Europe feature vanlife

Wearing winter

December 14, 2018

 

Fashion takes on new dimensions living full time in a van without a heater. We all change our clothing to suit the weather – winter wool jumpers or summer shorts, but it makes me realise how much fashion is still really only useful for a very narrow set of temperatures. Probably because nowadays we spend the majority of our days in heated/air-conditioned buildings. When we first moved into the van it was November last year and already cold, but we still brought our ‘settled life’ mindset with us. This is the part of the brain that says ‘it’s only November I can’t wear thermals yet’ or ‘I can’t feel cold my phone says it’s still 10°C outside’. I’ve decided that this part of the brain is literally a bit insane. It’s the controller – the bit that wants to dictate how things will go regardless of how things actually are in the real world. The bit that lives in fantasy land. A few weeks being cold in the van because ‘it’s not time to get under the really warm duvet yet’ or ‘if I wear two pairs of socks today I’ll have nowhere to go by Xmas’ etc etc soon shuts that voice up and in its place comes a lovely natural dialogue with the body. The mind has to shut up and listen for once. My body is cold? I will put on another layer. Still cold? I’ll wear more until my body tells me I’m warm (and drink more hot tea). The body is an amazing and beautiful creation, constantly in conversation with itself and the outside world. Tuning into that dialogue these days is almost impossible with all the ‘monkey brain chatter’ going on, but being physically uncomfortable, for whatever reason, can be a revelation as we are forced to quiet the controlling mind and instead let go and learn to follow the natural rhythms of our bodies. Today is a cold Croatian day. It is raining incessantly. These are Andy’s hands – he’s wearing a long sleeved t-shirt, shirt and wool jumper. We both have long leggings on under our jeans. After finishing work early we’ll jump under the duvet with our hounds, drink mugs of tea, and continue binge watching The Sopranos. Our bodies will thank us for it ? #vanlifeeurope #vanlifediaries #homeiswhereyouparkit #vanlife #tinyliving #livingsmall #winter #warm

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