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This time of year always feels turbulent. The transition from winter to spring doesn’t seem to happen in a gentle cascade or a glorious burst of green, but it swings quite violently between the two seasons. A day of sun and warmth reminds me of the vibrancy of spring. The promise of summer is almost…
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Intimate confessions and reflections from a connected life I miss him most strongly when I’m by the sea, listening to fiddle music. When I’m in a place we’ve shared together. I feel sad for myself because we don’t share a life together anymore. I’m sad for him for the same reason. I’m sad for the…
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Today (or thereabouts) it’s the shortest day of the year. The long night. Gale force winds are rocking the caravan I’m sheltering in for the winter. The sun is making a low arch across the tops of the bare trees. Twigs litter the muddy, muted green of the grass. Bluetits and nuthatches visit the coconut…
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Before I had my van, Nessie, I had a car. A very small car. She was my first taste of life on the road. My tiny-home-on-wheels, version 1. A few weeks before leaving my job in higher education in 2015, I had a sudden surge of inspiration while I was dropping off to sleep one…
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A question I get asked regularly is why I’ve chosen to live in a van. The answer lies somewhere between choice and necessity. Mainly, this is a choice because I know of no other way that I could live with this relative freedom to park up in many natural, wild spaces and get the immersion…
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For those who have read my previous journal posts, it may be clear that I enjoy foraging. Foraging has taken on many forms for me, and this continues to grow as I learn more and experience each turning season and visit new places. Foraging extends deeper than a way to fill my belly. Undoubtedly that’s…
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This September it’s eight years since I left my job in higher education. I could never have planned the journey I’ve been on since leaving. I just knew in my bones that I had to leave, to move somewhere else, to move in different ways. Maybe I had some idea that I might travel in…
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August and September are the months when my fungi field guides and foraging books make an appearance. I pore over them like a gripping novel. Each year I get to know a few more fungi, some tentatively, with plenty of cross-referencing for reassurance. It’s taken me years to build up the knowledge and experience to…
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My relationship with spinning began when I was walking near Gurnal Dubs, one of my favourite lesser-known spots in the Lake District, in 2017. As I walked, I collected scraps of Herdwick wool that sheep had shed across the fell. I sat down in a sheltered spot, my back leaning against a sun-warmed crag, and…
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A river of chanterelles spot-lighted by sunlight squinting through the tree canopy. This, for me, signals the season of abundance and harvest. There’s nothing so exciting for me as finding droplets of gold among the moss and beech leaf litter. It’s a simple and wild kind of delight, and the joy is fleshed out by…
stravaig 