No truer words: “Creative flames fizzle out with no fuel”. We get so focused on the act of writing - and, yes, we need to make time for it and then actually do it - but without living, it’s likely hard for many of us to generate poetry or prose.
Thanks, Bryn! And it would have been lovely to adopt the baby hedgehog but it was a bit of a tall order to hope to accommodate it in the van for such a long time! Fingers crossed it’s doing okay... 🦔
To be honest, I was sort of waiting for you to tell us you had gotten lost (haha!) I think you made the right decision in experiencing life over writing and this post proves that. While making time for writing is great, some memories only have one chance to be made and it's best that we don't miss those opportunities. Great post and great pics as well, kudos to your hubby! :)
This post hit just right for me, falling into place like a puzzle piece with some ideas that have been bouncing around in my head. I had the same expectations when I left for vacation a couple of weeks ago, but I wrote very little! It’s true that we need to balance our lives with experience and sitting at the notebook. The “experiences represented in those notes will certainly inform my writing.”
Oh Holly, I'm so glad it was helpful! I think the pressure we sometimes put on ourselves can be really counterproductive, can't it? I found writing this post really helped me to understand why it was okay not to be doing what I'd promised myself I would - I feel much better about it! :D
Thanks, Scott! There's a huge diversity of landscape in the UK which belies its relatively small footprint - I love to get out there an explore, and our work gives us the opportunity to do that now and again. :D
I think it's necessary to experience life! You need to fill yourself back up in order to have something to write about. I appreciate this post for reminding me of that. And you saw a hedgehog! That's something for sure! Happy Travels, Rebecca.
Thanks, Erin! The hedgehog was gorgeous - I'd never seen one that small before. Our local rescue centre (where I've taken poorly hedgehogs before, which we eventually welcomed back to our garden) told me that they need to weigh at the very least 600g before they hibernate. This one was nothing like that heavy. I'd've loved to have taken it to a rescue centre. Fingers crossed it's going to be okay.
'Fill yourself back up' - I think that's a great way of putting it. I feel better having not put too much pressure on myself - it's good to have goals and targets and all, but sometimes they kill creativity rather than encourage it. Maybe next time I'll leave my writing notebook behind on purpose?!! :D
What a beautiful post! Felt like I was there hiking along with you (and adorable hedgehog and beautiful insect). I love that you had a pocket notebook. Makes me think of the small notebooks Coleridge took with him while hiking in the same area.
Thanks so much, Jillian! I used to struggle with notebooks as small as the one in my pocket, finding the pages far too tiny and difficult to write on, but turning it 90 degrees so that the fold is in the middle gives me a writing surface that's still in portrait format but which is twice the size. Life-changing! Obviously this only works with dotted or plain paper rather than lines, but that's fine.
I'm going to read up on Coleridge - thank you so much for the reference. :D
Rebecca, I call your "not writing" snippets GLIMMERS and think these often imagistic notations or, perhaps, overheard snatches of conversations, even a word here or there, key to journaling. And journaling for me has always been the foundation of what becomes short story, memoir or novel. That's something I'll talk about more in _Write it! How to get started_ that is meant for all writers: beginners and experienced ones who, I hope, will be in conversation with me--just as you have been throughout. Lovely post. Love, Mary
'Glimmers' - such a lovely word! I love to capture my thoughts and ideas and overheard bits and pieces wherever I go - and I keep all of my notebooks so I can always find those words again. Thanks, Mary! :D
Rebecca, I missed you and your writing, but the trip sounds so nice and I can see why writing didn’t happen the way you had expected. So much to see and soak in! Oh, the beetle and the baby hedgehog! Thanks for sharing the photos!
Thanks, Amy! The beetle was extraordinary - I thought I must have been hallucinating when it caught my eye - I just saw a pile of moving purple glitter. Nature's so amazing, isn't it? I'd never seen anything like it, although I gather that species isn't all that uncommon. I do wonder why it was upside down, though!
It's nice to see you back. It's too bad you couldn't do any writing on your trip. But it sounds like you were both too busy. Getting outside and breathing the fresh air and making some memories is much more important. Writing will always be there. Hallelujah, you didn't get lost! The scenery is magnificent.
