The nice thing about people buying me 3D scenes for my comics (thank you), is its made some space for my mind to wander a bit. And sometimes it’s fantasy, sometimes it’s … hold on what would I actually want if I were to retire and sit on my arse for months at a time?
We’re often so hectic with doing life that we forget to be the living bit. And we fall foul of the capitalism gods, or the duty gods or whatever. So it’s nice to ponder where we’d like to spend some downtime, now and then.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d basically be after the opposite of this:
… I mean whose great idea was that? And don’t say budget restrictions nor overpopulation; some definite arsehole decisions were involved all along the way there. Anyway, though I’d want easy access to dark skies and forested mountains and torquoise seas, I also don’t want to live in the utter middle of nowhere. So I’m currently thinking about sunny courtyards and good access to books. This is where I’m up to:
… basically, piles of books and glasses of champagne. Enough plant coverage to at least shade the sun. A non-public but slightly communal space in the countryside somewhere. It can be crumbling apart, I don’t give two shits about some advertisers ideas of ‘luxury’, clearly! Haha. So it looks like my idea of a little slice of heaven is Hay-on-Wye picked up and dropped on the Croatian coast somewhere quiet.
Anyway, it’s nice to have a dream, isn’t it? What would your almost-perfect downtime place look like? Perhaps you already live there?
Or perhaps you are a slave worker grinding 60 hour weeks to afford the rent, and find yourself living under a motorway in a trembling ‘apartment’ built by some shit town planner who is looking at bottom lines and hasn’t learnt about the sanctity of human life. And perhaps you feel trapped there, unaware of your own explosive potential? So what is your dream? And though it may not be imminently within reach, which are the little bits of it that we can reasonably work or hope towards? Always a good thing to ponder, I think.
Probably a cross between a Parisian cafe and a beer garden; a chill place in a big city. Good wine, simple food, grass underfoot, trees, cool in summer and cozy in winter. Definitely a fireplace inside for the latter.
The problem with _real_ Parisian cafes is that they are on the sidewalk, with tons of cars going by and too many tourists who think that people actually dress like Emily in Paris…
I want lots of foot traffic, though, so I can gag at unexpected hotness and giggle at stupid outfits. So in a park, but on the edge of a popular pedestrian area. Hmmm…
Yes the reality of Paris isn’t too marvelous, is it? Spent some time there myself, and was talking with a friend who lives there, and he said there’s a special section of the Japanese Embassy dedicated to helping those with ‘tourist shock’, where the unwary Japanese tourist gets overwhelmed with sadness having built the concept of Paris up in their mind so much, they then find out what it’s really like, hehehh. Ah well. But yeah, always fun to do a little people watching
So basically a side street or a dead end in an Italian village along the Amalfi Coast?
Yep, basically
https://www.placesofjuma.com/dalmatia-croatia/
Can I put in an offer to purchase?
Same
I haven’t put much thought into it.
Until the question was asked… My hide-away is somewhat achieved, I have a humble cottage in a small coast village.
Ideally, I’d want it to be somewhere, where snow is much more common than here.
But that is a dream, to be fulfilled on a later date.
Ah, very nice!
A bit more sun, a lot less rain and some hills, mountains maybe, the air is usually better. On the other hand living is all about the people you live with and around and in that respect I am pretty well there, just need a bit of weather manipulation and fewer dickheads in high places, but that’s asking a lot it seems. You’re place does look good though but I might get bored of the sitting on my arse bit.
I found my spot by synchronistic accident in Saranda, Albania. I looked around a lot too…..a life time of travel and exploration.
I would prefer more nature but due to visual limitations, I have to stay near some civilization for access to the stuff of life.
It’s nice to be off the beaten path a bit though hordes of beachites do show up for 10 weeks in summer. The rest of the year is pretty quiet.
Not related to your blogpost, sorry. Been reading your work for about 18 months. Yesterday I mentioned your work to a friend. I’d never before said your name out loud so I was mystified when my friend laughed. I’d never heard the pun. I really do like a gag that delivers long-delayed laughter.
Haha, amazing! Thanks for spreading the word dude, and glad that stupid pun worked as a many-years-later payoff!!
Life is what happens when making other plans, my plan was to continue serving in the Army; however, circumstances meant I was retired early. What was an investment property outside Cooma, near Kosciusko National Park in NSW Australia was adopted as our home. 8.5 Acres of Rocky Bush, big enough that we don’t have neighbours unless we look for them or to big to be overwhelming. Centrally located, one hour from Canberra, Snowy mountains and the Coast. Books aplenty, almost to many projects and volunteering to keep me busy. Most importantly I’m upright and breathing and enjoying life
Ah that all sounds amazing! Glad to hear it 👍