More Rilke

I know, I know, I know...I have gushed with love and admiration for the awesome blog A Year with Rilke before.

But this post....this is something else...

"Never, not for a single day, do we let
the space before us be so unbounded
that the blooming of one flower is forever."

From the Eighth Duino Elegy

 

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.  Perfection!

If I ever...

...get a tattoo...then I will get a design based on this gorgeous stunning surreal dragon...

It was love at first sight.

Worship of the three day weekend

Mmm I love bank holidays.  I went walking with Mum and the dogs.  This is Sally taking in the beauty of Cumbria.

It was Floss' birthday.  She is a teenager now.

We went to Angle Tarn.  Its such a beautiful place!

It was so nice to spend the day with my Mum.  I adore this woman.

One eye on the horizon

Over the past few weeks I have come to recognise a flaw in my thinking, and I have been attempting to rationalise this so I can tackle and resolve it (yes this what a Psychology degree does to you!).

My current travel plan is based on me leaving the country in 16 months time, potentially forever.  So with regards to relationships, my thinking for quite a while has been along the lines of "Oh I cant do that right now because Im leaving soon".  

Partly because I didnt want to be tempted to stay, partly because I didnt want to get hurt or hurt anyone by leaving, partly because it seemed the right choice to make.

And yet...and yet...the life I am choosing is a life of constant change, a life of perpetual motion.  I will always be "leaving soon".  And while I am genuinely happy to be on my own right now, I definitely would one day like to find a man who I want to spend the rest of my life with.  Someone who shares my desire for travel, not someone who tags along because it is what I want.  Someone who sees every horizon as a challenge.

I know the chances of me finding this man right here in Cumbria are very low.  I know that I am far more likely to find him when I am moving in circles of people who travel, wanderers, nomads, adventurers.  This certainty that my man is not right where I am now is another reason why I havent really considered relationships as an option currently.

But realistically, staying single for however many years it takes to meet Mr Nomad because I will be "leaving soon" is not the clever option.

1. It means I will miss out on so many amazing, intense (and yes heartbreaking) experiences.  I am choosing to travel because I want to experience more, not less.
2. It means I will miss out on so much love and friendship.  I love to love people.  I believe that loving for love's sake is one of the best things about being human.  Love is never wrong. 
3.  If I always have the "I cant" frame of mind, there is every chance that I will walk right on by Mr Nomad without even noticing he is there.
4. If I spend years and years alone, the chances are that even if I do have the good sense to notice Mr Nomad, I wont be able to make the relationship work.  Like everything else in life, we learn from experience.  And as we get older, the things we arent involved in get more challenging to us.

This whole issue applies to family and friendship too, and the same answers apply.  Just because a relationship can only be transient, doesnt mean it has to be meaningless.  In fact, to survive the loneliness of long-term travel, it is all the more important that the temporary connections we make with family, friends and lovers are filled to overflowing with meaning.

I am only too aware of how challenging I will find it to build relationships in a way which is completely meaningful at the time, but also retain the ability to let go of them without losing myself.  I fall in love hard, fast and totally.  I am the faithful puppy-dog and I find it oh so incredibly difficult to let anything or anyone I love go.  

But now I have identified this shift in how I need to think about things, I can work on it.  If Im honest, it terrifies me.  But I will work on it, I will practice.  I will practice loving my friends, my family and others with so much passion and depth, not holding back because "Im leaving soon".  Not loving in spite of the imminent departure, but because of it.  This life is a series of moments that fly past us, nothing is permanent.  To live in the present means to love in the present.  I hope that this attitude is the best way to frame how I relate to others to maximise my ability to one day form a relationship that will span many many moments.

Yes it will be heartbreaking, yes it will leave me feeling numb over and over and over again, but this is the life I choose.

Camper van porn!

Thanks to a thoughtful tipoff from the man of the moment, I am happily immersed in the campervan porn that is Campervan Crisis.  Its currently on Quest on Wednesdays at 9.00, but its an old series from 2007 and you can also get it on DVD.  Or you can download it for free (sneaky sneaky!) - links are here.  Basically its a documentary series about a guy restoring an old splitscreen T2...beautiful!

Its not really a "How-To" guide...so dont rush out and buy it thinking it will solve all your van-based problems, but its very entertaining (if you are a van obsessive like me) and there is enough techie stuff to keep me interested. Oh yeah and there is some fricking stunning footage of some super-sexy conversions.  

