The adventures that change can bring
Have you ever promised you would make a change and then not done it?
Me too.
And have you ever promised you’d do more for the environment - let’s say be more militant about recycling, or driving less, only to quickly fall back on old habits?
We've all been there.
Changing habits isn’t easy. It’s hard.
And while we are all capable of saying we’ll do something, and truly believing we'll actually follow through with it, living up to the promises we make ourselves is difficult.
There's immense power in our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, and how changing even the simplest of them can have profound impact on nearly every aspect of our lives. Embracing change has brought me about a life of adventure and uncertainty. I had no idea that in just a year of starting my blog, that this labor of love would become my greatest joy and most profound source of personal growth. It's evolved into my life and my living, and provides my deepest sense of purpose which, ultimately, makes me feel content and fulfilled.
Yet despite the obvious benefits of change when we allow it, we seem to resist it. We are creatures of habit, familiarity and stability. But sometimes the positive impact of change, especially on a cultural level, is so overwhelming clear that it's hard to understand why it's not widespread.
Take my experience the other day. I went to Sussex to test drive the Nissan LEAF - this particular car is being driven 10,000 miles from England to Mongolia as part of the Mongol Rally in July. It's the very first electric car to attempt this epic challenge (and it's being done by Plug In Adventures if you want to follow his journey).
A car, powered completely by electric, travelling that distance - that's pretty revolutionary. I must admit I didn't know a great deal about electric technology before this event, but I went away grappling the same issue I have with the fact we don't currently implement bottle deposit schemes to reduce plastic waste. Why not? I can't see a single downside of embracing the change this technology will bring to our lives and, ultimately, the environment.
The test driving day itself was also pretty fun, and here's a little travelogue into everything I got up to as part of it...
Getting kitted out for some adventures
Arrived to find a personalised good bag waiting for me full of adventure-ready treats.
I woke up bright and early the following morning and ventured into these stunning bluebell woods (photos really can't do it justice) for a treehouse breakfast cooked on an open fire.
After my hearty Eggs Royale it was time to head over to the campfire for a little bit of bushcraft and skills.
Starting by brushing up on my fire making skills.
Which resulted in this... (look how happy I am!)
Next up was a drive through the rolling Sussex countryside (if you haven't been to Ide Hill before then it's a must-see!) for some search and rescue learning action.
Surrey Search and Rescue do a pretty awesome job - and it's run entirely by volunteers. These guys showed us how to use drone technology in search missions, and set us off on a task to find a missing person...
... in the form of this cheeky looking hipster who'd somehow escaped Shoreditch and found himself in the deep, dark depths of Sussex completely ill-equipped apart from a beard to keep his face warm.
The rest of the morning was spent putting my new fire lighting skills to good use - by making a fire to charge my phone and boil water for a coffee. Double win.
Lunchtime looked like this. Prepared by the amazing guys at Hunter Gather Cook over an open fire. I can't even cook like this at home in my kitchen!
The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to test driving the Nissan LEAF and meeting the man behind the Mongol Rally challenge - Plug in Adventures - what a guy!
Of course I had a test drive of his whip, kitted out with rally wheels and the removal of 34kg of weight in the form of back seats. I'd say after a bit of thrashing about by various people that this car is ready for the adventure of its life.
A wonderful day of fun and learning all about the power of electric technology as the future of our car industry. Let's all go and electrify the world.