I suspected I might have diabetes when I started drinking enormous amounts. At first I thought my life was about to fall apart and I can remember that quite vividly. Anger and frustration came along much later, one or two years after the diagnosis. Several of my family members have diabetes, too: my sister, my father and my aunt. At first, everybody kept giving me sugar-free products. That's how it was back then, 20 years ago.

I'd like to be able to claim that I'm not restricted in my travels or in the sports I do. In the first years, that is what I did think. But the longer you live with diabetes, the more you notice that there are some real restrictions.
With the insulin pump, which I’ve used for a long time, I'm less restricted in my everyday life. It only really becomes difficult when I'm on trips to less developed areas of the world where it's obviously more difficult to get some replacement parts for the pump. I then carry a pen with me.
When I'm taking photographs I notice that my diabetes can influence my work. You have to be in a certain kind of mood to take pictures; you have to be in the ‘swing’. Before starting a photo shooting I first make sure my blood glucose is stable.

My wife and I have cycled through 65 countries together.

Nowadays technology provides everything people with diabetes need to live comfortably. There's the pump and now there's a blood glucose measuring system which continuously checks your blood glucose 24 hours-a-day. Being from the technology field, I would say that when you combine the two, you really get what you need.

We never wanted to have children but this was due to our lifestyle and not to the fact that I have diabetes. Another important aspect is the way your partner supports you and your diabetes; I only realised this over time. I see diabetes as an illness that can be hard to control, but everyone has something in their life that's tough to deal with, and for me, it's diabetes.

My advice to you: Step by step, seek out your own limits. Look towards the future, towards all the wonderful things life has to offer, and only then make space for diabetes.