Goodbye for now, Brighton!
In April 2024 I am flying to Lisbon to live on a sailing boat for a month. In May I’m attending a conference at Potsdam University entitled: Myth, Ritual And Practice For The Age Of Ecological Catastrophe. I don’t know where else I’m going, and I currently have no idea when I’ll come back to the UK. I will be back, but it could be anything from a few months to…well, I really don’t know.
Hardly anyone has batted an eyelid when I said: I’m moving all my coaching online for a while. Over half of my coaching is already online and we’re all pretty used to remote working now.
But I love my daily stroll to the clinic, I love meeting my clients in person, and I’ll also be giving up my beloved seafront apartment in Kemptown and these stunning sea views. So today I just wanted to share why I’ve decided to sample the life of a digital nomad…
Until this current chapter of my life, I never structured my life around ‘grown up’ things. I’m fascinated by words like truth, passion, connection and purpose. My whole life has been a wild ride through these concepts and I’ve often looked at the modern, civilized world with a lot of scepticism. I’ve written whole books about how this modern culture hurts us and makes us deeply unhappy and for most of my life I’ve swerved away from it. Thanks for this I’ve led a very, very interesting life.
But of course, civilization brings its rewards. I may have all these deep insight and the ability to hold fascinating, life-changing conversations, but I’ve spent a lot of my life heavily in debt and I haven’t built up those foundations that more sensible people have.
My move to Brighton 7 years ago was the beginning of a new chapter, designed to solve this problem. Being a profound person is all well and good, but if you’re constantly freaking out about money it leads to a stressful and unhappy life. Over these Brightonian years I have, step by step, achieved what I set out to do! I’ve managed to build a successful, thriving career in a really tough industry, and I’ve done it through authenticity and taking almost zero time off.
I now have a measure of stability and security but I’ve only achieved that in my early 40s. This means I’m a long way behind the curve in a lot ways, and while I’ve been grinding I’ve watched my friends and peers disappear into their families, their marriages, or developing their properties. Since the pandemic, I’ve also noticed that gathering my tribe together is so much harder - people seem much more reluctant to gather, to socialise and to share. I am a highly social extrovert, I’m an animal that thrives in a pack, and all of my most treasured memories have been spent surrounded by people I love, so this growing isolation has been really challenging for me. I’ve tried a lot of things to solve this, but my tribe hasn’t appeared and now, I’ve spent much too long on my own. Something has to give.
But you know what I have in abundance? Freedom! I have complete control of my time and my choices.
One day, I’m going to establish the Beacon Project and devote the rest of my life to it. Once I do that, I’ll be tethered in place, part of a community and working hard to provide hope, inspiration and education as climate change really begins to hit the UK hard. Until I do that, I am quite free.
I’ve decided to use this freedom to go travelling, at least for a while. I might be back in a few months, I might be gone for a long time.
As with everything else I do, this isn’t a spontaneous or random decision, I have clear goals for myself…
I get pretty nervous travelling on my own. One aspect of my personality is shy and just wants to hide away in a safe space. This part of me has really held me back in the past, so I want to completely relinquish the idea of a safe home and meet this part of myself in a new way. This feels like an important part of my own journey.
At the same time, I want to fuel and nurture the more adventurous, spontaneous, creative side of myself. He’s really struggled with being focused solely on business development for 7 years, and I want to give him time to enjoy beautiful new places.
I think we’re all carrying psychological scars from the pandemic, and from the tremendous uncertainty that’s currently permeating every level of life in the UK. For me, this has taken the shape of a background sense of stress and pressure. I’m not problem solving the way I used to, I’m not feeling energized and creative like I always have. I really need to blow away these cobwebs and heal these wounds, and travel seems a great way to do this.
I want to meet new people, sample new cultures, find new tribes and challenge my assumptions about the world.
I am finally accessing my spiritual side, and I feel a need to let go of control and see what appears in my life.
I want to sample this ‘digital nomad’ lifestyle and see if it feels good for me.
I will be popping back to the Brighton area from time to time, so if you do want in-person coaching with me make sure you’ve let me know so I can notify you when I’m back.
I will be sharing all my travels on social media - primarily Instagram. Make sure you’re following me!