Oh the excitement!

Also upping the font size...as according to the great Gods at Problogger - its the way to go.  Currently it feels ridiculous, kinda like Im typing a letter to a 3 year old.  But hey ho, enjoy the patronisation!

Good choice...bad choice?

I may make good choices...but I am awful at taking photos!

I make a lot of life choices which cause people around me to raise their eyebrows, to make doubtful "hmm" and "ohh" noises and look completely confused by.  Im sure I drive my long suffering mother mad, but I am endlessly grateful she appreciates my crazily independent streak and trusts me sufficiently to allow me to make my own choices regardless of her opinion (or at least knows me well enough to keep quiet!)

In the last 5 years, I have made the following choices which, at face value, even to me, look like "bad" choices...

1. I chose to drop out of university 3 days before I was due to start my course.
2. I chose to apply for jobs that I am completely unqualified to do without any relevant experience.
3. I chose to spend a summer working with kids 14h a day...and I dont really like children!
4. I chose to stay with a boyfriend who cheated on me.
5. I chose my Master Plan despite the fact it will drain my bank account, waste my hard-earned degree and close a lot of doors in my future working and family lives.

And yet, when I made these choices, I knew they were absolutely the right choice, the best choice, for me.  I'm not one to make choices without considering all my options first, but I also do listen to my initial gut feeling.   And today, I am glad that I trust myself, glad that I trust God's plan for my life, because I maintain that these were "good" choices.

1. If I had gone to a traditional university at that point in my life, I would not have been forced to analyse my life, my goals and my motivations.  I think it would have taken me years of doing jobs that didnt satisfy before I stepped back for long enough to consider these things and direct myself in the direction of happiness.
2. Not only did I apply for those jobs...I got one of them!  My job as a Software Tester at Penrillian has financed my future travel plans, if I hadnt aimed so high I would never ever have been able to save this much money.
3. Camp Sonshine was the best experience of my life!!!
4. Yes this relationship did eventually fail, but it was an invaluable learning experience.  I have so many great memories and I do not regret any one moment of heartache because of the value of what I gained.
5. Technically I dont know whether this was the right choice yet (as I havent left yet)...but I have SO much faith that it will be beyond my wildest and most exciting dreams!

So the next time someone tells you that you are making a "bad" choice, stop and take a moment.  If I had listened to the opinions of those around me, to the preachings of my culture, I quite possibly wouldnt have made any of those five choices.  And I would have been a worse person, a more dissatisfied and disconnected person and a far more lost person because of it.

In fact, my greatest is the one major choice I made which was based more on what I percieved to be culturally and morally the "good" choice rather than trusting my own opinion on the best option.  I let someone go who I should have clung to as if my very life depended on it.   That loss will forever scar me.  But wrapped up with trusting my ability to make good choices, is the concept of trusting myself to make the best out of my choices whether they are good or bad.  We all make mistakes, its how we live with them that differentiates us.

This world often pushes us towards conformity instead of what is best for us.  It is you who has to live with the consequences of your choices, trust that the ability to make good choices lies within you.

How to make curtains for your campervan

First of all, here is an updated picture of my van design.  

  

It has actually changed quite a bit since my original design ideas.  At the moment, the big cupboard is almost complete, it just needs the rail to be put in.  The guy who is helping me has been in a bike accident so progress on the kitchen unit is still at a standstill.  Its ok though...there is plenty of time!

So in the absence of manly assistance in tasks like sawing and fixing and suchlike, I am making curtains.  One of the things I wanted from my curtains was to give the van a bit of insulation, like those silver faced screens you can buy for the front windows of cars and vans etc.   You can buy these screens ready made (very expensive) or you can buy the fancy 7-layer fabric (quite expensive) and make them yourself.

Or you can take the cheap option like me!  I found this idea at the T4 Forum (GREAT source of tips and insider info by the way), where someone recommended that you could buy some radiator insulation and use that as a cheap alternative.  You can pick it up from DIY stores - I got mine from B&Q - I got enough to do the 4 rear windows for less than £10!  Bargain!  This stuff is backed with polystyrene, to be honest Im not sure how long it will last as obviously it isnt meant to be moved around a lot.  Im hoping that if I am gentle with it then it should last a while.

