This was the only item which caught my eye - about 20cm long and very heavy.
Really? I do not need it that badly (and looking at the detail which shows more in the photo than I saw on the shelf, maybe it is not that nice after all?)
Then into town for groceries and bumped into a friend I've not seen for a while, so a long chat in Sainsbury's carpark. They asked how much I had been away in the van this year and what my plans were for future trips. When I admitted I had only been away twice in 2023 and had nothing booked for the rest of the year they expressed disappointment in me - apparently if I have a van I am expected to sleep in it far more often than I do.
Still a friend, but one added to the drawer labelled "really nice person, but really does not understand me".
This week Blue Bus has provided a warm, comfortable space for me to finish sorting out my hair after a swim, and a quick mug of tea after a walk in local woodland.
I have also been indulging in a considerable amount of this:
I cheerfully admit to something of a small obsession with Ordnance Survey maps and three new ones arrived this week. This is Sheet 429 which is north of the gorgeous Morvich & Glenelg where I fell in love in July. There are only TWO 'A' roads on this entire sheet one of which has a big section that is single track, there is a wee part of the Torridon road top left, and a bare handful of very minor bits of surfaced tarmac which have less width than our driveway. There may have been some plotting and planning this week. 🥾
I do not think I need to do much more but I am constantly surprised by the expectations of others.
Is it me?
Do people in your life do this to you?
Oh yes - I have one particular friend who regularly asks me if I've done so-and-so and, if I say no, then demands to know "Why not?". Erm, because it's my decision not yours and is, frankly, none of your business anyway! Lovely woodland photo. And how nice to sit and plan things for the future.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sooze, perhaps that friend needs to join mine in the "you really don't get me, do you" drawer. I am sure there will be room. xx
DeleteI think the beauty of Blue Bus is that you can use her every day, and while you may have only had two actual holidays this year she has been your friend on lots of other smaller outings and come in very useful indeed. And YES, lots of people I know seem to expect so much more of me that I can even be bothered to think about, perhaps because we have done so much in the past. But I think it's time I wound things down a bit and just enjoyed a Smaller and Simpler Life. ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right Sue, and if we do not enjoy ourselves NOW then when the heck are we going to?
DeleteI say the same every year at this time, no more dec's, but then just 1 for the tree, I have passed on all the stuff which just sat in boxes not used. The blue bus is for enjoyment, and as your post above shows, it's not only about the trips, planning is fun as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you m'dear, I do seem to spend a lot more time planning & cognitating than actually travelling 😁
DeleteMap reading is my hobby too.
ReplyDeleteI recommend Dash4It (no affiliation, bla bla). Sign up for their newsletter - with this weeks discount code I paid just over £5 per map instead of the RRP of £9.99.
DeleteI love 'real' maps - yes they can get wet and blown away but their battery will not fail or go blank if out of range of a wifi signal. 🗺️
Thank you, that's a good tip.
DeleteI love an OS map, and can lose hours simply studying one. I struck lucky a while back, as I won an competition for a years subscription of OS maps. I do like a paper map, but old eyes appreciate being able to zoom in using a phone or tablet.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have more and more people being consigned to that drawer ;)
Cheers Jules. Whilst there are a good few things I do not like about getting older (can I have the Energiser Bunny back, please?) I do like getting to a point where I can stuff the idiots in that drawer and not care.
DeleteI agree with you about being able to zoom in to the map detail ☺️
It seems like people like to judge other people's lives no matter what you do. The best advice is to just be you, be happy about it and not to worry about what other people think.
ReplyDeleteIt really does not bother me any more. I have perfected the art of saying "oh, you are so right" (or some such nonsense) whilst actually thinking "you're a complete idiot".
DeleteJust having your blue van offers dreams and possibilities. So funny how others seem to think they know what is best for us!
ReplyDeleteBingo! I can dream and plan every single day.
DeleteHave you noticed how the know-it-alls are often the people who spend most of their own time sitting doing very little?
I have been wondering about the same thing. So many people in my circle of family, friends and randoms seem to be unsettled if they haven't at least one or two international trips or cruises on their horizons. None seem to even consider the carbon emissions, the damage to the planet, or even the garbage they will create and leave behind them. They are not generally unthinking people, and if I rudely ask why they are doing this the answer is usually a cheery "just for something different" or a mumbled something about escaping housework. Your Seth Goden quote captures it all for me.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree about maps, hours of pleasure to be had examining a good map! I recently dug one out of my collection for a trip to the centre of a nearby city I hadn't been to for a while, and was struck by the quality of paper, printing and the details of my 1982 version compared to one from 2018. And surprisingly, nothing of importance to me had changed!
Aw, thanks Beth, lovely comments.
DeleteI know some of the people you describe - on one hand think everyone else ought to save the planet and on the other always booking trips to somewhere or another.
You are right about the paper quality of current maps. It is something I will pay close attention to when I open the package which arrived earlier containing another three! 😝
I love both Granny Sue and Jim and Barb's comments.
ReplyDeleteI've read almost the same vacation comment, not sure who it was attributed to, but it was along the lines of "people who read fiction only do so to escape their mundane lives" - considering how much travelling and reading I do I must have a terribly dull existence!
Jon's obsessed with old maps but he can't read one to save his life (not that I'm any better!) xxx
Dear girl, DULL and you cannot possibly exist in the same Universe.
DeletePerhaps people who travel and read fiction do so to learn, to grow, to experience new things, to stretch themselves and if there is some sun & fun along the way then great! Those who criticise us for doing so are probably afraid of what they might learn about themselves if they try it.
I’m with Jon, and starting to suspect I might have something of a map obsession myself. The bookcase needs ~another~ reorganisation just to accommodate the OS maps, and when I looked at all the cartography books I have collected over the years it is apparent that “I. May. Have. A. Problem!” Although I prefer to think of it as a ‘healthy interest’. 🤣
I have had friends staying. A year or three younger than I am. I've known her for over 40 years an her husband for a bit less. Both were professional photographers. They are 'Roamers'. Not for their jobs so much as for their desire to see the world. They have a permanent residence as a 'base' but are rarely there. They have had a camper van (not a very large one) for 12 years and have covered most of Europe in it. Obviously when they are out of Europe they fly, of course.
ReplyDeleteThe Seth Godin quotation made me think. You are happy to add roaming to your life. They, on the other hand, tolerate being in their base when they are not roaming.
I think I know who will be the more content in the long run (assuming we hopefully last for the 'long run').
Your friends sound like very interesting folk :-}
DeleteMaybe they will be very happy when too old to travel because they will have such a wonderful store of memories.
I am interested to know who ~you~ think will be more content in the long term.😉
You made me exercise what passes for my brain with that question. I think you will be. It sounds to me as if your home is home and roam is roam. Their house is a base. It always has been since they built their dream house (was it ever 'home'?) and sold it which enabled them to buy a base and roam. Base and roam. Home and roam.
DeleteI think you might be right 😉. One of the reasons I do not go away nearly as often as other people think I should (or even as often as I might like) is that my home is HOME.
DeleteNest, base, sanctuary? I have so many other interests and things to do (which seem to be centred around home) that I often struggle to find time to leave here.