It is day 45 of Melbourne’s second lockdown. The skies are grey and heavy rain is forecast for later. I’m sitting on a red meditation cushion which my friend Rosie made for me, and which I filled with specially ordered Australian Buckwheat husks from New South Wales. I made another cushion from blue curtain material, … Continue reading A Lockdown Retreat
Google Earth Studio
Its Day 42 of Melbourne's second lockdown. I'm allowed to travel outside the house only once each day and within a 5km radius. My cycling trips have been curtailed to doing laps in the local Velodrome with a one hour time limit. So, no bikepacking trips from Melbourne to Lisbon. No rides around Australia or … Continue reading Google Earth Studio
Imposed Frugality
As I write this note Melbourne is in a state of quasi Coronavirus lockdown. People can still wander around, schools are open. As are most of the shops. However people are increasingly working from home and normally busy streets in the CBD are empty. For those of us on the path to financial independence, or … Continue reading Imposed Frugality
Bike Touring a world afflicted by coronavirus
When planning a long term bike tour there really isn't much point in doing anything more then outlining a rough route and schedule. There's simply too many unexpected events that can disrupt the best laid intentions. A broken bike chain, an injury, visa/passport issues can all wreck having with a schedule. However, when I was … Continue reading Bike Touring a world afflicted by coronavirus
Back to work……
For the last two months I've reentered the workforce on a 3-month contract, after having had the past 13 months off work. I'm working as a Project Manager in one of the big Australian banks, so it's very much a quintessential corporate IT gig. Before starting I actually calculated how much of the rest of … Continue reading Back to work……
Planning a bike tour
Last week I cleared space on a wall in my spare bedroom, switched on the printer, grabbed my coloured pens and post-it notes and got started planning my cycle tour from Melbourne to Lisbon. I've been dreaming of this trip since getting back from my first serious bikepacking trip around the South Island of New … Continue reading Planning a bike tour
Calculating carbon emissions
Back in July I travelled with my wife on a trip from Australia to China, Korea the Philippines and then back to Australia. All up we took 6 flights. According to the website Atmosfair between us we were responsible for a total of 8,817kg carbon emissions. That's an absolutely crazy amount of damage and it completely … Continue reading Calculating carbon emissions
Templestay Korea
A few weeks ago, when we were visiting South Korea, I escaped the hustle and bustle of Seoul and spent a couple of nights at a temple with my wife. We joined a 2-night stay at Jeondeungsa Temple. This temple is nestled in a wooded valley on an island close to the North Korean border, … Continue reading Templestay Korea
How I secure an exit row seat
I have long legs and this means that long distance flights in standard economy class seat are agony. This is why, over the years, I've developed a strategy to improve my chances of being assigned a free exit row seat. The first thing I've learned is to always check-in at the airport. Those emails airlines … Continue reading How I secure an exit row seat
“Stop staring at your phones”
All over China loudspeakers blast out public service announcements that, in Australia, would seem borderline patronizing. I heard on one train journey: "Smoking is prohibited on this train" "Take care of your children and keep them away from hot surfaces" "Be careful putting liquids on the foldout table in front of you" The most interesting, … Continue reading “Stop staring at your phones”
