow your heart amazing things happen. 

3. What are the positives and negatives of your job and how have you learnt to deal with the "not so great" parts?

We work for a learning center and sometimes the hours can be very long. We work 5 days a week but we don't have a full weekend off like we did back home. When you live abroad for a while you tend to start missing things like having proper cheese, red meat and biltong! 

Hong Kong is full of little places to explore so on our off days we tend to go for hikes or visit temples. The best part of the job is seeing how quickly the kids grow and learn. Sometimes they come into our centers without understanding a word of English and if a few months, they can start to communicate with you. Seeing their eyes light up when they start to understand something is priceless!

Street scene in Hong Kong:

Hiking in Hong Kong:

4.How can readers stay connected with you and what you are doing?

I have a blog that they can view over at www.pokkeloks.com. 

I'm also on Instagram and Facebook. 

5. What would your advice be to that someone feeling stuck in a dead-end place with no passion or feeling of purpose?

You are in charge of your life. Nobody can make your choices for you. If you don't like something, change it. Sometimes it will be hard, trust me I know, but in the end it will all be worth it. Visualize what it is you want and go for it. Don't let anyone or anything stand in your way. Push yourself out of your comfort zone, whether that is taking a cooking class or skydiving! Like Eleanor Roosevelt said: “Do one thing every day that scares you.”

6.What inspires you?
I draw inspiration from different things. Sometimes it's a place, person, a sunset or a moment. It all depends on how it makes me feel. 

7.Favorite place you've visited and why?

My favourite place is Vietnam. 

Vietnam is a beautiful country and we really felt a connection to the people. We got invited into peoples homes who literally have nothing. This is the place that reminded us that kindness costs nothing and a smile really goes a long way. 

Making new friends on the road in Vietnam:

8. a Life Quote that inspires you at this time and season?

This is a quote from one of my favourite books: "Into the Wild". 

"The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun...." 

― Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild