And... I may be a wage slave on Monday, but I am a free man on Sunday!
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And... I may be a wage slave on Monday, but I am a free man on Sunday!
Errr... except today cause I've got a shed load of test papers to mark.
Still. Mustn't grumble. :)
hmmm well its 2.45am and Im off to Devon. Work mind, Any jobs going at your placeQuote:
Originally Posted by Grouse
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deek
PINK FLOYD comes to mind :cool:
The number of people I know who have died within a year of retiring. I'm thinking of going part-time next year too at the age of 53 also .Quote:
Originally Posted by Deejay
Too right......'too old to loose the weight you used to need to throw around,'
Ok, tenuos link to fell running, but its in there somewhere.
Take time to listen to the music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4
I'm 60 this year and the SO is 62. We've done 15 consecutive nights sleeping in the van ( island hopping the full length of the Outer Hebrides & visiting the highest point of every accessible island ) and Daz h will tell you that it's not a fancy, umpteen thousand pound, professionally converted van - just a set of luggage crates with inflatable mattresses over them and a hinge-down stove on the back door. Only two of those 15 nights were on official campsites! Had a similar 9 day trip to the Orkneys plus a full tour of the Brittany coastline!Quote:
Originally Posted by ZootHornRollo
I think ZHR's post above fully outlines the basic weakness - too many people are 'comfort driven'.
Boil up a kettle of water on the stove and use it to take the chill of a builder's bucket half full of cold water?? Wonderfully versatile piece of kit is a builder's bucket!!
One very successful lady fell runner lived in her VW campervan for 3 months, in a layby just outside of Kendal, when her first marriage broke down - read "Feet in the Clouds".
I was talking about weeks and months at a time - living in the thing, not just a couple of weeks here and there.Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezing donkey
Do you want to live on a mattress and some pallets for a year WD? Come back and tell us about it afterwards.
Now having a tent in the back of a van to camp with qualifies as some sort of namby-pamby comfort-driven lifestyle ... perhaps I'll just find myself a cave, eh?
I think this is possibly the wisest post on the thread. Good avatar pic too Quosh!Quote:
Originally Posted by Quosh
Yes its a pointQuote:
Originally Posted by ZootHornRollo
Some people can stand it for longer than others.
I personally could stay for months in a van( I lived out of a suitcase for years when I was working on site).
Ian makes a good example of what you can do. He has a very basic van which some people would no doubt laugh at if you said kip in that tonight.
Suppose Im a bit like Ian in that I can just drop down anywhere.
My van is very spacious compared to his but its took me years to get the one I wanted.
For me I cant be doing with booking in campsites etc. Prefer to do my own thing.
You both make good points
Wheezing Donkey is right it is perfectly feasible to go long term and a lot do a bit of reading for you http://www.fulltiming.co.uk/ and another :-
http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/mclifestyle/living.html and another :- http://campervan.hopcott.net/
OK probably not as basic as WDs but there is no need to go overboard, comfort really only need be somewhere warm and dry, with basic facilities in order to stay clean and fed.
Personnaly i reckon a decent matress/or sleeping bag on a well insulated piece of ground on pallets or whatever would give you as much comfort as the same mattres on a purpose built unit and i agree that too many people are comfort driven.
I just roll a mat out and then use my sleeping bag or blanketsQuote:
Originally Posted by JohnK
I mean wheeezing Donkeys crates are just plain luxury
Van floor for me, he he
Pure style DazQuote:
Originally Posted by daz h
I mean Ian has a fold down STOVE . MSR rocket for me. I bet Trail magazine cant do a fish kedgeree on thatQuote:
Originally Posted by JohnK
Couple of mess tins and a hexamine block for me. A hedgehog rolled in clay. Use a log for a pillow just like the Romans. Youngsters today, hey?
well OK let's not argue over nowt, I'd suggest we're after pretty much the same thing
Nahh! Some spare clothes in the sleeping bag's stuff sac; works a treat!Quote:
Originally Posted by Brotherton Lad
But having said all this; has anyone on here googled "The Work Life Balance Company"? My Bowland clubmate John makes an excellent living from giving presentations to people in high pressure occupations - doctors, sales reps etc. and thoroughly loves it. It slots right in with his degree in psychology.
