Travel writer, chocolate lover and Englishman in Bern.
I grew up in deepest Hampshire. A degree in International Relations from LSE and an 18-month world trip set me up for a career in travel writing, though I took the scenic route via bookselling. After ten years at Lonely Planet and Holiday Which? magazine, I decamped to Switzerland, where until recently I was manager of the Stauffacher English Bookshop in Bern.
As well as grappling with German grammar, re-learning to cross the road properly, and overcoming my innate desire to form an orderly queue, I have spent the last few years exploring the bits of Switzerland I’d never heard of before. And eating lots of chocolate.
I am now a full-time writer, occasional radio guest, member of the swissinfo Public Council and permanent expat.
If you would like to know more, then please:
- follow Swiss Watching on Facebook
- follow me on Twitter
- contact me directly
- contact my agent, Edwin Hawkes at Makepeace Towle Literary Agency
- leave a comment here
31 Comments on "About me"
Just finished your book and loved it! Great help for anyone moving to CH. Or already here for that matter.
Thanks for the feedback! Glad you liked it. If you have time, please leave a review on one of the online bookshops (eg Amazon) listed in the ‘About the Book’ page above. It really does help others when they are browsing.
Done just that!
I really enjoyed your book “Swiss Watching”. I’ve lived here 12 years and most of the trivia you described I’m familiar with, but it still brings a smile! I’m wondering if you’ve come across any books or material describing the Naturalisation process to become Swiss. Would be interested to know people’s experience with the commune interviews!
Half way through ‘swiss watching’ and i’m loving it! So much information in it and its all in a fun and light hearted way! Next time i visit Bern i will pop into book shop
So glad you are enjoying it. If you have time, when you are finished, please write a review on any of the online bookshops or book sites. It really does help. And do pop in and say hi when you’re in Bern!
Dear Diccon,
I can’t thank you enough for your book. Not only did I enjoy it to the full, but it also had me laughing from Fribourg to Bern and back (a commuting trip I have to do every day because of my job) for some days. As it happens, both my husband and I are expats from Barcelona and really appreciated your contribution. Apart from the fun, we learned a lot reading it too!
I also wanted to tell you about the typo I think I found on page 241 (last but one line) on the book, when you refer to GA for dogs on trains: it reads ‘It’s not a ridiculous as it sounds…’ instead of ‘as ridiculous as it sounds’.
Please take no offence! I just hope there will be many more editions of the book and would like you to make it even better, if ever possible, that is.
Thank you again!
Montse Babí (from Fribourg)
an excellent, insightful and funny book. so much so that my swiss girlfriend’s father threatened to throw me out of the car when i laughed out loud whilst reading it.
Hi Ben. Glad you liked the book; I enjoyed writing it. And I’m all for more out-loud laughter in Switzerland! If you have a moment, please write a review at one of the online bookshops like Amazon. It truly does help others buy the book.
I really enjoyed your workshop yesterday at the ETAS AGM and I’m about half way through your book already! Just wanted to say thank you very much for the great ideas and for very entertaining workshop. I especially enjoyed the part about Swinglish, as my sister and I had our very own version while we were growing up here. It’s not until I went to university in the UK that I realised how Swiss I actually was! Thanks again!
Hi Sarah. Thanks for the feedback on the workshop. Glad you enjoyed it as much as I did, and hope the lesson plans help you. I love talking about Swinglish – it’s always fun to find new examples. Diccon
I’ve been married to a Swiss man for a year and half. Your book explains many of his quirks. His parents visited over Christmas and I asked them why they only had one child. A much too private question for the Swiss. They politely avoided the question. I have much to learn before my trip to Basel for Carnivale.
Kelly, you might find that is Fasnacht in Basel!!
Hi Diccon,I have read your book …ehm TWICE! Wonderful!
It would be interesting to read something ,of course written by you,about England!
What a fantastic book! I was giggling away while reading it, leaving people around me in the train or at the gym puzzled about my mental health.
Your book also contains a high quality wealth of information and your point of you is always very respectful. Next edition of “Grüezi Newcomer! Insider’s guide around Lake Zürich” will be released this summer and I already updated the part where we recommend you. Please write and publish more!
Thank you for writing such a funny, insightful, helpful, and overall excellent book! I loved it! I am really looking forward to your next book!
Gabriela
i have to say your book was a fantastic read..
i found myself in a flat in Luzern with neither native language or swiss-for-english-dummies guide to explain my marvelling at the punctuality with which the neighbours came and went…and the subsequent confusion i experienced as to why its such a sin for people to smile in public there…or speak above a whisper on the trains…or anywhere else for that matter unless celebrating some rather obscure festival..
