Jaap's first recorded job was as an office clerk at an international trading agency in Hilversum. It was a fixed-term role while he awaited military recruitment, and he remembers being proud to receive his first income.
From 1967 he combined journalism studies with freelance reporting around the Netherlands. In 1977 he moved to Eastern Europe as a self-employed correspondent, paid per story. He says the first year was difficult, but by the third year the work and income had improved.
In 1980 he returned to the Netherlands for a permanent journalism job as a roving reporter. That stage is recorded through 1988, when a reorganisation and changes in the media landscape altered his path. A separate note says he returned to freelance writing, training and consultancy in 1993, leaving the years between 1988 and 1993—and the eventual retirement date—to be completed.
Across the interview, Jaap presents journalism as adventurous and rewarding but not always secure. He also describes contributing to family life and now cooking daily for his family.
Today he reports no paid work and a total current income of EUR 2,600 per month from a combination of public, occupational and private pensions. He says this is enough to make ends meet and retain his independence.