And his one-man campervan is a very nicely appointed, but in no way ostentatious, 110 Land Rover Defender.
A log!!! Pure luxury that. When we were little we had rocks for a pillow and a bed of brambles to sleep on. But you tell that to kids nowadays and they won't believe you!! lol Good old Monty Python!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Brotherton Lad
Anyway, back in the real world....
This was supposed to be a very interesting thread about the difficult decision some us face about whether to pack in the rat race for a life less wealthy but (potentially) richer in other ways. However, it seems to have turned into a bit of contest into who's hardest!! Since when was wanting to be comfortable when you sleep a weakness?
Well I can rough it with the best of them with very little 'comforts' when needs be (camping holidays, races being stranded) but given a preference I'll go for a nice warm bed with fluffy pillow and thick duvet any day of the week. I prefer to wee in a toilet and have toilet roll than hover over stinging nettles and shake dry and there's a lot to be said for nice hot shower. And you know what I don't feel in the least bit that it's a weakness in me.
So back on subject I am still in debate. Continue in a job I hate but pay off my mortage in 10 years then retire and do something I enjoy (I'll be 50) or retrain and do something more rewarding now but have to keep working for much longer. For me it's not an easy decision. It's not about the level of comfort in my life or things I have it's about being able to live my life. My heart wants the latter my head the former. Don't know what to do :-(
Tomorrow I am going to try to sell myself into a new job with more hours (although more akin to a normal working week compared to current) and more pressure.............how hard should I try? Hate my current job but time off and pay is very good - I long for 8 hour days although I have seen people promoted onto days knocking out 50 hour+ weeks every week. I will play it as it comes and see what develops - I am strictly a work to live sort of person but living is becoming increasingly expensive!
Another consideration has to be whether any of us can guarantee another 10 years of life and i figure the answer is :- there are no Guarantee`s so best to live for now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flopsy
But the downside is no more mid week jollys when the hills / roads are quieter during the week?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ady In Accy
For me, I believe that we intuitively know the right answer, but this often gets lost or obscured by 'interference' in terms of social convention/expectation & our fears and doubts, which are learned (if we were born with a fear of failure none of us would learn to walk "damn it, fell over again, what a loser i am"!). Whether it's dig in, pay off the mortgage or jump into something "more rewarding", I'm sure deep down, when you strip away the fear and expectation, we know what we have to do, it's a question of accessing that inner wisdom, making the call & throwing ourselves at it.
Well, that's what works for me, don't mean to sound all self helpish or new age as I'm not, but for all the well intentioned advice, the only one who really knows the context and implications is the one making the call. When were calm & at our best, we know. And anyway, even if a decision is wrong, make another one but better later, it's how we learn.
True...you never know what is round the corner....Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnK
Food for thought. I understand what you are saying and yes fear I think does get in the way but then so can realityQuote:
Originally Posted by duncs
Words of wisdom,duncs.
[QUOTE=Flopsy;334963]
Anyway, back in the real world....
This was supposed to be a very interesting thread about the difficult decision some us face about whether to pack in the rat race for a life less wealthy but (potentially) richer in other ways. However, it seems to have turned into a bit of contest into who's hardest!! Since when was wanting to be comfortable when you sleep a weakness?
Flopsy, that was not my intent!! What I was attempting to point out is that comfort becomes an obsession; so human nature then says, "Go for the more secure job with the bigger pay packet and then you can afford a bigger house, an automatic this, that and the other, a super deluxe king size bed etc, etc."
It is from following that very culture ( which for the most part, in the UK, involves migrating down to the Great Wem) that is the root cause of all the angst expressed on this thread.