I promise I didn't read this before posting about Hadrian's Wall, haha :-) That climb is a killer! I love the photos. It must be wonderful having a camper van, and the places you've visited in just a few days are ones most of us dream about... those adventures are too good to ignore! Sometimes experiences are great served raw, but I think there's also value in letting them marinate, ferment, stew, or whatever your favorite food metaphor may be. What you lose in immediacy you often gain in complexity. Glad you had an eventful trip!
LOL - I actually thought of your previous posts about Hadrian's Wall while I was up there - I was delighted to see your post about it yesterday! I'd love to walk the whole thing one day - you've inspired me!
We're so fortunate to have our van. My husband bought it because of an 18-month-long multiple location job starting in 2020 - in fact we picked it up three days before the first Covid lockdown! Of course we immediately thought that it was awful timing to have put so much money into something we couldn't use. But goodness me, once the lockdown was lifted we were off - for that big work project we had many multi-day trips, even travelling as far as North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Since then it's been an absolute Godsend - it's our everyday vehicle for work and leisure, and the most fantastic (and cheap!) alternative to hotel accommodation on 'away' jobs, which as in the case of this latest trip we generally combine with some holiday time too.
I love how you've expressed this: "...there's also value in letting them marinate, ferment, stew...." That's exactly right! :D
I hope you get to walk the whole thing some day. I think you'd enjoy it and, as you say, it's very difficult to get lost! (I barely got lost the whole time ;-) The van sounds like one of those unicorn items that is somehow both practical AND fun :-D Glad you're getting the most out of it!
Wow. How incredibly fun. Hiking. Travel. I "did" van life, only for about two weeks, so I'm not sure that counts. I have a 1986 VW Westy that I love. Looks like a beautiful adventure. Enjoy :)
Thanks, Matt! I love that you "did" van life - LOL - those two weeks certainly count! This twelve-day stint has been our longest trip so far, so you win already. I'm not sure I could last much longer than that, to be perfectly honest!
1986 Westy - perfect! When we got our decidedly non-vintage 2011 T5 I was beyond dubious - I reminded my husband that a) I am NOT a natural camper, and b) I can't believe how he's forgotten that I have a long-standing preference to only stay in nice hotels, thank you very much.
But that van and I, Matt, we understand each other, and we're doing okay.
Gosh this makes me miss walking around England... And it was cold but not raining. Yes. of course. Glad I found you while I guess I was out wandering Substack. Thanks for the journey.
Sometimes I've gone off for a week on my own (to give E a break!), and taken with books for reading, and a laptop for writing. Don't know why I bother: they remain unopened, because I end up walking, sitting in a cafe doing the crossword or vegging out on rubbish TV!
I console myself with the wise comment from a Zen master called Suzuki: A Zen student must learn to waste time conscientiously.
LOL - glad it’s not just me, Terry! Those are wise words about wasting time conscientiously, definitely. I love crosswords too - resistance training for the brain!
Yes, I try. If I want to switch off I’ll do a general knowledge one, but I love the challenge of cryptic crosswords, even when I can’t complete them. I adore a 50-50 crossword - across clues are cryptic, downs are concise (albeit challenging - a one-word clue can have so many potential solutions!). I enjoy the 50-50s because they’re a decent workout for my brain but not so much that I end up with gaps in the grid at the the end of my lunchbreak!
I like those as well.The ones I struggle with in particular are the ones where you need a PhD just to understand the instruction. Mind you, I managed nearly half of one of those in The Spectator a few weeks ago by some miracle!
No truer words: “Creative flames fizzle out with no fuel”. We get so focused on the act of writing - and, yes, we need to make time for it and then actually do it - but without living, it’s likely hard for many of us to generate poetry or prose.
