Everywhere and back again

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

First Disclaimer

I understand fully that my situation during this pandemic was not at all extreme and that many others have had far worse experiences thereof. I understand that what I have been able to do is not available to everyone and relies heavily on my particularly privileged situation. This article is simply an explanation of how I chose to see an obstacle as an opportunity and in no way comparing my situation to anyone else’s.

Intro

This is not a business article. It is a personal article I wrote mostly just to collect my thoughts but also to share a bit of the adventure I'm currently living.

Just before the global pandemic began gripping the world so tightly that many were struggling to breathe on ventilators throughout the world, we had made the decision to move out of the house we were staying in, to try living in a far smaller apartment.

The appeal was mostly in the additional security, South Africa can sometimes be a dangerous country, and the community, the block had a hotel in it with a downstairs bar, gym, pool and games room.

We moved in on the 27th of March 2020 — the day that South Africa went into a complete lockdown, barring us from leaving our new home and shutting down all of the aforementioned amenities in total.

The Apartment

The apartment was small, and shared by three people. We’d lived together before and were not spending substantial amounts of time at home previously and so the size didn’t bother us at the time of the decision. We had all been going to work each day for 8–10 hours in offices and arrived home sometimes only briefly before heading out again for drinks, dinner or to visit friends in their homes.

It did have beautiful views, which were of particular value to me during our confinement

Given the new restrictive lockdown rules, the three of us were now all working from the same lounge for the entire day, and spending our leisure time in that very same place.

After 12 months of this, albeit with varying levels of lockdown, openness and exposure to other humans in the outside world, I’d grown incredibly tired of the four walls I lived my entire life between and decided that I would not be renewing my lease and would in fact not be signing any new leases either.

I’d considered buying a home too but gave that dream up for one that I believed would be far more exciting — a life on the road.

The Car

First off, I’d need a vehicle that was better suited to packing my entire life into before setting out on the road. At the time I was driving a small Toyota Yaris. A friend of mine had recently upgraded his Hilux for an awesome newer version and was willing to part with his old one at an incredibly fair price — I took him up on that and made the necessary repairs I’d need to feel comfortable travelling very long distances, often on dirt roads, as my new way of life would require

Getting ready

I’d love to tell you that I sold everything I owned and hopped into the vehicle but the truth is that I’ve never really owned very much as I’ve been a reasonably dedicated minimalist for most of my life. We did part with a few things by either giving or throwing them away, depending on their desirability to others and over the following months have ended up parting with more. I've also stored some books and clothing at my parents place but no more than a suitcase or two worth.

The most difficult partings were the plants that I’d cared for and grown to love over the years but they all found loving new homes among a series of my friends.

It’s important to note that in the journey that follows I have been working full time throughout. Sometimes I’d take an extra day of leave to squeeze in a long drive or enjoy a particularly beautiful experience for a bit longer, but in general I've been putting in 8-10 hours on the phone or laptop, Monday to Friday. I’ll get into more detail on that later but state here quickly that not only did my work not suffer, I’ve found myself enjoying work more, being more creative, having a better mood and finally writing more again than I have in years.

The journey

Mcgregor

We began our journey in a small town about a 2 hour drive from our previous home of Cape Town. We spent the month looking after the beautiful Belgian Shepherd, Rasty, pictured below. Life in Mcgregor was our first taste of our new impermanence experience and started out super well. We’d found Rasty and his parents making use of the website "Trusted House Sitters" which connects those with animals who need looking after while they’re away and people like ourselves who would love nothing more than to look after them.

We spent our mornings feeding the chickens and taking Rasty on his first of two daily walks; and our afternoons cooking, reading or relaxing by the small plunge pool on the property.

The internet speeds were often a bit of a challenge but overall we thoroughly enjoyed our first extra-home experience and more importantly learned which of the things we’d brought with us we actually needed and which we could leave back in Cape Town before heading on to the next destination.

Hogsback

Hogsback

After returning briefly to Cape Town for 2 days we’d gotten rid of a large box of unnecessary items we’d packed previously and set out on the road to Hogsback in the Eastern Cape, which was roughly a 10 hour drive. We made one short stop along the way in Beaufort West and arrived at our new accommodation, a small self catering cottage, nestled between trees in the property of a backpackers in the tiny village.

While we had no animal responsibilities for this part of our journey we were greeted each morning by a troop of monkeys running the roof and playing in the trees around us. Every two days or so they were joined by a large troop of baboons who were far less playful and much more intimidating as they lounged around our cottage.

