From Every Day’s a Saturday to That Friday Feeling!
While we were out on the road, we watched a film, A Map for Saturday. It’s an independent film, put together by a young fella-me-lad on his gap year, hostelling it around the World, filming the folks he bumped into and chilled out with on the way (as well as the film, he blogged as he went). It was a far cry from our 40-something campervan wanderings, but closely matched our experience of days blending: every day is a Saturday when you’re travelling long term. There’s no ‘thank god’ Friday Feeling, and no ‘oh shit’ Sunday Night Feeling either. Most of the time we had no idea what day it was, nor did we care. The sun rose, we drove, we felt the warmth of freedom and didn’t care a hoot for anything much but staying alive and safe, and finding filthy cheap beer.
Today is Friday, and I left the offices of my old, and new employer. I’m on a temporary (3 months) contract with a multi-national energy provider. It is Corporate in there, as Corporate as it gets. As I left this evening, driving out of the car park in our Smart Car and annoying the hell out of everyone creeping over the speed bumps from the business estate, I felt the old sensation of relaxation creeping over me. That Friday Feeling.
Being back at the company I worked at for 8 years before we left on our tour, I know a few folks. Seeing them again is great. Some have moved on, one chap’s managing people in Algeria, Norway and Moscow, wow. Other guys have stayed put, doing the same job they did years ago, sat in the same desks. They all seem pretty relaxed, pretty comfortable and happy with their lots, all in all. Most ask what time was like on the road. It’s a difficult question to answer, I could talk about it for hours, but really most folks want a snippet, so I tell them ‘it was awesome’. Some ask what the highlight was. This is again a tough one. Meeting new friends? Driving into the desert for the first time? Parked high on Vesuvius or Etna overlooking the lights of tiny cities below? Bouncing from pristine beach to beach in Greece? Finding a safe and welcoming place to sleep in Ukraine? The list just goes on and on, there are literally hundreds of things I could mention, but for me the highlight was simply the sensation of freedom, of doing what the hell we pleased when we pleased, of answering to no-one, of being able to create and solve our own problems. I’m not sure how many people get this though, or would prefer not to get it, so I just pick one of the simpler-to-describe moments.
In case you’re wondering about taking a mid-life break from the old rat race, you might be wondering what it’ll be like going from this:
to this…
I have to tell you it isn’t easy, not for me anyway. For one thing I had to buy new shoes, and my trousers are that bit tighter. On a deeper note, once you’ve sussed that you can cut the cords which keep you bound to a particular life, to a particular place and way of living, the feeling’s there in the back of your mind whispering: you could do it again, what’s out there? what possibilities? Life’s short, do I really want to spend it working for years trying to get a decent pension together, or do I just say stuff it and cut loose in a year or so, as soon as I’ve got the money again? Of course it’s not ‘I’ for us, but ‘we’. Ju’s got her own views on the World, and we’ve our families back here too. It’s tough coming back, but that’s no reason not to leave in the first place.
Enough of me. Ju’s been busy this week punting in job applications, chasing job applications, eBaying more of the stuff we don’t need, looking after Charlie, cooking me dinner, cleaning, sorting through thousands of photos and printing off pictures of our adventures, sorting out a few snags with our rental house and making my sarnies for the next day. She’s getting up at 7am with me, which I think she’s a bit mad to be doing but she wants to, and putting up with me going to bed at 9:30pm (I’m finding it a bit hard to sleep when I know I’ve got a deadline to be up at the next day!). She’s taking my random suggestions such as selling up and moving to Bulgaria in her stride, and generally doing a wonderful job of putting up with me. She’s lonely in the house all day on her own. Our parents pop in to see her while I’m out grafting (ahem), but we’ve been together 24/7/365 for two years, and it’s a big change to be apart again.
So, life’s pootling on. Brook Silva-Braga (who created A Map for Saturday) seems to have slotted back into life in the USA anyhow (read about him here)!
Cheers, Jay
P.S. Kiri and Steve are keeping us entertained on their blog as they gear up to leave the UK. They’ve had some significant van challenges to handle too, have a look at their fab video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zJcupB4ICc
Moving to Bulgaria….sounds like a plan. :)
I’m working on it Christine! Any bargains going? Hope you guys are all good?