(I’d be tempted to take the hedgehog home 🥹)
Thanks, Bryn! And it would have been lovely to adopt the baby hedgehog but it was a bit of a tall order to hope to accommodate it in the van for such a long time! Fingers crossed it’s doing okay... 🦔
To be honest, I was sort of waiting for you to tell us you had gotten lost (haha!) I think you made the right decision in experiencing life over writing and this post proves that. While making time for writing is great, some memories only have one chance to be made and it's best that we don't miss those opportunities. Great post and great pics as well, kudos to your hubby! :)
Thanks, Mark! Following a wall was a good navigational aid this time! Thanks for compliment re pics - I think it’s pretty obvious which one was his! 🤣
This post hit just right for me, falling into place like a puzzle piece with some ideas that have been bouncing around in my head. I had the same expectations when I left for vacation a couple of weeks ago, but I wrote very little! It’s true that we need to balance our lives with experience and sitting at the notebook. The “experiences represented in those notes will certainly inform my writing.”
Oh Holly, I'm so glad it was helpful! I think the pressure we sometimes put on ourselves can be really counterproductive, can't it? I found writing this post really helped me to understand why it was okay not to be doing what I'd promised myself I would - I feel much better about it! :D
Excellent story. I loved the pictures along with your comments. If I am ever in your part of the world, I will be sure to visit these spots.
Thanks, Scott! There's a huge diversity of landscape in the UK which belies its relatively small footprint - I love to get out there an explore, and our work gives us the opportunity to do that now and again. :D
Lovely account of “experiencing things full-on.”
Thanks, Tom! :D
You were busy writing, just in a different way. :)
Ah Mark, that's brilliant! It all counts, right?! :D
That hedgehog! 😍 And I loved this so much. A good reminder that if we want to write about our lives, we have to actually live them. :)
That's a good way of looking at it - thanks, Cayly! And yes, it was an absolutely cutie! :D
I think it's necessary to experience life! You need to fill yourself back up in order to have something to write about. I appreciate this post for reminding me of that. And you saw a hedgehog! That's something for sure! Happy Travels, Rebecca.
Thanks, Erin! The hedgehog was gorgeous - I'd never seen one that small before. Our local rescue centre (where I've taken poorly hedgehogs before, which we eventually welcomed back to our garden) told me that they need to weigh at the very least 600g before they hibernate. This one was nothing like that heavy. I'd've loved to have taken it to a rescue centre. Fingers crossed it's going to be okay.
'Fill yourself back up' - I think that's a great way of putting it. I feel better having not put too much pressure on myself - it's good to have goals and targets and all, but sometimes they kill creativity rather than encourage it. Maybe next time I'll leave my writing notebook behind on purpose?!! :D
What a beautiful post! Felt like I was there hiking along with you (and adorable hedgehog and beautiful insect). I love that you had a pocket notebook. Makes me think of the small notebooks Coleridge took with him while hiking in the same area.
Thanks so much, Jillian! I used to struggle with notebooks as small as the one in my pocket, finding the pages far too tiny and difficult to write on, but turning it 90 degrees so that the fold is in the middle gives me a writing surface that's still in portrait format but which is twice the size. Life-changing! Obviously this only works with dotted or plain paper rather than lines, but that's fine.
I'm going to read up on Coleridge - thank you so much for the reference. :D
Rebecca, I call your "not writing" snippets GLIMMERS and think these often imagistic notations or, perhaps, overheard snatches of conversations, even a word here or there, key to journaling. And journaling for me has always been the foundation of what becomes short story, memoir or novel. That's something I'll talk about more in _Write it! How to get started_ that is meant for all writers: beginners and experienced ones who, I hope, will be in conversation with me--just as you have been throughout. Lovely post. Love, Mary
'Glimmers' - such a lovely word! I love to capture my thoughts and ideas and overheard bits and pieces wherever I go - and I keep all of my notebooks so I can always find those words again. Thanks, Mary! :D
Rebecca, I missed you and your writing, but the trip sounds so nice and I can see why writing didn’t happen the way you had expected. So much to see and soak in! Oh, the beetle and the baby hedgehog! Thanks for sharing the photos!