I think my girlfriend sensed the culture shock within the first four days..the swiss are quite observant once they realise you exist…and in true swiss style administered the correct medicine before utter boredom prevented me from being yet another ‘foreigner’ to make it on their news bulletin… i.e your book..
In her opinion ,I guess it was more efficient than a 7 day debate anyway..as i had to leave on the 8th day..
and so its true… they(the swiss, i mean).. do warm to you eventually, once you shut up long enough for them to consider you not vulgar enough to sneer at…
us brits do have trouble shutting up though… and i think deep down the swiss find it refreshing to dispense with such rigidly conservative decorum once in a while…if only to acknowledge that there are indeed other successfully thriving lifeforms of the culturally curious but decidedly ‘non invasive type’ living uite contentedly beyond those oh so protective mountains…
after all.. with a bit or perseverance…i did indeed realise that these loud visitors to switzerland do actually need directions to the nearest food outlet with their weak tourist currencies…and the swiss will acomodate such need as efficiently as they will forwn at your sense of fashion..because.. and its only my conjecture… i think the swiss believe that they(the tourists) are rather a pain to fit in the recycling bins if they don’t see to it they leave as alive as they came… and it wont do to raise the recycling bills any higher than they are already..
but that aside…it is as you say an amazing country if you scratch beneath the conserfacitism… i was surprised at just how armed to the back teeth such historical ‘neutrals’ are… it certainly discourages ‘staring’ too long anyway…and that’s no bad thing on a train with only two people… one of whom may be a foreigner that didn’t do his research and forgot to bring his gun…
i think the uk could do well to learn how best to run a city full of secondo labourers without saddling every taxpayer with the bill aa well as a mortgage for a leash to the rather ungrateful british taxman who collects from them twice every time they spend a £..
having enjoed soem swiss efficiency..i must say… i’d quite like one of ken’s bendy buses in london to at least run on time if it must kill every fouth cyclist it passes in the process… I think even die hard pr0-lifers here in london could quickly reach a swiss-style compromise on such a public service benefit in the uk..
i’d love to write a book about a swiss person in jamaica one day… maybe i will..
but once again..thanks for a fantastic read. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone as ignorant of the swiss as myself…and as envious..
Great stuff, scooped it.
http://www.scoop.it/switzerland
High Five Marti Zuidam
Hi Diccon.
I got weird looks in Australia for saying hi to eveyone at parties…it wasn’t until I read the chapter on Apéros etc. that I realised how very Swiss I’d become!
Oh, and everywhere I go I see red shoes. Thanks for that!
Just wanted to invite you to the “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” PANTO being staged at Theater am Käfigturm in December! Yes, most of the actors are Swiss students of English (UniBern) but do not fear – there won’t be any “toking laik dis”…
I know it’s rash of me to assume that you being British = you enjoy Pantos… but at least you know what a panto is – and what to expect. I’m afraid the majority of the (Swiss) audience has no clue what’s in store for them but they’re definitely in for a pleasant surprise…
Have a look at our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/thepanto or blog: http://www.panto.ch and reserve your tickets asap (there’s only a handful of tickets left for the premier!)
Cheers, Livia
Hi. Just wanted to compliment you on your blog. Can’t remember exactly how I came across it but I’m glad I did.
I’m also an Englishman living here in CH but I’ve been here since 1995 and am still learning stuff.
You can see some of my Swiss pics from Tessin here: http://is.gd/5KuQrm
I’ve added you to my bookmarks. Keep up the great work.
Tom
Thanks Tom. Glad to hear you are enjoying the blog – I certainly enjoy writing it. Almost as much fun as writng the book in the first place!
Hello, I am from Malaysia, and i am doing an assignment on Switzerland and its sustainable tourism practices. Hope you can help me out here with a few questions.
I am on the topic of smoking in Lucerne. I have read before that the Chapel Bridge fire in 1993 could have been due to a cigarette bud. How true is this? And I have also heard that no smoking is allowed on Chapel Bridge due to this fact. How true is this too?
Hope to hear from you soon
Thank you
Naomi.
Hi Naomi. I don’t know much about smoking in Lucerne, I’m afraid. Maybe you should contact the local tourist baord (http://www.luzern.com/en/); they will speak English for sure. I have also heard it was possibly a cigarette that started the fire but can’t confirm it for you.
Hello there, Diccon! My name is Malte Zeeck, and I am with InterNations.org. I really enjoyed reading your fantastic blog! I think expats in Switzerland and around the world could really gain some great insights on this page. The quality of the blog in general is very convincing, which is why I would love to feature you and your writing on the Recommended Blog on Switzerland section on InterNations.org.Not only do we feature and link to your blog prominently; we also would like to hear from you directly in our questionnaire! We have also designed a link badge for your blog.If you are interested, please feel free to contact me
Best, Malte Zeeck
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