So first of all I made paper templates of the window shapes (the ones that a square shape wasnt suitable for), then cut out the silver insulation to match. 

Next, I selected some super Tanzanian fabric for the inside and cut it to a slightly larger size than the silver insulation.

Next step was to pin the two pieces together, not forgetting to include a hem for any edges of the fabric which needed it.  I folded the hem edge over the outside of the silver plastic, so it has a nice looking edge and the edge of the insulation gets protected at the same time.  I also pinned in velcro around the edges (not too much), I will glue the other halves of the velcro onto the van walls.  Final attachment was some pretty ribbons (yes Im such a girl) to tie the curtain open, I will be rolling them open and closed like blinds as the insulation is too stiff to draw like a normal curtain.

And then clickety click with the sewing machine, snippety snip with the scissors...and job done!  Havent quite got round to the sewing bit yet...but I will post a picture of a finished curtain once Im done!

Update...here are some finished pics! Yay Im really pleased with them!

 

Niagara

In 2007 I visited Niagara Falls (from the American side).  It was a grey, damp day and it felt freezing as just a week before I was happily sunning myself in the Florida Keys.  The American town of Niagara next to the Falls is a desolate dead-end town, filled with cheap tacky shops and amusements.  Dwarfed by the bright buzzing city on the Canadian side, American Niagara was out of season, everything was closed and the streets were deserted after 9 pm.  It felt gritty, seedy and slightly unsafe, even the raccoons who dared to venture out felt like good company.

Gratuitous Sally picture due to lack of Niagara photos!

And yet, my day in Niagara was the most memorable day I spent in America.  The seedy town, the cold weather, the moody grey skies were completely irrelevant because of the sheer power of the Falls.  They were beyond incredible, there are literally no words to describe their raw wildness.  Unfortunately I have no photos from that day to share...as I left my camera in a New York toilet a few days later (Top travel tip...when in a toilet...camera goes in the bag!)  

But despite the lack of photos and words, I remember that day.  My memory is more than the beauty of the Falls though, what I remember most is the feeling of being there.

Something about the natural spectacle, about the beauty and the power, temporarily changed my consciousness, my perspective on the world.  Suddenly, the past and the future and every other aspect of the present faded away so that the throbbing heartbeat of life which bound me into the Falls could be heard.  That's the day I understood why people meditate, why there are highly successful blogs based around being "present", why the Buddhists spend a lifetime seeking enlightenment.  That feeling was energising and uplifting beyond anything else I have ever experienced.  

From the moment I first rounded the corner and made the thundering of the water into a visual reality, I could not stop smiling.  The feeling of completeness, of being an inextricable part of the entire universe just by witnessing that waterfall was totally unexpected and endlessly mesmerising.  I wish I could always be that present in my daily life, wish I could permanently feel that constant embeddedness in a miraculous omnipotent world, wish I could constantly feel like this moment, right here, right now, is enough.

Niagara Falls is 100% worth the trip if you find yourself in America or Canada.  It will show you a world you probably forgot the existence of long long ago.

To see clearly

My grandma with my mum on her 85th birthday

My grandma is 87 and she has just had cataract surgery.  Before the operation she was terrified, and she had never realised how bad her sight had got.

Two days after the surgery, when my mum arrived at the house, my grandma was in tears.  Why?  Because she could see colours properly again.

Cataract surgery is so simple, and yet so lifechanging.  Not just for my grandma, but for people all over the world.  The charity Sightsavers performed over a quarter of a million cataract operations in 2010 alone.  For people in poor countries, cataract surgery doesnt just mean they get to cry with joy because they can see clearly.  It means they can work, care for their families, get an education, have a chance at life.

I am a firm believer in maximising the impact of charitable donations.  This is not to devalue the work of charities like cancer research (my mum wouldnt be here without them!) - but in a world with so much suffering I think the only remotely logical choice is to give in a way which maximises the number of people who will be helped, in the largest possible way, for the smallest amount of investment.  

To me, charities like Sightsavers represent one of these "best options".  Cataract surgery costs so little, and it changes an entire family's life forever.

Yay for my grandma's sight being restored to her!

Its all in the timing

Im in my second to last year of doing a BSc Psychology degree with the Open University.  For anyone who doesnt know about the OU, this is a university which offers a selection of courses which can be done remotely.  I get textbooks in the post, and everything else I need is online.  I decided to do my degree with the OU for a number or reasons, one of the main ones being cost.

