Holy Island to St Abbs

We had originally planned a little one night trip to the lake district but after checking the weather forecast I thought it looked too windy. I can take rain, clouds, anythings. Just not wind. I have this bizarre fear that our van will tip over or my house windows will blow in or one of us will fly away into the sky, never to be seen again. I just don’t do wind.

Luckily, when you’re in a van, you can change your route very easily. We headed north up the coast instead, stopping at Holy Island for a coffee break and to stretch our legs. Sometimes I think we have more hours in the day then everybody else because in that very same afternoon we managed to drive even further north towards Canty Bay, to a little storage container cafe sat right on the cliffs, Drift cafe. Huge walls of glass let you look right out onto the sea while you sit in the warmth.

I’d found an overnight parking spot on the app Park4Night that had a lot of 5 star reviews, so we headed to St Abbs, a small fishing village on the very south eastern coast of Scotland. You can park right on the coast, looking out onto the rocks. All you need to do is pop a tenner and your reg into the box at the harbour master’s hut. Some people don’t want to pay for overnight spots at all, but for the view in the morning it was worth it, and it was totally quiet all night. Not another person in sight.

Living Smaller

I feel like I’ve been tricked. I thought I needed, or wanted, more space. We lived in a tiny one bedroom flat for 7 years and I dreamt about having a second bedroom, our own outside space, a bath, a bigger kitchen. And I got it. We struck gold with our house and got it for super cheap. The last year and a half we’ve worked on it solidly, stripping floors and uncovering fireplaces.

I’m starting to have some doubts…

We’ve spent a lot of time lately in our converted VW crafter van and I’ve noticed a pattern of anxiety every time we return home. The van is small, and we only take what we absolutely need. It’s a very minimalist space and way of life, but amazing being able to wake up wherever we want and have coffee with a different view every morning. All the stuff in our house feels like it’s weighing me down.

Instagram accounts of home interiors that I used to love now feel a little bizarre to me. Whole corners of rooms showcasing items that probably never get touched. I’m not judging, that’s been me down to a tee for the last decade. I have a display dustpan and brush, I’m the literal definition of what I’m starting to dislike. It’s just not making me happy anymore.

I see a lot of people selling everything they own and either moving into a van, or massively downsizing their lives and it looks like bliss. The burden of all the things, and working all the hours to pay for those things, all gone.

So, choices. We’re not sure exactly what, but something will definitely be changing this year. We’re both agreed that we don’t need all this space (I’ve been in my front garden about 3 times in nearly 2 years), and we both want to spend a lot more time travelling. We want different lives and different priorities. We want to work for money we want, not need, and we don’t want to feel tied down by things. I’m still very grateful that we’ve managed to be homeowners for so many years when so many people would love to have a house but can’t, but things change and I think it’s time for a new project, and to live a little smaller.

The Ferry Hut

My first ever roll of medium format black and white, and what a subject to shoot. I’ve seen this hut in Alnmouth a few times, but I never realised that that was a little art gallery inside showing old photographs of local fishermen and ferrymen. I did a bit of googling and found out that the gallery has been created by a local lady who has a thing for huts, and didn’t want to see it fall into disrepair. My kind of woman.

I can also safely say I’ve fallen in love with medium format black and white photography and I cannot fathom why I haven’t done it before. A shout out to Tanners Bank Darkroom for developing this roll, and if you love the shot of the hut as much as I do, you can buy a print here. It would be greatly appreciated.