Hi J&J, Yes a house near us 20,000 levs = at todays rate 8,662 GBP nice house lots of land , big barn…place to park a Hymer. Cost of living very low. Have photos if you would like a look?
Hi Christine, wow, yeah, send us some photos? julieandjason@ourtour.co.uk. Thanks! Jay
That Moroccan coat, the one you swapped for a bicycle. It became your favourite coat – please, please tell me you didn’t cut it up and put it on your sofa for Charlie to snooze on !
Aha! No mate, the coat is, and always will be, in one piece and smelling mighty musty. It is upstairs on a hanger reminding me of the days when I dared wear it. The sofas have the Moroccan blankets on ’em which Ju haggled for from a slightly bozz-eyed old fella. The conclusion of said deal was announced with much beating of drums. You’d have like him Phil.
I like him already. Stay with it buddy – keep thinkin of a way around the corporate bullsh!t machine. lovin you and Ju x x
I wish four years ago I had followed my heart not my head, (I think thats the right way round!), we only live once. There are so many paths we talked about but did not follow, and now we are in a hole. If we only had our time again…..follow your hearts where ever it takes you. And most of all, be happy. There you go, thats lots of Portuguese Vinho tinto and liqor beiro.
Miss your daily updates by the way :) xxxxx
Hi Jen! Life’s a complex beast isn’t it? I’m sat here looking at the side of our neighbour’s house on an estate in the English Midlands, with rain splattering the window. There’s a storm on the way apparently, which I’m looking forward to. I’m kind of glad it is raining, as it means I can sit inside and mope – how awful of me. It seems so easy at times to convince yourself to follow your heart, but so difficult to actually put it into practice. For me, I think, it is about recognising and overcoming fear. The fear of finding ourselves trapped, unable to return to the UK or doing another job which doesn’t quite fit. The fear of being seen as flippant and not doing one’s duty. The fear of being poor. The fear of being unemployable or getting ill and not being able to get treatment. There are flip-side fears too, fears of following one’s head: of losing one’s self respect, of being unhappy, of making my loved ones unhappy, of finding one of us ill or otherwise unable to make life changes, and chewing ourselves up with regret.
Anyway, how’s about you and Will? Are you guys able to get out and about in your new van? If not, what’s holding you back? Same stuff as me?
Cheers, Jay
It is complex, agree with your thoughts. We want to follow your footsteps but fear holds us back! Why ?
Hi Mo. Fear and risk were background subjects for me as we travelled. We felt safe, but were much of the time outside what you might call our comfort zones (although I felt uncomfortable once I was back into my comfort zone!). One thing which became obvious and had force for us was the fact that we all (or many of us at least) choose not to balance our view of things sometimes. What I mean is, we don’t assess the risk of NOT doing something. If we don’t follow our hearts, we may find ourselves bitter, aged, regretful, ill or otherwise unable to later do what was possible before. I wish you luck and strength in making your decisions in life; we most certainly don’t regret the choice we made to take to the road. Love, Jay
Something about a man in a suit ;-) Hope Ju finds something soon x
Hey Jay, the suit is not for ever. Just a means to an end. Kia kaha.
Hi J&J
Rain & storms in Blighty, you know we’re thinking of flying back to England ’cause we can’t take the Grecian sun anymore. This T-shirt and jock strap life is too much now, I want some long johns and duffel coat life. Not!
More seriously – we’ve been where you and Ju are now. Money is not everything as the cliché goes, but try living life without it. Not easy. Then again, yes you only live once, money or no money, and the worst thing in my mind is going to the grave unhappy. That was and remains a major part of our decision to do some long terming in Fifi the motorhome.
You guys talk of freedom, I’m reminded of the song by Kris Kristofferson “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” …. you’ll know the road when you see it. What you make of it is up to you, there’s no guide book on the rights and wrongs.
Risks and living by gut feel is something modern society is fast forgetting, thankfully we are both in our sixties, boring / boredom and ‘same old’ is something we don’t do.
Have just spent three wonderful warm sunny days in Athens sightseeing, heading for Korinthos and the Peloponnese. Seen little rain since July.
Here’s wishing you both the best of British!