In Hogsback we spent our free days exploring the many exceptional waterfalls and hikes or having a bath with a view, pics below, and our evenings trying out the various local restaurants, some of which (The Edge and Hogsback Inn) were truly excellent.

The three and a half weeks we spent there were plenty to get a feel for this beautiful part of the world, which neither of us had previously visited before, and we hopped back into the bakkie ready to head back to Cape Town and discard some more of what we’d once again realised we simply didn’t need on our life on the road. This time it included mainly our adjustable weighted dumbbells which we each exchanged for a single kettlebell.

We stopped by the beautiful St Francis on the way home - another place I'd never previously visited.

Cape Town

We’d come back to Cape Town as we had a series of in person meetings dotted a few days or a week apart and couldn’t justify covering large distances only to return each week.

We first stayed at an Airbnb in Greenpoint, next looking after a pair of lovely little Jack Russel ladies for a couple in Gardens and finally reconnecting with some friends at their home in Dieprivier.

Free time in Cape Town was mostly spent connecting with friends we knew we were going to be seeing far less often for the coming months and prepping for the next stage of our journey which would see take us from the end of May to mid September without returning the vehicle to Cape Town.

Johannesburg

The next leg of our journey was to be spent in Johannesburg, around a 15 or 16 hour drive from Cape Town. We decided to split the drive up a bit and stop in Beaufort West and Bloemfontein on our way up. I’d never really visited Bloem so we drove around a fair amount, checked out some sights and ate at a popular local restaurant to get a short feel of the city.

Around 2 hours outside of Joburg I had some proper car trouble and had to pull into Kroonstad where we spent an unplanned 3 additional days as the repairs were done. As with everything in our journey so far, we ended up really enjoying our time at our unplanned destination. I can highly recommend the Lavender Guest House for those of you who happen to pass through for any reason.

In Joburg we rented an Airbnb in Randburg and spent our free time visiting a small group of family and friends who live in the city of gold. It was especially great to connect with them so casually given that instead of a typical weekend visit, we had a full 5 weeks to see and connect with everyone, despite the city technically being in a level 4 lockdown.

I’ve visited Joburg plenty of times but had never stopped, slowed down and spent well over a month there, it was an entirely different experience that allowed me to get a sense of what it would be like to live there and finally helped me to learn the various suburbs and highways well enough to know where I was some of the time.

Kruger

We left Joburg to spend 5 days and nights camping and self driving in the Kruger National Park. I’ve been on quite a few safaris, but never self driven or camped so those were both a real change which we really enjoyed. We enjoyed it so much in fact, that we’ll be going back there again later in August to do it some more.

I’ll say nothing further other than, if you haven’t visited the Kruger National Park… do yourself a favour and book that trip.

Ndlovumzi

As I write this, I’m doing so from the pool side in my new temporary home in Ndlovumzi Private Nature Reserve. I’m here looking after the beautiful little animal picture below for his parents while they’re down on holiday in Cape Town. Another connection made through Trusted House Sitters.

We walk ‘Sengi’ each morning and regularly encounter all manner of animals such as zebras, giraffes, duikers, wildebeest, jackals, warthogs and many more on the road. There are no big five on the property so it’s reasonably safe to do so,

We’re about an hour away from the closest towns or shops which presents a bit of a challenge at times but the internet is lightning fast and the slow pace of life here on the reserve is very tranquil.

What have I learned?

1. Home is not a place for me.
2. I really love living with dogs!
3. I don’t want to own many things.
4. The world is different and very beautiful.
5. I find inspiration from being in different places and experiencing new things.
6. I want to visit so many places that it’s quite unrealistic, but I’m going to make it happen.

What are the major challenges?

1. Living out of a suitcase isn't for everyone.
2. Not seeing your people regularly is tough.
3. Guaranteeing great internet is a hassle.

What’s next?

I just want more (or less depending on how you look at it). So far we’ve lined up the following for the next 2-3 months:

• Some more time in Kruger
• A two week trip to Zanzibar!
• A long drive back to Cape Town
• A trip around Namibia

If you've been considering some adventure, hopefully this can be a bit of the motivation you needed to head on out and find it!

Is there a business lesson here somewhere?

Sure, why not — let’s go with: Operating in a lean manner provides you with incredible flexibility. The more fixed anything you have, the more you’re locked into a particular path, the more leanly you operate the more you’re able to swivel and pivot in new directions.

Often for smaller businesses, this agility is what sets us apart from our larger counterparts and can be the differentiating factor in delivering work of a superior quality in uncertain times.

How's that?