People talk about moving house being an opportunity to clear out some old stuff. Getting rid of stuff is great, but easier said than done. We’ve moved a few times in the last few years and haven’t really managed to make it work. Somehow we still have a load of things we never use, even though we live in a teeny weeny small terraced house. This time, however, we’re doing it properly. Not only are we moving countries, but we’re also moving ourselves and our entourage of possessions onto a small sailboat which probably has about the same total floorspace as our kitchen. We’re having to think long, hard and deep about what we take with us – not only the space factor but also the fact that we’re going to be taking everything with us on the plane as excess baggage. To be honest though I think Rose is finding it a lot harder than I am; I’m not so sentimental about “stuff”, and I’m taking most of what I own – sports equipment and a few clothes. And the stuff we’re not taking? We’ve got a small storage container that we’ll stick some things into, and we’re trying to give the rest away.
But this move isn’t just about the unloading of stuff. It’s the start of a whole new adventure. Whilst we’re not yet “casting off the bow lines” and “sailing away from the safe harbor” in the real sense, to quote a clichéd Mark Twain piece, we certainly are in the metaphorical sense. We’re selling the car and the van. We’re renting out our house. We’re packing only what we know we’re going to need for the next few months. We’re saying goodbye to family and friends.
It’s a really strange time. We’ve both felt now, for quite a while, that our time is up in Bristol. Life has reached a point where we’re on a plateau. Slipping into a routine. Work, home, work, home, work, home, weekend. And for Rose, the same with the studio. The record’s not quite broken, and we’ve done pretty well to pack a whole load of stuff into an amazing British summer, but something needs a reset. I want to fill life with new experiences. Not just new remixes of the same, familiar tunes, but a whole new repertoire, a whole new set of instruments, and new ways to play them.
We’re stepping out across the Atlantic – not just the Atlantic but all the way out across the USA – to San Francisco. That should do the trick. Everything is going to be new. Well, most things. I’m keeping the same job, the Americans speak English (yes, I know, debatable) and it’s somewhere we’re fairly familiar with, but still, it’s going to be a whole lot of new stuff to learn. Bring it on! Right now I’m trying to figure out the US income tax laws for resident aliens (we’ll get some alien costumes at some point I’m sure). Then comes buying a vehicle, getting a driving licence, going to the dentist … all the stuff that here at home in the UK is so familiar is going to be new.
But all this is just a stepping stone. We’ll be on the road (or ocean) before long. We’re moving one step closer to really sailing away from the safe harbor. I can’t wait.
Road and Ocean 