Floortje Dessing says new travel series motivated her during rehabilitation

Floortje Dessing says planning her new travel series helped motivate her through rehabilitation after a severe form of endometriosis left her unable to work for a long period.

In an interview with AD, the 56-year-old presenter said she had used the prospect of making *Floortje over de oceaan* to keep going. “I had to make that journey,” she said. Dessing said she was grateful the trip went ahead, although she is still not fully recovered.

She said the illness had affected her liver, diaphragm and lungs, and that part of her liver had to be removed. Dessing described herself as the first patient with this severe form of endometriosis; that was her account in the interview.

The series follows her through the Coral Triangle, between Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, where she meets researchers, conservationists and nomads. It is due to begin on 3 November.