This last week has been emotional. No matter how much work we do on ourselves there’s always the part where we then move back into the world of other people, and it’s daunting. Vanlife for me has been a huge opportunity to hit the reset button: on how I work, how I live, and how I connect with people. It begins with healing the Self, and as that process deepens it allows us to being the work with those closest…
It’s the last day of Spanish hunting season, which means that around 100,000 galgos hounds will be shot, abandoned, or sometimes quite brutally murdered because they’re now considered worthless. I’m trying really hard not to turn this into a rant, but fuck, I’ve seen a few things today that have pissed me off so badly. Even though I look to the social structures that cause people to behave cruelly: capitalism reduces every action, every product and every life to €…
Is it luck I’m here? The privilege of being born with a white face in a country where my passport allows easy access to almost anywhere in the world. I don’t feel it’s luck that I now live a (mostly) stress-free slow-life: that took determination, vision, and a deep desire to follow though regardless of some of the anger and gossip it generated. Is it luck that, because we’ve given up a rooted home we’re able to park with family…
In the third of an occasional series of chats with middle-years women in vans I have a wonderful time talking with Camille @camilleslowingdown https://instagram.com/camilleslowingdown. An inspiring story from a beautiful woman determined to carve her own path in life – in her van. As usual this is just under an hour so grab a brew and plug your ears in for a real chilled-out treat. #outsiderwomen #vanlife #middleyears Interview is on IGTV here: View this post on Instagram A post…
I’ve been thinking long and hard about the intention for this coming year, I’ve chased it under skeletal winter hedgerows, across undulating hills that gently magnify all the hidden shadows of the mind, and in the needly-ice-cold of winter swims. This morning, during a glorious hour of silence with @workingsilence I found this triad: syncretism, symbiosis, symbolism. Ah! This makes perfect sense! I will hold these words in my heart all year, seek out their embodiment with every step. Only…
It’s been one of those days. I love seeing people out enjoying nature, and the snowy hills around here have called so many out these past few days. We had to turn around from our planned hilly hike as it was overrun with cars, then when we went somewhere less glamorous (without snow) I forgot my camera. I suppose that’s when it’s easy to get territorial about a certain place, ‘I live here, I know this place, I hate it…
Since we’ve moved into the van I’ve discovered a love for visible mending. There’s something so beautifully therapeutic about taking a garment that’s no longer wearable and stitching new life into it. I’m no expert, and I’m also not holding myself up as any paragon of virtue where clothing is concerned: I still buy the odd thing in the sale, and don’t always remember to check the provenance of clothes I buy. I see this mindset as a more long-term…
In the second of this occasional series of chats with middle years women who live on the road I’m talking with the utterly wonderful artist, surfer, full-time vanlifer, creative recycler and beachcomber, Jane Coe. This was so much fun! We talk everything from travel and menopause, to four-legged companions and getting in your flow. Additional photos of Jane’s work below:Follow Jane on Instagram: Artofbeingjanecoe View this post on Instagram A post shared by OUTSIDER [Sophie McKeand] (@sophiemckeand_outsider)…