So here it is, the blog that (almost) nobody asked for. Because actually someone did! This is for you Jase, so you’d better read the damn thing. The rest of you can just ignore it or stick to Instagram.
I don’t really mind whether anybody reads this or not (apart from you Jase, you’d better still be reading!) because I think I want to write it mainly for myself as a record to look back on of what I did and where I went and what I was thinking about it all at the time. And also because I really enjoy writing and I’d like to get back into doing it regularly (more of that later). So basically yep it’s the usual selfish all about me me me!
In case there is anyone I haven’t bored with it already… almost two weeks ago now I left my place in London and moved into a campervan conversion full-time. He’s a Transit called Travis and we’re on an as yet not particularly well-defined mission to explore the UK and beyond whilst writing and recording music and hopefully meeting lots of nice people on the way.
The latter of these probably shouldn’t be difficult as one of the things I have been most struck by since embarking upon this madness is how kind most people are. My landlord upon hearing my intention to leave and live in a van seemed genuinely concerned for my well-being and gave me a hug when I left and told me he’d help me find another place anytime I needed. The lovely Lucy (whose brilliant open mic experience blog you should also read) generously offered storage for numerous items I couldn’t take with me and now has a bunch of my crap living under her sofa bed as a result. My excellent friend Rob aka Minty has given me his spare key and offered the use of his shower, kettle and TV whenever I need it. Everyone I’ve talked to about it has been supportive and wished me well, even if they think (and quite openly proclaim) I’m insane.
I’ve come to learn that you should never name people in a list like that because you inevitably end up missing some out. But it’s ok because if I didn’t mention you here I haven’t missed you out, I’m simply saving you for a future post! It’s all about the content! Hook and tease, hook and tease…
I never feel like I do enough or give enough back to anyone. I don’t have much to offer other than gratitude and support with whatever it is that they want to do with their lives. I hope that’s somehow enough. Or hey, if you’ve got any large items you need moving we can help with that! But I do already feel less isolated, less cocooned in my room than I was. Being out and about so much forces me to interact with so many new people in real life and it’s something I am already finding quite uplifting in terms of feeling more connected to my fellow humans.
I was trying to think about what I was hoping to get from this lifestyle and why I was doing it and I concluded it was partially discovering the new, partially recapturing what has been lost (like writing regularly) and maybe losing some things I could do without or at least less of. I suspect those are themes that I’ll be returning to a lot over the coming weeks and months. As the strapline suggests – this isn’t a blog about living in a van, it’s about living (in a van).
Anyway this is only supposed to be an introduction and I need to go and figure out how to make my website template work and how to post this. Expect some changes to the look of the place over the coming weeks as I get more acquainted with it. Unless I just get bored with it as I have with so many initiatives before and it slips silently out of sight, neglected and never to be revisited.
I hope that doesn’t happen.