Community, slow travel and new chapters

Community and slow travel are two areas of life that remain incredibly important to us, but achieving them simultaneously has been more challenging than we imagined.

Whilst travelling to far-flung corners of the world and embracing remote, nature-filled destinations has been nourishing over spring and summer, it’s becoming abundantly clear that we crave community in equal measure. We’re still new to this way of living, and for the most part life in the slow lane has brought more adventure, peace and inspiration into my every day than ever before. Yet, as we cross the bridge between summer and autumn, the world (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) gets a little colder, and rightfully so, we retreat. For many of us, it means summer's vibrant warmth and spontaneity drifts to a close as the first leaves begin to fall.

Despite being on a personal mission to slow down and step into a more present way of being, I must admit I began to worry as September drew to a close. If moving around so frequently led to fewer opportunities to spend time with the people we love, the shift in seasons would surely add to this distance – the first frost signalling a resounding ‘end’ to summer socials. And, whilst my late teens and early twenties were spent resenting where I grew up – punctuated by a cliched collection of attempts to travel as far away from the UK as I could, I feel a change as I muddle through my mid to late twenties. 

So, we decided that when we returned to the UK, we’d start by prioritising spending time with friends, old and new – building stronger bonds that would stay with us throughout our upcoming adventures. A few weeks ago, we experienced exactly this, embarking on an enlivening, soft escapade with a group of women in the magical wilderness of Wales. Nestled in the mountains, a beautiful old country cottage held us as we chatted, cooked, lay in the grass, hiked and gazed out across the deep waters, where an undulating green quilt stretched over ancient hills, stitched together by tall pine trees and mossy banks.

It was an experience I held onto as we travelled gently across Scotland into late September, and served as a reminder that though our community may not always be around us, their impact helps to guide our steps.

After spending a little over a month in the Hebrides and Highlands, we’ve returned to spend time with family and friends who are starting new chapters in their lives. Some are emigrating to the other side of the world, others are relocating for careers, partners, or parenthood—leaving the familiarity of their communities behind to build new ones.

From the salty shores of Portugal to the cobbled Scottish hills, a deep sense of community seemed firmly woven into every new land we passed through. This unearthed a profound love for the wild isles I’m lucky enough to call home, and it left me longing for something I’m yet to put a finger on. A place, a collective, a semi-permanent home perhaps. 

Ultimately, I think being in constant motion for almost a year has sent us searching for comfort in familiar faces, and, much like autumn’s call to the rest of nature, we’re ready to slow down with the seasons – to put more time into something that represents community to us. It’s also highlighted that whilst we’re far from being ‘done’ with slow travel and van dwelling (I don’t think we ever will be, really), we want to learn more about the land that has nurtured us, and it feels fitting to do it in the quieter half of the year, when things are still and freezing and thawing and brewing.

So as autumn and winter take hold, we’ve chosen to stay in one place for a few months. Swapping full-time travel for life on an organic farm by the coast, we’ll be learning skills that have shaped our lands since time began, working outdoors, with people – diversifying our skillset in preparation for life's many seasons.

We’ll of course be exploring the south coast in our little home as much as possible. It’s somewhere we’d like to call a more permanent home in the future – so I’ll be taking you along for the journey. For now, we’re preparing for a season of slow living in tune with nature, surrounded by knowledgable folk, familiar and new. Embracing community, slow travel and new chapters.