And so, with more than a year gone by since my last blog entry, it seems time to address the current situation. Like most of the rest of the world during Covid-19, we have been confined largely to home, our only venture out being to take advantage of a brief lull last summer, to go to Scotland and tackle the West Highland Way. Other than that, Life has been… restricted. We should not complain. We have a large enough house, a larger than enough garden. Food continues to arrive, and, since Val’s business has continued online throughout, not even a financial hit.
But it does not look as though things are going to change any time soon; in my bleaker moments, it seems that they will never return to what we used to describe as normal. It is certainly the case that there is no imminent prospect of foreign travel easing any time soon, and with that goes my post-retirement projects: leading theatre activities with young people in various places around the world.
I have decided therefore, to focus this blog on a very different journey altogether. Partly, this is inspired by the fact that it was pretty much exactly forty years ago that Val and I set off on an extended trip, first heading west to America, and which, over the next three years, was to carry us around the world. Throughout that period, I kept a detailed diary, and I have decided to transcribe each day’s entry and post it on the blog, alongside some comments from now – explanations, clarifications, apologies, whatever. That, at any rate, is the plan. I remember thinking at the time – as referenced within the diaries – that I was giving myself a difficult task; keeping a diary requires the sort of organisational discipline that is not always my strength. So wish me luck, and you are welcome to come along for the ride, for as long as it lasts – if all goes to plan, this will carry us all to December 18th, 2024. The fear, inevitably, is that it will all prove rather too mundane, too fixated upon the banal necessities of everyday life. Though, with the benefit of time, even such trivialities might have their own interest.