My hair is practically waxed to my head. I also haven't seen my own reflection in five days so I have no idea how bad/homeless I must look. A shower and a room with a bed seem like luxuries now, and it's only been one week since I left home.
I feel like I've swum out to sea—so far that I can't go back—and now my only options are to sink, or to learn to swim out here. And by 'learn to swim', I mean find a way to make this sustainable, because tonight is the fifth night in a row that I've been rough camping, and while parts of it are quite beautiful (sunsets and sunrises over long, empty fields), I'm struggling a little to cope with being absolutely filthy. I should point out that all campsites I've come across so far in France have been closed (I think for the winter), and hotels cost around €40 per night, which I can't really make sustainable with no income (even just once or twice a week).
That being said, I've been thinking of ways to generate an income while travelling (with no power or internet), and the only feasible medium is writing. So I will continue writing this blog (of course) and I've been thinking of writing stories, but no ideas have come to mind yet! Edit: I realise photography and filming are also options, but I would need a camera with a long battery life, or a dynamo fitted to my bike (for charging), both of which are options.
Where are you?
I've been following the 'voie verte' (on recommendation from a cyclist in a pizza restaurant), which means 'green way'. On that route, I'm probably about five miles south-east of Carentan (still in Normandy), in a field as usual. The sun has gone down and I'm in my tent with the inner mesh zipped up, but the outer doors open. I can see the moon, as the sky is completely clear. It's pretty cold though, I think the clouds keep things warm.
Some observations on rough/wild camping:
- The first night is terrifying. There are all sorts of sounds that come from 'nature' (twigs falling from trees, animals rustling, insects scratching at your tent), and on the first night they all sound like something evil coming to eat/kill you. I got no sleep at all.
- If someone spots you, they are not going to be shocked and call the police. Today I set up my tent in a field, thinking I had found a nice secluded spot. Ten minutes later a tractor rolls in with a ten-foot lawnmower attached to the back and starts cutting the grass (the same grass that my ultralight, ultra-mowable tent is sitting on). The tractor drove towards me and then turned at the last minute to avoid the bit of grass that my tent was on, and the man inside just smiled and waved at me. After he finished mowing the field he just left (waving again on the way out) and all was fine!
- I'm always finding tonnes of mushrooms. It would be useful to know which ones were
hallucinogenicsafe to eat so I could cook them!
I hope you find these updates interesting! If there's a specific part you like, or want me to write more about, let me know!
P.S. There are no photos in this post because my phone ran out of batteries two days ago!
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