I rejected it all in the early 70's having just served my apprenticeship as a Post Office Telephones ( as it then was ) telecomm technician. There were all sorts of alluring promotions on offer for those prepared to migrate south and my father was quite dismayed that I stayed rooted in Lancaster because my interests at the time were caving and hill walking. I'm still just a grade 'plonk' telephone engineer with a modest semi in Lancaster. I'll never be able to afford a fancy coach-built campervan but with a bit of ingenuity a basic commercial van can be adapted to give me the 'freedom' that I require; PROVIDED I AM NOT TOO OBSESSED ABOUT BEING SUPER DELUXE COMFORTABLE
The flipside to that is, if I - and I suspect a lot of people - waited til I picked up the necessary know-how to convert a van, it would put off the lifestyle change for years.Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezing donkey
We could all learn how to build our own vans from scratch, couldn't we? Where do you want to stop - smelting your own metal?
Now to me £5,000 for a S-H VW T4 would not be extravagant or a waste, given that I don't own a car full-stop and never have done.
lol ;) I know Wheezing Donkey. I wasn't getting at you honest. It just seemed to progress into milk crates and slop buckets that's all, hence the old Monty Python sketch reference.
I actually agree with you in the fact that it is easy to get suckered into wanting more and more - I wouldn't say more comfort, just a more materialistic lifestyle. Some people actually want that though and that's fair enough, each to his own.
Personally I was broke 15 years ago, not a penny to my name, no job, nothing. It was really tough. A year ago I was on a pretty damn good wage, expensive house etc. Hasn't made me happy though. I'd say I'm more lonely. For me I don't want more and more but then I don't want to be broke either.
Ironically up until this week I was going to accept going back into another well paid job (I've just had 8 months off due to various problems including a major op) and we were just about to buy a new house that would mortgage ourselves up to the hilt. Last minute nerves hit. We withdrew our offer on the house, took our house off the market and I declined the job. I'm just not sure it's what I want anymore so before I make my next move I'm taking stock of what I want and what's realistic (an enormous hug to my amazingly supportive and understanding husband :D)
Thinking time. This thread has come at a time when it really is where I am at.
Zoot, not having a car or ever having had one is an interesting lifestyle option in itself. What's the reason?Quote:
Originally Posted by ZootHornRollo
ah no particular reason DT: didn't really need one at uni, and have never seen the need for one living in London.Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
Admittedly, it would have made things easier the last year, would have allowed me to get to more races etc.
But I dislike the motor car - or at least the obsession with the motor car in this country and the damaging effect on both cities and countryside. Every time I see a traffic jam I see a joke being played on us all - by ourselves.
This country followed the US and bought into a motor car-dominated transport system from the late 1960s onwards, while more civilised countries on the continent made sure their rail and bus networks were up to scratch.
Even when the trains work well here - you get to the other end and there's little integration with buses for onward travel.
I am in a sense 'giving up' by considering buying a van. I hate the impact increasing traffic volumes have on places like the Lakes.
Old Man Wainwright was right to bemoan rising traffic in the place, and that was forty years ago. He should see it now!
Interesting post Zoot. Have you been to Yosemite in California? There are no car park and after parking out of the valley you get a bus in. Could be an option in Langdale?
Drifting back on topic this must be the best thread we've had on here for yonks and at a time when things seem quiet generally
I'm pretty happy with my Work Life Balance. It's very rare I have to work at weekends apart from when travelling abroad. In the week I can get to races in the summer or club runs in winter even with an hour's drive in the evening. I travel abroad probably ten weeks a year and get to some very stimulating places (I'm meeting a guy from the states for dinner in Saigon, Vietnam in twenty minutes) and I'm well looked after by my employees :)
Adrian, that's what I paid for my 3 year old Peugeot Expert HDI with just 30,000 miles on the clock. And there's nothing super-skillful about the way that I've adapted it, just a bit of ingenious/alternative thinking.Quote:
Originally Posted by ZootHornRollo
BUT if we are going to be realistic ( and I'm not intending it as derogatory criticism ) in order to turn your back on a "money centred life-style" you do need practical skills.....service the van when there isn't a bucketful of cash to throw at the local garage......plumbing and electrics around the house rather than throwing a bucketful of money at local tradesmen ...etc..etc. Without being prepared to get your hands dirty, "dropping out of the rat race" will remain just a dream.
