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Calm is contagious. And staying calm amidst all this madness is something we would do well to keep doing. No doubt, across the world, we are getting information from every direction, and it can feel overwhelming. In our hyper connected world, someone’s opinion is only a click away. Don’t fall prey to the information overload. Limit your consumption of news to a few sources that you trust, and filter out the rest of the “noise”. Stay healthy. Stay hydrated. And look out for each other.

Not a day, maybe even an hour, goes by without someone asking me the question, “what does this mean for your travel plans?” I wish I had an answer that I was confident of. But I haven’t. Like everyone else, we are watching the events unfold, across the globe, and taking it one day at a time.

Today, Monday March 16th, the very few confirmed plans we have can still go ahead. The first couple of weeks are a road trip within Australia. Road tripping will allow us to keep our “social distance”, as is the current recommended advice from the Australian government. But 2 weeks from now, and every day in between, we know the situation could change, and we will have to change with it.

The tricky part of the situation for us, is that from next Monday, 23 March, we will be homeless. Our apartment has already been re-let, and our meagre belongings will be collected and put into storage.  We will, literally, be nomads. The positive part is that without any time constraints, we have flexibility built into our “plans”. Today’s plan is history tomorrow. In my work with organisations, I often quote Dwight D Eisenhower, who said that “plans are useless, but planning is essential”. Never has that been more true than at the present time.

So, ask me today whether we are still going travelling, then the answer is a resounding yes. We have little choice. We will be homeless. But, ask me tomorrow whether our plans remain the same, the answer could be very different. We are remaining calm, because this is the type of contagious we want.

If you want to lift your spirits, go and watch the videos from Italy and Spain, where whole neighbourhoods are bursting into collective song. The human spirit is strong. Let’s be strong for each other.

Let’s have a quick show of hands. How many of you are still watching the news? A few of you over there at the back. A couple of you over here. It looks as though many of you, like me, have decided we have seen enough bad news. If it is not a story about social distancing, or different opinions on whether schools should stay open or closed, it is an update of the number of people affected worldwide by current events.

At times like this I would turn to my social media feed for some mood lifting pictures. Sausage dogs in raincoats. Or maybe giant burgers that leave me salivating all day. But now even social media has been taken over by the dreaded “c” word.

I’ll whisper this, but even though I am now without employment (through choice), I still found myself checking LinkedIn. This was until I discovered that despite it being a thing for many years, everyone now seems to be an expert on working remotely. Strewth. What is a person to do?

As the sun continues to shine, and we are experiencing unseasonably warm weather, a long walk around the water was in order. Followed by lunch at a local cafe. Looking around the cafes, business remains brisk. There are now new rules about how much space there needs to be between tables, when sat indoors, but we are yet to see a marked drop off in people eating out. That said, the cafes and restaurants are pre-emptying people’s worries by everyone now offering take out services. We may be struggling to get toilet rolls, and hand sanitiser, but we definitely won’t go hungry.

In terms of our plans, as I wrote previously, we are now on plan b. We have little choice to press on with our intention to leave Sydney, and eventually relocate to Perth. Why would we do this now, in the middle of all this craziness? Well, we are now jobless. And from Monday we will be homeless. We will embrace the philosophy of slow travel, and take an unplanned road trip around this beautiful country of ours. Then, we will probably relocate to Perth a lot earlier than we originally anticipated.

Like all of you, we are taking each day as it comes. We won’t take any unnecessary risks. We will follow the official advice and watch for when any of that changes. We will keep you updated from the road, and share some of Australia with you. 

In the meantime, stay safe. Stay calm. Stay rational. Shop like a normal person. Nobody needs to stockpile toilet rolls. And we all need access to basics, like eggs. This is a time like no other. A time to support each other. Pick up the phone and talk to your friends and family. Let’s show the best of humanity. 

And let’s start putting a little money aside for the party of all parties once we get rid of this thing.

Week 3, already, how did that happen?

3 weeks, and 3 Airbnbs. Not sure if this is some kind of record, but we sure are getting to see a lot of inner city Perth. The last Airbnb was only for two days, to tide us over until we completed all the formalities on our new home.

On Wednesday we got the keys to our new rental apartment.  And when I say “we got the keys”, this is literally what we got. I thought we had rented an apartment. Not a whole jail. The letting agent couldn’t even tell us what they are for. And we still don’t know!