If I had gone to "regular" university, I would have spent £3000 for 3 years on tuition fees, plus all my accommodation and food costs on top of that.  At best I would probably have been able to work about 3 shifts a week in a minimum wage job.  I would most likely have walked away at least £15 000 in debt.

So...I chose the OU way.  I chose to work full time in a well-paid job (that I never should have been given, but thats a different story!) so it will take 4.5 years to complete my degree.  I walk out with the same British Psychology Society recognised qualification which would enable me to work in the industry.  I have lived at home for most of my course so my living costs have been negligible.  Im not entirely sure on the exact figures for my tuition fees, but it will probably total around £5000.  I will walk away with around £40 000 in savings.  My choice to do a degree with the OU was the foundation of my ability to consider making my travel dreams a (not too difficult) reality.

Wow.  Way to make a good choice Anna.  Wrong.  It wasnt a good choice.  It was a poorly thought out choice.  Lucky for me, I just happened to make that choice in the right place at the right time.  I learnt today that the OU are putting up their course fees (along with every other university in the country).  This wont affect me but for new students their tuition fees for an undergraduate OU degree will now total £15 000.  

OK so this is still not at the level of "regular" universities - who are putting tuition fees up to something crazy like £8000 a year (thats £24 000 on tuition fees alone, before you even consider living costs!), but it has certainly significantly narrowed the gap.  And honestly, aside from textbooks, someone who marks my essays and a room to take an exam in, the OU doesnt exactly give me much input.  No way is that worth £5000 a year!

So yeah, I found the perfect loophole in the system, in the perfect time, in the perfect place for me.  It was all in the timing.  So much of life seems to be like this, our chances are bound up with the fleeting moments in which they are available.

Life, it would seem, is all in the timing.

These are the days...

These are the days that I will remember all my life.

Summer days with the kiss of sunlight on skin.

Days spent with my Mum on Lake Ullswater kayaking.

Memories of moody blue skies and water that will merge imperceptibly together with time just like the lines between water and sky.

Perfect memories of an imperfect world, of days when simply being alive was more than enough to satisfy, what more can we ever ask of this life?

Gap Year resources

When I was doing my A-Levels my school had lots of leaflets and resources available to us from companies who organise gap year projects.  "Great!" we all thought, and some people signed up for such projects.  Teaching in India, trekking in the Andes, conservation projects in Borneo - awesome experiences.  

I am not trying to suggest getting involved in those companies are a "bad" idea - they are great projects, you get a bit more support and peace of mind knowing that in theory someone is responsible for you, and I would like to think they only take on projects which have decent ethics and sustainability.  

But in reality, a lot of them are far from the cheapest option.  The people I knew who went on organised trips ended up working at least half of their gap year in some dead end boring job here in order to finance it.  To me - you want to be spending as much of your gap year as is humanly possible actually out there having fun!  After all, it might the only chance in your whole life you get to experience that kind of freedom.  

Companies like this seem to charge at least £1000 for a 2 week project, though they do seem to be better value if you go for a lot longer. But there are in fact a lot of far far cheaper, or even free options out there.  Here are some of the resources I have either used, or intend to use on my future travels.

Project options (Im sure there are loads more sites like these out there...get looking!)

Workaway

Se7en

WWOOF

HelpX

Camp America ... read more about my experience here

CCUSA

Accommodation options

Hostel World

Hostel Bookers

Couchsurfing

I spent 7 months travelling on my gap year...and I spent less than £4000 including flights.  And if I had wanted to, I could probably have done just as much fun stuff for half the price if I had chosen cheaper countries and spent more time doing voluntary work.

Camp America...such fun!

So the moral of the story is, dont just blindly trust that the options you are given at school are necessarily the "only" options...or even the "best".  You have the freedom to completely choose your own path, probably for the first time in your life.  Use it wisely!

When every breath is precious

Sally is my love.  She is beyond precious.  I know she is "just a dog", I respect her as a wolf-sister, and I dont treat her as if she were human.  But she is my love above and beyond all others.  I dont expect anyone who has never owned a dog to understand.  She is worth the world to me.  No human has ever, will ever, or could ever give me the kind of love she offers.

