It’s been over a year since I updated this blog, but we are now living under our own roof after nearly 18 months and it’s somewhere I can finally call home. So perhaps I should attempt to resurrect this website one last time? I think a bit of an update is in order…

Last Christmas we set off on an adventure overland from the UK, finally arriving in Malaysia last June. There are just too many incredible experiences to mention so you can read all about that on Leanne’s eggbutnobacon website. On our return we decided we still weren’t quite ready for settling down quite yet, so we continued on a mini-journey around the UK. We ended up housesitting, WWOOFing, camping and festivaling. This continued until mid-November when a chance encounter at a housing co-operative party turned into us moving into the house within a month. This also meant us moving to a another country….

… Wales. Passports were not required for this trip.

December was three weeks of packing, unpacking, deadlines and festive meals. It flew past rapidly and before we knew it we had to leave again, but just to visit family for Christmas this time. As we pulled out of the drive we were pretty upset to leave. I knew that was a good feeling to be having – we would soon be back.

Christmas and New year came and went. We travelled to Wirral, Leeds, Manchester and had a great time with friends and family. Then we farm-sat for a week at a place where we had previously WWOOFed. The snow covered the fields with a thick layer of winter whiteness and the ice made each task take twice as long as it would have done on a warm summers day. Our toilet froze, pipes buckled and the fire struggled to fight off the frost but the warmth of the sun rising into a clear blue sky made us forget all of that and we had a great experience.

Now finally we are back. The frost also hit our flat in our absence. A pipe burst above the bathroom and partially flooded the flat. Luckily for us we were still away and the rest of the members of the house sorted out everything for us. On our return we heard stories of torrents of water gushing along our hallway.

2010 promises a lot and the year is still very young. We have our new business (or busy-ness, something to keep us busy…) called The Loop Project. The premise is simple; we are trying to live our lives in the most beneficial way possible to both ourselves and the environment whilst also being able to support ourselves. The concepts are evolving and the site will change as our ideas do, but we feel we have moved to a place which allows us to fulfil this. We can “work” (for cash) for a couple of days a week but then spent the rest of the week really working. This could mean growing vegetables, volunteering in town, learn how to fix and repair things, make bread. That time isn’t counted on any government spreadsheet or in any GDP figures, but for us it is infinitely more constructive. The more you work for money the more money you need. We have jumped off the “hedonic treadmill” and won’t be getting back on – a walk in the woods is free and you don’t need to be in a gym!

By moving to a small town in Wales we hope to become part of the local community and economy and it seems in Llanidloes the possibilities are endless.

All the best for 2010.