Interviews, Narrowboats and Dark Nights
Erm, what to say? We’ve been back home in Blighty for two months and the feeling of the wandering life has left us. I can honestly say that although I still vividly recall the feeling of roaming on a whim, the thrill of finding some new gem of a place or meeting someone you click with, I can’t actually feel it any more. Thank a god, it was making me miserable.
Life has settled into a pattern. We get up at 7, I grab the lunch Ju made me (no way on Earth am I paying that much for the pre-made sarnies I’d happily buy every day before we left) and head off to work. It’s only 20 minutes away, a drive through familiar countryside and past the local mist-smoked reservoir. The people are friendly and easy going, and the job’s nothing like as taxing as some I’ve had in the past. All in all, it’s good stuff, and I’m no longer lying awake at night in the week, like you do when you know you’ve something ‘special’ to get up for!
Ju’s been on the job hunt, stressing herself silly, attending three interviews this week and going stir crazy in the long days between. She’s other irons in the fire; I’m trying to encourage her to go for a part time marketing job at Lowdham caravans! We need at least one of us on a full time employment contract though, or we’ve no chance of getting the mortgage we need to do some property development. Finger’s crossed she gets the good news next week; although she’s flipping good at what she does so she’ll snare something soon enough. Oh, and she’s been to the local gold shop and flogged a load of old jewellery – woohoo, enough to do a massive Lidl shop!
The other news, if you can call it that, is we’re eyeing up a narrowboat as our next form of domicile. There’s a local marina we can ‘park up in’, and we’ve been busy reading up about anodes, blacking, marine surveys, semi-trads and pump-outs. A trip to Nottingham marina had us wandering about on a fifty footer, thinking just how much space there seemed to be in there, compared with Dave that is! As we have a few months left on the rental contract here we’ve some time to scrape cash together, keep an eye on the boat market and avoid floating in inches of ice during the winter nights, for this winter at least.
There’s also the small matter of the log burning stove! Having one’s on our bucket list, and all the boats seem to have one, hurray! Word is as long as you suss how to burn coal properly, the boats stay toasty all night long.
That’s about it folks. We’ve not been out much to be honest (not even on Bonfire night; we stayed in to give Charlie moral support, he still recalls the fireworks in Greece), and still having no TV means the dark nights are seriously long! Tonight we’re off to the pub though to meet up with some old and good mates, and blow a few beer tokens!
Cheers folks, Jay
P.S. If you’re after another motorhome blog to have a read of, these guys have just sold up and hit the continent: adventuresofbigbird.wordpress.com, currently happily wandering north Spain.
omg get the boat! the only thing i know anything about are boats and seamanship!!! <3 <3 <3
C’mon Josh! You know everything about everything man!
Have a read of http://becominglistless.blogspot.com/ – friends of ours who’ve been living on a narrowboat for a couple of years now, after a stint in a motorhome…
Thanks Adrian! The blog looks very, very helpful. Hope all is going well for you and Ellie? Drop us a line at julieandjason@ourtour.co.uk? Cheers, Jay
Hi Julie and Jay you should try and catch George Clarks – small spaces programme on 4OD if you can…last night a couple spent crazy amounts of money on a very swish narrow boat which they built to include floating hotel rooms…it was amazing but a bit of a bank breaker (they sold up to fund the project!!)
Glad life back in the uk is becoming more bearable for you now x x
My brother in law had a narrowboat for a few years in London before he met my sister. Think he probably sold it as there wasnt enough room for Vicki and her stuff once they got married!!!! But he did enjoy staying in it. It had a log burner and they said it was lovely and cosy in the winter. I say go for it!
If you get a boat and find yourself in Norfolk come visit us – we have a mooring near our cottage in Upwell. And yes a woodburner will stay in overnight when used correctly – can be kept burning constantly.
Good luck to Jules with the job hunting.
Muriel Johns
A narrowboat would be a wonderful next adventure, we love parking our motorhome by canals to watch them passing by and always dream of travelling around the UK in one, we are looking forward to hearing about your experiences.
Good luck
Nik and Serena Taylor
http://www.ontourwithdaisy.co.uk
I lived on a narrowboat moored near Kingston-on-Thames for about 5-years. The boat community is as laid back as the travelling motorhomers. Great pace of life …. usual problem, work gets in the way.
I used to keep the stove on from early October until April …. 24×7. Driftwood, old pallets & anthracite.