There is never a judgement, never an angry thought, never a let-down, never a betrayal, never even indifference.  She is simply incapable of anything but sweet dependence.  I know she doesnt love me as a conscious decision, nor out of some noble inner goodness.  It is simply how she has evolved, how she has been bred, how she has been taught to behave.  But that doesnt matter.  Her love is enough.  She is enough.  Although she is not beautiful, nor intelligent, nor valuable, she is enough.  When she pushes her head into my chest when I hug her, hides her eyes from the world in the safety of my arms, that is more love than my heart can hold.

But she is so mortal.  I watch her slowly ageing, track each grey hair, each stiff stretch in the morning, and it terrifies me.  The thought of life without her makes me cry every single time it crosses my mind.  Just writing it down brings tears to my eyes.  She is my best friend, my comfort and my joy.  She is the reason I get out of bed each morning.  The bond we have is unbreakable, trying to verbalise my love for her makes me feel as if my very soul is being torn in two.  And yet she will not be here forever.

At night she sleeps on my bed.  I wrap myself around her in the dark, she relaxes and begins to dream.  I lie awake, feeling her heart beating through her warm fur, listening to her breathe, feeling her ribcage rise and fall with every precious breath.  Every breath, every heartbeat, every moment, I try to engrave into my consciousness to sustain me for the future.

When every breath is precious, love is heartbreak.

Strangers in the moment

Royal Crescent, Bath

I love it when a total stranger makes my day.

I was driving down to Bath, it was my birthday, it was way too hot in the car.  I had just stopped at a service station on the M6 and I was about to pull back out onto the motorway, when I saw him.  A hitchhiker.  Early forties, tall, tanned, floppy sun-bleached hair and less baggage than most people would take on a trip to the supermarket.  He looked like he belonged on an Aussie beach not hitching his way out of a dingy service station.

As a girl on my own, there is always the mental calculation of "Is this person a rapist...murderer...car thief" to be gone through before picking up a hitchhiker.  All to be done at lightning speed before you have driven past the hitchhiker.  No-one has ever failed my calculation, and I have yet to pick up anyone who was either a rapist, murderer or a car thief.  Although sometimes I have taken so long to make the decision that I have then had to turn around to go back for the hitchhiker!

So I picked him up, his name was Ben.  He was an ex-pat who renovated property in France (hence the tan), he had also lived in Hong Kong and various other awesome places.  He was also in the process of looking for a van to buy to take back to France with him to convert into a camper.  I literally would have created an identical person if I was in the business of genetically engineering myself a random car journey companion.

Between the combination of our rather sketchy knowledge of English Geography, my sat nav and a few phonecalls to his sister, we worked out that my destination of Bath was only about 20 miles away from where he was trying to get to.  Pretty perfect for him really!  

So we drove and chatted for hours.  He was charming, funny, interesting, sweet and full of great stories and useful advice.  We swapped life stories, travel tips and van dreams.  I was genuinely sad to see him go when I dropped him off in the centre of Bath.  

I didnt get his number, his email address, or even his second name.  I will never see him again.  But that doesnt matter.  He was the perfect stranger.  He made my day.

Slipping

Me in Bath...summer school was awesome!

Im back from my Open University summer school in Bath now - had a great time.  Just had a 14 hour sleep (yes...fourteen) to catch up on some serious sleep deprivation due to rubbish university accommodation and too much fun.

However, this trip, and my recent trip to Turkey and Greece, have got me thinking about how certain elements of my life on the road are most definitely not sustainable long term.  As my master plan is to embark on long term travel, I really need to get these issues resolved before I go.

Beautiful Bath

1. Diet.  At home I eat super healthily - when Im on the road I eat pretty much anything that is offered to me.  While Im great at not buying rubbish food from supermarkets at home, when Im away I eat food that I would never dream of eating at home.  And so much of it!
2. Skincare.  I have badly behaved skin, so it is really important that I look after it.  This is partly linked in to item one as my skin likes me to eat well.  But it also involves taking the time to cleanse it properly, do face masks, exfoliate etc etc.  It will forgive my abuse for a couple of weeks...but over a longer time period I need to get this sorted.
3. Exercise.  At home my workout schedule is pretty much sorted and I am very good at committing to it. On the road...not a chance.  Im not that keen on doing yoga or situps and stuff in front of other people, it can also be hard to find a suitable surface to do things on.  But I rapidly start to notice the difference when I dont work out daily - and its not a great difference.
4. General girl stuff.  All the normal stuff like doing my nails, shaving my legs, taking makeup off at night, taking vitamins, plucking my eyebrows etc just slowly start to slip... until by the end of a few weeks I do kind of start to look as if I lived under a bush.  Not great.  Especially as I would like to find my future husband out there one day!

