Post round the world travels, May 2008
Writing, I’ve discovered, is quite hard when you’re on the move. Although the constant scene changing provides immediate and ongoing inspiration, energy that would go into pinning these thoughts down goes instead into making unending plans and decisions. Once the survival mentality kicks in, of wondering where to sleep, what to eat, where to go, there’s little creativity left just to sit and write.
In fact there was only one time when I felt settled and rested enough to write. It was when I was staying in a house in New Zealand run by a Catholic Worker community. There I could hang out with people I got on with and who did most of the cooking. And with my basic and psychological needs met, I found I could sit back a bit, let my mind unfurl and actually write. The need for home is a powerful thing.
I guess this isn’t everyone’s story but I found it to be mine. So I’ve returned with books of notes, jottings, thoughts and quotes waiting to be pinned down and assembled in some sort of lucid order. Although it’s been a pain to have been holding on to them for so long, I’ve enjoyed making connections and comparisons with different places and cultures and hope what I write now will shed a clear and poignant light on things.