Plus, I've always got a kick out of what mid-West ranchers refer to as "doing a lot with a little"
Ian.
You're absolutely right there Ian, and those are things I'd be determined to do and learn. But starting with fitting a van out just seems like making things difficult for myself at the moment: I'd have nowhere to work for a start-off, it'd be parked nose-to-tail in a narrow terraced street.Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezing donkey
I find this thread really interesting but I'm kind of flumoxed as to what my own perfect work~life balance is; like everyone I'm sure its full of compromises, checks and balances and sure as eggs is eggs if you spend you're whole life seeking perfection a) you'll never get there and b) if you did actually get there you wouldn't recognise it and continue to seek more and more. In many ways its often the crap or mundane parts of life that make the fun and exciting stuff that much more appreciated. Take me for instance...
I live in a truly wonderful part of the country --- hooray!
I work in Leeds, 42 miles away --- boo!
I love being out in the wilds, whether running a ridge line, swimming in a lake or wandering through a forest --- hooray!
I spend all my time at work either in meetings, in an office or stuck in a car travelling to meetings or the office --- boo!
I earn a pretty good salary and have a not too shabby company car --- hooray!
I'm still broke, still have a big mortgage and no longer like my car and want a newer/better one --- boo!
I totally adore my kids and am fantastically proud of both of them --- hooray!
I have a tough time with the missus --- boo!
I have a realistic/unrealistic (depending on your viewpoint), wonderfully, and probably naively, enthusiastic, slightly sarcastic, flippant and laxidasical outlook on life --- hooray!
I have a realistic/unrealistic (depending on your viewpoint), wonderfully and probably naively enthusiastic, slightly sarcastic, flippant and laxidasical outlook on life --- boo!
Oh and sometimes less isn't more; I also love reading, watching films, yes lounging about on settee watching TV, playing the odd video game, watching football on TV (yep the big TV is mine, all mine for the duration of the world cup) and even drinking the occasional beer and the odd glass of wine.
So sue me :D ;)
Sat in woodhall services in back of my van, just brewed up and now have soup, peas and carrots on the go whilst the masses pour into eat that crap they serve up. Had a couple of funny looks as ive got the side door open. Nice and simple eh.
Top style, Darren. Sheer aplomb!
Getting thro a few gas bottles mind. Right back to work. Get me bowl out and do the dishes. Self sufficient , bliss
Sounds a pretty good balance of a bit of everything to me Stolly !Quote:
Originally Posted by Stolly
There must be some truth is the statement "you can have too much of a good thing" I reckon - would we start to appreciate the good things in life less if we could have/do whatever we wanted at any time. (Or would we all be as happy as pigs in mud all of the time! Maybe! :D )
My work/life balance is weighing too much on the work side of things this year.
I work in London, live in Nottingham & spend a hell of a lot of time on trains and not enough time with loved ones and doing things I enjoy.
But I like my job, I am good at it and proud of my work achievements, so at least I am not dragging myself out of bed every day to go somewhere I hate. I WANT to be here - just not quite so much as I am and without the overheads on my time (and drain on my energy sometimes). Hopefully what I am doing now lead on to better things, closer to home, which will bring with it a more equal balance, with enough money to be able to afford somewhere nice to live and come home to.
So I am not complaining.
Well no actually yes I am complaining. I need an extra day in the week to fit more good stuff into. Or maybe 2. Or maybe a teleportation machine. That would work :D