I can’t remember whose campervan blog we read which divided everything that needs to be done in the van into ‘blue’ and ‘pink’ tasks. Apologies but we’ve shamelessly copied it for what we need to do preparing for 12 months on the road.
Just over two weeks to D* day and Stuart’s list (that’s the blue one if you are too young to remember when boy babies were automatically dressed in blue) has an impressive number of crossed out completed tasks. My pink list is still a healthy length. As well as the admin stuff involved in leaving your house/job/life behind for a year, my van tasks involve stocking the kitchen cupboard with equipment and staple ingredients – in a post-feminist ironic sort of way obviously.
Our different pace to working through our respective lists reminds me of an exercise we had to do on a work training course – the sort you go on to transform you from sloth to dynamo in 4 hours including introductions and a lunch break. The course leader asked us to imagine we had a project you knew took three days and the deadline was the 30th of the month. Then pointing to the back wall she said ‘. ‘Now go stand beside the day you’d start working on it’.
We obediently swung round to see that the width of the back wall was plastered with a strip of post it notes numbered 1-30. After a moment’s hesitation at day 27, I settled on day 25. One brave soul stood at day 28. ‘I’ll do an all nighter.” she said. Bafflingly at least 3 people stood beside day 1. What’s that about? Didn’t they have any other work to do? Most huddled round no 15- 17. I reckon if Stuart did the course that’s where he’d be standing.
All now positioned by our chosen Post Its we looked expectantly at the trainer for the ‘right’ answer. Turns out there wasn’t one. As long as the job gets done, it shouldn’t matter when you start. The aim of the exercise was simply to highlight how challenging it must be if you are a ‘day 2’ person managing a ‘day 18-er’ or more stress-inducingly a ‘day 28-er’. I remind Stuart of this ‘no right answer’ message when he looks anxiously at my list. Sure there’s plenty of time yet. Dinnae fash yersel.
*departure date 28 September sailing from Portsmouth to Bilbao
My new dearest wish would be to be a fly on the wall during your travels listening to all the tasks that mysteriously got cocked up or didn’t happen. Not mentioning whether they were blue or pink although I have my own idea.
Like many things in life,
It is “One Day at a time”
We are still alive at the end of “the day”
& another day starts