The not-so-beautiful Bath university campus

 I guess everyone has things which slip when they are outside their usual schedule, but I know that nailing these sustainability issues will make my long term travel experience a lot easier and help me transition into a nomadic life without losing myself along the way.

Im from Camp Sonshine

www.campsonshine.org

Game time!

In 2007, having always wanted to visit America, I participated in the Camp America program.  This is a company which matches you up with an American summer camp, pays for your flights, helps you out with your visas and stuff...and its almost free!  You pay for your visa and police check, and they get to keep the majority (but not all) of your wages from camp.  So basically you get about 3 months in America for free!  And as you have a working visa - you will probably have a couple more months after camp which you can spend doing whatever you like in America.

Getting dirty

 I would recommend this to anyone.  Its not easy, I can honestly say that camp was the hardest thing I have ever done - and I was only at a day camp so I wasnt even on site 24h a day.  But if you get placed at the right camp for you, in the right role for you, it is just the best experience.  I was part of the Wilderness program of a Christian camp in Maryland called Camp Sonshine, with groups of 10 - 11 year old girls.  We ran wild in the woods, built fires, went on awesome trips, did great outdoor activities and just had so much fun!  8 weeks of 6am starts and 14 hour days forced my 18 year old mind and body into new levels of endurance and maturity.  I learnt how to push through exhaustion, smile when all I wanted to do was cry, run in 40 degree heat, and love more than I ever had before.

Me and my girls

The kids were great, I still miss them.  The camp staff were so incredible, I made lifelong friends there.  I had never lived amongst a group of Christians before - it was an unforgettable privilege.  Everyone loved my "accent" and constantly asked me to pronounce words for them.  I vividly remember talking to one girl camper about how far I had travelled to get to Maryland, when she looked at me with wide beautiful blue eyes and said "You must really love us".  That's the moment when I realised that I was touching the lives of these children forever.  My heart broke right there.

Wildernesssssssssssssssssss!!!!

I didnt think being a camp counselor would be even half as hard as it was.  But neither did I anticipate how rewarding it would be.  And now...I dont remember the bug bites, the poison ivy wounds, the knife cuts from making bows & arrows that I still have scars from, the heat or the exhaustion.  All I remember is the love.

Thank you Camp Sonshine

If you ever read one book...make it THIS one

I read it for the first time when I was seventeen.  This book changed my life.  This book shaped my mind. This book guides my heart.  This book guards my soul.

It is elegantly simple, innocently human and just absolutely wow.  I can honestly say that there is line after line, paragraph after paragraph, chapter after chapter that made me stop and completely re-evaluate my life.

This is the gift I give to those I love the most, to those who are hurting and turn to me for help, to those who need guidance in this life, to those who love life.  Rich or poor, adult or child, Christian or non-Christian, hardened cynic or gullible innocent, there are levels of this book that will appeal to anyone.

It is the perfect image of how our relationship with this tattered imperfect world should be.  It is an infinitely purer image of how faith should be than any thousands of years of religion has produced.  It is the wisdom of a child.  An amazing child.  A human child.  Anna.

I urge you - if you ever buy one book again in your life, if you ever borrow one book from a library again in your life, make it this one.  It is life-changing.  It doesnt preach, it doesnt lecture, it is genuinely perfection.  It is love in book form.

And yes, it makes it all the better that my beautiful mother chose to name me Anna because she too had fallen in love with this book, with this child.  She hoped that her redheaded child would at the very least share the love of life her redheaded namesake possessed.

I love sharing my name with Anna.  This book transformed me.  Read it.  I beg you.

This week I'm loving...