Thanks, Amy! The beetle was extraordinary - I thought I must have been hallucinating when it caught my eye - I just saw a pile of moving purple glitter. Nature's so amazing, isn't it? I'd never seen anything like it, although I gather that species isn't all that uncommon. I do wonder why it was upside down, though!
It's nice to see you back. It's too bad you couldn't do any writing on your trip. But it sounds like you were both too busy. Getting outside and breathing the fresh air and making some memories is much more important. Writing will always be there. Hallelujah, you didn't get lost! The scenery is magnificent.
Thanks, Matt! And hallelujah indeed - it makes a change!
I promise I didn't read this before posting about Hadrian's Wall, haha :-) That climb is a killer! I love the photos. It must be wonderful having a camper van, and the places you've visited in just a few days are ones most of us dream about... those adventures are too good to ignore! Sometimes experiences are great served raw, but I think there's also value in letting them marinate, ferment, stew, or whatever your favorite food metaphor may be. What you lose in immediacy you often gain in complexity. Glad you had an eventful trip!
LOL - I actually thought of your previous posts about Hadrian's Wall while I was up there - I was delighted to see your post about it yesterday! I'd love to walk the whole thing one day - you've inspired me!
We're so fortunate to have our van. My husband bought it because of an 18-month-long multiple location job starting in 2020 - in fact we picked it up three days before the first Covid lockdown! Of course we immediately thought that it was awful timing to have put so much money into something we couldn't use. But goodness me, once the lockdown was lifted we were off - for that big work project we had many multi-day trips, even travelling as far as North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Since then it's been an absolute Godsend - it's our everyday vehicle for work and leisure, and the most fantastic (and cheap!) alternative to hotel accommodation on 'away' jobs, which as in the case of this latest trip we generally combine with some holiday time too.
I love how you've expressed this: "...there's also value in letting them marinate, ferment, stew...." That's exactly right! :D
I hope you get to walk the whole thing some day. I think you'd enjoy it and, as you say, it's very difficult to get lost! (I barely got lost the whole time ;-) The van sounds like one of those unicorn items that is somehow both practical AND fun :-D Glad you're getting the most out of it!
Wow. How incredibly fun. Hiking. Travel. I "did" van life, only for about two weeks, so I'm not sure that counts. I have a 1986 VW Westy that I love. Looks like a beautiful adventure. Enjoy :)
Thanks, Matt! I love that you "did" van life - LOL - those two weeks certainly count! This twelve-day stint has been our longest trip so far, so you win already. I'm not sure I could last much longer than that, to be perfectly honest!
1986 Westy - perfect! When we got our decidedly non-vintage 2011 T5 I was beyond dubious - I reminded my husband that a) I am NOT a natural camper, and b) I can't believe how he's forgotten that I have a long-standing preference to only stay in nice hotels, thank you very much.
But that van and I, Matt, we understand each other, and we're doing okay.
Gosh this makes me miss walking around England... And it was cold but not raining. Yes. of course. Glad I found you while I guess I was out wandering Substack. Thanks for the journey.
I'm glad you found me too, Elizabeth! Thanks so much! :D
Sometimes I've gone off for a week on my own (to give E a break!), and taken with books for reading, and a laptop for writing. Don't know why I bother: they remain unopened, because I end up walking, sitting in a cafe doing the crossword or vegging out on rubbish TV!
I console myself with the wise comment from a Zen master called Suzuki: A Zen student must learn to waste time conscientiously.
:-)
LOL - glad it’s not just me, Terry! Those are wise words about wasting time conscientiously, definitely. I love crosswords too - resistance training for the brain!
cryptic?
Yes, I try. If I want to switch off I’ll do a general knowledge one, but I love the challenge of cryptic crosswords, even when I can’t complete them. I adore a 50-50 crossword - across clues are cryptic, downs are concise (albeit challenging - a one-word clue can have so many potential solutions!). I enjoy the 50-50s because they’re a decent workout for my brain but not so much that I end up with gaps in the grid at the the end of my lunchbreak!
I like those as well.The ones I struggle with in particular are the ones where you need a PhD just to understand the instruction. Mind you, I managed nearly half of one of those in The Spectator a few weeks ago by some miracle!