Melissa Palmer

" Well what's happened in my life over the last 5 years .................?

In 2002 I was living in London and had just bought my attic apartment in The Retreat, Richmond with a view of the Thames (well sort of a river view in the winter when the trees have lost their leaves) and luckily just 5 minutes walk away in each direction from the other two Ruggier families in Richmond.

The flat needed a fair amount of TLC and some structural overhaul which I was able to give it as (fortunately or unfortunately depending on one's perspective) the media company for which I had been working for a number of years had decided earlier that year to close their London office. So my London employment was no more (offers of alternative employment within the group in Holland or Johannesburg didn't appeal) so I became a full time renovator for a while.

At about this time I gave serious thought to returning to South Africa or at least investigating life in Cape Town again after more than 10 years in the UK. In 2003 my mother tracked down a beautiful Victorian cottage in Oranjezicht with lots of charm which I eventually managed to buy long distance from London and decided to "return" South Africa. I had my farewell party in London, everyone made speeches and I shipped the green Golf to Cape Town, but with hindsight I must have been hedging my bets as I kept my flat in Richmond completely intact - and before I knew it I had become a "swallow" chasing the sun and managing to live life as a dual citizen moving between Cape Town and London. This itinerant lifestyle was facilitated by my new career as a freelance lawyer operating a virtual office with just a laptop and two mobile phones largely doing intellectual property law for Californian based technology and internet companies who didn't really care whether I lived in London or Cape Town as long as I produced the goods and was available in their unsociable time zone when required.

The "swallow" lifestyle had lots of advantages - perpetual summer if I wanted it (very important for someone who hates winter as much as I do), a complete lack of routine, lots of stimulation, a wide circle of friends across two continents, the best of both worlds I suppose ........but it also had its limitations - it could be very unsettling, too much time on British Airways at the back of the plane, the hideous admin of running two homes (exacerbated by my Cape Town home not being a "lock up and go" style house and that therefore invited too many break ins) - but overall it worked well for me although I knew I couldn't do it for ever.

Then in April I met Steve who is Cape Town based (we met at a friend's house during the World Cup cricket!! I certainly never expected to meet my partner watching some international sports event on telly ) and so I have been spending a little more time down south recently ... although having said that, we have managed since April to fit in lots of short trips together to Europe - to London, France, Germany and Greece. Steve is also now self employed doing management consultancy work mainly in the development sector and so he is relatively flexible too, although I think his heart is very firmly in Cape Town .......so we're not sure what the new year will bring for us but we're looking forward to finding out . "

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