What’s New, Pussycat?
Blogging is a habit that, once escaped, proves surprisingly hard to recapture. But I was prompted by an email from a reader to put paws to MacBook and am aiming to post more regularly again (although I believe I wrote something very similar in my last post in—cough—summer 2021, so I wouldn’t hold your breath).
So, what is new? Everything and nothing. Despite a couple of long stints back in the UK, I’m still based on Bali, still in the same house, in fact, demonic fishpond and all. Currently it’s the water pump that looms largest in the galaxy of broken things.
In fact, I’m very much based on Bali as I’m endeavouring to address my carbon footprint with the goal of living a sustainable life by 2030. That means I haven’t got on a plane since flying in from the UK via Istanbul in June and am aiming not to fly until I say goodbye to this particular base next year.
Overland travel in Indonesia beyond Bali is fun and doable but takes time, which seems to be in short supply at the moment. Still, I’m going overland to Jakarta twice at some point fairly soon to acquire a Polish passport, so stay tuned for some old-fashioned travel blogging.
Zach is still (just) at university, in his final year at Oxford. His current post-graduation plans are to earn some money in Australia and then take the GAP year of which Covid deprived him, with some time in Bali to see me and his mates. He’s happy, funny, great to look at, and seems generally well-adjusted, which is about all anyone can hope for. I expect that, like the rest of Generation Covid, he’ll figure out some career stuff in due course before getting replaced by an AI and having to figure out some new career stuff.
The main reason I’m busy, despite being an empty nester, is that I’m trying to combine earning money before the global banking system collapses again with a large creative project. I took a six-month writing course (online) with Curtis Brown Creative in the UK and am now in what I hope are the closing throes of finishing a novel, after which comes the real fun part of finding an agent (or not, of course). For an idea of how hellish this can be, I recommend the excellent Nerd’s Eye View (I also recommend her memoir, which did ultimately see the light of day).
I intend to write more about my attempts at sustainable travel and also share some thoughts on sustainable travel writing (and whether such a thing even exists), but my current plan is to move to Italy once the lease on this house expires next year. In theory, that will allow me to see family, travel and enjoy a fab life without the need to get on planes ever again.
Essentially, the pandemic made me, like many others, rethink a lot of things that I’d previously taken for granted, and post-pandemic, I’m still in a kind of stasis, albeit a thoughtful one. But I’m grateful that I and my loved ones have survived it unscathed—and looking forward to having more to write about than the plague.
*: The headline picture? That’s Balian. Pretty, isn’t it?
Italy?! Wonderful! Have you considered whereabout?
I have a few requirements: coastal so I can do beach walks but ideally northern, ideally has an ashtanga shala, and definitely not too hideous in high season. I’ll have done a decade in a seasonal tourist destination by then and that will be enough. So at the moment I’m considering Massa (has an ashtanga shala) and Livorno (does not have an approved one), but as I haven’t been to either of them yet it’s very much a suck it and see situation: they may prove too small for my tastes. I rather like Perugia but it’s not coastal and I do like being near the sea: however, I’m looking forward to finding out. How are you and Hailey doing?
Good to see you back again!
Thank you!
Sustainable travel writing?
I’ve always had a soft spot for round-the-world motorcycle adventurers; everything from Lydon Poskitt (professional rally racer) to Ed March (riding around the world on the cheap and on a completely battered, old Honda C90). That covers everything from high-octane petroleum-based consumables to repurposing things on the roadside in order to make it the next thousand miles.
But, basically, I don’t think there is a TRULY ‘sustainable’ form of travel writing unless you are a carved-out-of-wood hard bastard like Jason Lewis who circumnavigated the globe (even the oceans) under human power! What a terrific nutter, eh?
Anyway, fifty years from now, when the A.I.’s are running the entire planet and meticulously bean-counting every single resource we have and that we consume, I imagine that each human will be alloted a certain amount of carbon they are allowed to consume in their lifetime (offset by how much carbon you capture and are careful to get a receipt for, of course). Once you reach your limit… it’ll be Logan’s Run meets Soylent Green, and the miraculous circle of life continues under the watchful gaze of the A.I.
But I could be wrong and I hope I am.
Love that you’ve crawled out from the Covid Bunker at last.
J
Your AI idea sounds like a dystopian movie, but, from the war in Ukraine to climate change to the banking crisis, there’s much that feels like the opening credits of a dystopian movie already. I suspect we will all have carbon budgets in the not-too-distant future. The poor will probably be able to sell some of theirs to the rich, etc.
I’ll have to look up Lydon Poskitt and Ed March.
so good to have you appear in my inbox! and look forward to more. Italy is so fabulous – I am over the border near Geneva (always welcome to stay over if this is ever on your route).
I very much appreciate the invitation! Thank you!