We had viewed several apartments, and we were lucky enough to get accepted for our first choice. As all our possessions are currently in storage, in Sydney, we needed a fully furnished place. This slightly limited our options but we did see some good places, one of which had fabulous views of the Swan River right from the balcony.

However, the one we really wanted is in the quiet, leafy suburb of East Perth. Very close to the historic WACA (West Australia Cricket Ground), and the impressive Optus stadium. At the viewing, which we had to do separately from each other, we immediately knew it was the place we wanted. So, we were very happy this week signing a 6 month lease on this spacious, ground floor, 2 bedroom apartment.

In keeping with how things have been going, we again have a bottle shop around the corner. Better news still, there is also a highly regarded Italian restaurant even closer, doing wood fired pizzas and take home Italian dinners. We need to keep up our daily step total of over 25000 just to burn off all the lasagne and cacio e pepe that I will be eating.

Yesterday we moved in and are slowly getting settled. Moving away from takeaway dinners, we are now able to do a “big shop” at Woolies, and get back to a level of normality that we haven’t had since we left Sydney 3 weeks ago. Obviously, being the time of year that it is, a couple of chocolate bunnies, and an egg (or two) may have found its way into our trolley.

We have also been walking around, investigating the neighbourhood and imagine my surprise (and joy) when we found not only a whisky distillery, but also a brewery, just minutes from our front door. And to top it off, the whisky distillery also has a cafe serving good coffee. I think all my bases are covered. I may even decide to put the all important purchase of an espresso machine on the back burner, and use those funds for a bicycle. The bike paths in and around Perth really are second to none. Flat and segregated from traffic, they make getting around this beautiful city a breeze.

In less positive news, the job market is not looking the best. I suppose this is what you would expect in the current crazy times. But it is even worse than I expected, with job vacancies down 65% on this time last year. After this Easter weekend we need to start hitting the job market, so wish us luck. Our first option would be doing the kind of work we are used to, but failing that we will need to work through any available options. I don’t think now is the time to be choosy when it comes to having to pay the rent.

In the interim, to cheer ourselves up, we took ourselves for a small gelato. Guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face, the team at Gelaré on Beaufort St in Mount Lawley.

Until the next time, keep safe, keep talking to each other, and keep making grand plans for when this is all over. I know we are!

I have always envied those people who seem to instinctively know what they “want to be when they grow up”. The ones who from a very early age know the direction they want to head. They have identified that they will follow a professional path. Perhaps be a vet. Or a doctor. Lawyers and teachers always seemed to be a popular choice. Bizarrely, some also thought that looking deep in the recesses of peoples mouths, extracting rotting teeth was something they could see themselves doing 5 days a week, for the rest of their working lives. 

And then there were the more creative types. Aspiring painters, chefs, and dancers. Kids who would relish the visits to museums. Spend hours looking at paintings and getting inspired. Maybe you were in class with a poet. Someone who just knew they would spend their life writing, regardless of how much (or how little) future income this would guarantee them. They would be a tortured artist. Living for their art. Their creations. And not fall prey prey to the whims of the materialistic, capitalistic society they were growing up in.

This left a third group. The group that I have always been in. Sitting here, the wrong side of my 40s, still trying to work out what I want to be when (if) I grow up. When I left school, and started work, it was still in the days of “get a good job in an office and you will be set for life.” Toil every day, for 40 years, and you will be rewarded at retirement with a gold clock and a pension.

Starting Out

So, this is what I did. Starting at the local building society. And for many years, this worked for me. I enjoyed life. I had an income that allowed me to buy my first car, a light brown T reg Ford Escort MKII (which will mean absolutely nothing to younger readers.) I loved that car. And we had many adventures together until I started feeling the first pull of the material world we live in, and I decided I needed a better car. Whether it was better or not is debatable as I traded the characterful Ford Escort for a banana yellow Mini Metro. For this, I lay most of the blame at my late father’s door. Receiving a phone call at the local snooker club.

“Son, I have found a beauty of a car for you. Let’s go to Dews garage in Brighouse and I will show you.”

He was so excited with his find that I was too polite to say that driving a banana around town would be bad for my street cred. And to be fair, I did grow to love that car too.

The Genesis

Anyway, I digress. Having a sensible job allowed me these freedoms. And I did move around different departments over the years so it was always interesting. Until it wasn’t. Or at least, until I discovered that there was a world outside Yorkshire. I know. Imagine! And on one life changing lunch break, myself and a colleague, who has become a lifelong friend, asked each other, “should we go travelling?”

