The Blogitects' Excellent (Mis)adventures in KwaZulu-Natal, Part 1

01 June 2022

Thorsten and I, a.k.a. the Blogitects (one blogger, one architect), recently took a much-anticipated road trip through South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. It was a very exciting trip but it did not go as planned. I’ve procrastinated several days on writing about it because I’m not sure how to explain everything that happened.

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Flying (and Driving) With South Africa's First Black Woman Balloon Pilot

26 April 2022

Last week I participated in a “motoring” media morning with Ford South Africa. The core purpose of the event was to get a bunch of woman journalists/bloggers/influencers together for a drive through the countryside in a convoy of bad-ass Ford Ranger bakkies (pick-up trucks). But we also went up in a hot-air balloon with Semakaleng (Sema) Mathebula, South Africa’s first Black woman balloon pilot, at Bill Harrop’s in Magaliesburg.

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Phyllis Drives the Blogitects to the Eastern Cape and Back

30 March 2021

Thorsten and I decided to take a long road trip from Joburg to the Eastern Cape, down through the Free State to the Sunshine Coast and back. We were super excited and had everything planned. But we had a vehicle problem. Our driving options were: 1) My beloved but tiny hatchback with bagel-sized wheels; or 2) Thorsten’s single-cab bakkie (bakkie is South African for pickup) without a radio or air conditioning.

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Registering a Car in South Africa: An Expat's Epic Journey (Part 1)

14 January 2014

Part 1 of a 3-part series. Read part 2.

I moved to South Africa in August 2010. In December 2013, I finally bought a car.

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The Car Spa: What Every Jozi Car Needs

26 April 2012

Life is hard for a Jozi car. Parking spaces are small here. Street lanes are narrow and sometimes unpaved. Potholes are ubiquitous. Road rage rules. Cars share the road with minibus taxis – mighty behemoths with inconsiderate drivers, which hem cars in from all sides. Jozi summers bring heavy rain and hail; winters bring dust and pollution.

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An American Girl's Guide to Driving in Johannesburg

08 June 2011

I put it off for as long as I could.

I let my boyfriend chauffeur me everywhere, even though it didn’t feel right. I bought a bicycle. I called taxis. I accepted rides from friends. I walked. Sometimes, when I really wanted to go somewhere, I just stayed home instead and pretended it didn’t bother me.

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