1. Scheduled posts!  Ive totally just discovered these when I was writing my recent book review of My Exile Lifestyle...and man do they make blogging life good.  I think they massively increase my writing quality - I do always proof read for spelling and grammar, but with a scheduled post I come back the next day and proof read for ideas as well.  Also if I have already written a scheduled post for the second half of the week - theres none of that "Aargh I need to write!" panic.  And best of all, when Im not around to write (like next week when on my university summer school) - I can relax safe in the knowledge that my posts for that week are already written!  I can see me using this feature a LOT when I am travelling.
2. Baby badgers!  Stopped on my home from work today to watch a baby badger snuffling around in a field.  Broad daylight, maybe 10 metres away from me, not a care in the world. Awwwwwwwwwwwww.  I love Cumbria.
3. Summer school! Yay for 10 hour research days and visiting one of the most beautiful cities in England - Bath.  Looking forward to meeting lots of new people.
4. Gratuitous Sally pictures.  As she is ageing her mortality terrifies me more and more...but her Einstein-style eyebrows are super cute!

Dog days

Summer is lavender picking time!

I am delighting in summer.  These are the days I am madly in love with England and with life.  The land throbs with life and colour and basks under the watery sun stretching itself across the glowing blue sky.

I just love it so.  Picnics in the garden, taking the dogs swimming in the river, soaking my skin in the sun's rays.  Mmm heaven.

Floss doesnt think much of gathering lavender

Today I learnt that yoga is about ten times better outside!  Cant think why I didnt think of this before, but its great!  Its just so much easier to reach that calmed, connected, centred state when you are merging your consciousness with the birdsong and the wind in the trees.  And the feeling of your feet and hands grounded into the soft warm grass is just delightful, suddenly the fact that you are merely an extension of the earth and inextricably bound into the slow spinning passage through time and space becomes blindingly obvious and perfectly satisfying.

Perfect and sweet smelling decorations

If English summers were always like this, instead of the odd pearl of a floating in a sea of grey and rain, then I might even consider staying here.  I know its crazy that I am basing my life plan on the weather...but I just love summer...

My Exile Lifestyle Book Review

Colin of Exile Lifestyle's new book is out today!  I was privileged enough to get my hands on a pre-launch copy as I am one of Colin's trusted inner circle of gurus and confidantes (not really...I'm just on his mailing list).  Having been a fan of Colin's excellent blog for a while, I was keen to get my hands on his latest offering.  And at $2.99 (less than £2)...I thought....why not!  I think his plan to price this book low is a great idea, I am always really reluctant to part with more than £5 for some unknown book.  Doubts like "what if its only 20 pages long?"..."what if its all pictures?"..."what if its utter rubbish?" creep in and stop me from parting with my hard earned cash.  But £2?  Thats's like buying Colin a coffee, and a cheap coffee at that!  And yeah, I would be happy to buy Colin a coffee for the chance to have a chat with him about his awesome life, so I bought the book.

And I wasnt disappointed.  I got 168 pages of new and interesting stories, musings and insights from a person whose lifestyle and attitudes inspire and encourage me in my own "alternative" dreams.  This is a book about Colin and his life, it doesnt directly "teach" or explain "how to" do anything, and it isnt really about business.  It is more like a month's worth of coffees with Colin - these are the answers to the questions you would ask him, the stories he would tell and the conversations you would have!  

Colin is an American nomad...he moves to a new country every 4 months - which is chosen by the readers of his blog!  How awesome is that!  In between all his international travel adventures he manages to find time to run a branding studio, an independent publishing company and various other projects.  This committed enthusiasm to life and all it holds is definitely reflected in his new book.

There are stories about journeys, places, people, events, relationships, moments in time.  And even the odd "aha" moment like...

"Every finish line is a horizon, not an ending."

There are musings on life, love, travel and self.  Insights into who Colin is and why he has chosen the path he has.

And to me, that is really satisfying. By necessity, blogs offer a snapshot into someone's life without often exposing their thought processes, their insecurities, their humanity.  This book takes the Colin from Exile Lifestyle and expands him in your imagination into a more rounded and real person.  It feels like getting to know a new friend.  I like that.

My only criticism would be...there arent enough pictures.  I like pictures - although I appreciate that for less than the price of a coffee Im not going to get a load of unique images.  But Colin is a super talented designer - and he even has his own T-shirt store, so I would have loved to see some of his artwork in there.  And yeah, I admit it, he is pretty cute, so some more gratuitous Colin pictures wouldnt have gone amiss!

If you have never visited Exile Lifestyle, I really recommend you do.  Check out the archives, photo galleries, fall in love with Colin (as in his lifestyle, vision and writing, not literally...that would be weird and stalkerish).  And if you like what you see on there, I guarantee you will love the new My Exile Lifestyle book.