This was my entry into long term travel, and I have been addicted ever since. That first year spent backpacking around Australia ensured that I would have permanent wanderlust, and always yearn to be having new adventures. 

Work has allowed me to continue travelling, and I have seen some beautiful parts of the world. But, I have always felt that I have had to make a Faustian pact to continue my travels. Selling my soul to the corporate monster to fund my adventures. Being cooped up in an office all day. Attending meetings that could well have been an email. Dealing with office politics. All so that I could receive my next pay packet, and plan my next trip.

The Accidental Project Manager

Over the years I have fallen into new careers. Often quite by accident, rather than design. Thanks to a friend taking a chance on me at 30, I got a break in IT, as a trainee. A little old to be a trainee, people thought. But this was a stepping stone to what eventually became a very successful career as an IT Project Manager.

Much later in life, working as a contract Project Manager with a client who brought in an outside consultancy was my introduction to something strange called “agile”, and subsequently a new career as a coach and consultant. Working with organisations and teams in improving how they work together and the cultures they work in.

And yet, as much as I enjoy my current career, working with people, I still yearn to do something I am truly passionate about, that would also allow me the means to travel.

The Future

After 30 years of work, my priorities have shifted. The work itself is less important to me. The lifestyle I want to lead is the priority. A lifestyle that affords more time for my creative outlets, and for enjoying what I feel is truly important in life, which is time with loved ones. Time alone for reflection. Time outdoors to savour this beautiful world we live in.

I don’t know what the autumn of my career will look like. I imagine putting together a portfolio of interests. Each with a small income stream. Whichever path I take I will probably still be searching for the elusive answer to “what do I want to be when I grow up”.

Sunday, 31 January 2021

The news came through as we were preparing for our second attempt to get out on the Swan River. Bought in December as a birthday gift, we had turned up at Mayland’s jetty to take ourselves boating, courtesy of Nauti Picnics. Self piloted boats that you can take out without a boat licence.

Just as we arrived at the jetty on that clear December day, the heavens opened, the wind suddenly became cyclonic, and it became very clear, very quickly that we wouldn’t be boating any time soon. Drenched, in t-shirts and shorts, with the cardboard box holding our picnic quickly collapsing, we ordered an Uber and headed home.

Take two. We had booked for today and both smiled outwardly when we woke to glorious blue skies and not a whisper of a wind. Once again, the picnic was booked for 1.30pm from the excellent Chinta cafe, and we were almost ready to set off when the phone rang.

Best Laid Plans

Judging by Victoria’s expression, and the way the conversation seemed to be going, I sensed immediately that something was awry. I couldn’t have predicted what was to transpire, yet now, the inevitability of it all is starting to sink in.

After 10 months of no community transmission in West Australia, we now have our first new case of COVID19 that is not safely contained in a quarantine hotel. In fact, it has somehow escaped from one of these dedicated hotels, with a hotel worker testing positive for COVID19 overnight.

You could never accuse our Premier of being faint hearted and in a midday press conference he announced that the whole of Perth would enter a full lockdown from 6pm. Lasting for 5 days, it would run through to next Friday at 6pm. Perfect timing to celebrate with a pint in the local pub if you ask me. I am not sure Mark McGowan is feeling quite as confident.

Toilet Roll Tales

Rather predictably, but a sad indictment of how humanity sometimes behaves, panic buying immediately ensued. The queues for Woolworths were like we had seen in the first throes of the pandemic, back in March last year. What do people do with all that toilet roll?

Rather more pressing for us, as we had done our big shop that morning and had already bought toilet roll for the week, we needed to buy a couple of face masks as they had been made mandatory for the lockdown period. The first time this has happened in Perth.

Both local pharmacies had sold out, and there was no chance of us getting into Woolworths any time soon. Without a mask we would be unable to leave the house for my morning coffee, or for the designated 1 hour daily exercise. This was one occasion that social media proved useful. A member of a local Facebook group indicated quite late in the evening that the local IGA now had some in stock. I have never changed out of my pyjamas as fast, and by 9pm we had a supply of masks, albeit at an exorbitant mark up. 

What Happens Next?

We had negotiated the start of the lockdown, but what would the rest of the week bring, we wondered?