Expat Camper

Executive box

Got a phone call from my brother this morning that he had some spare tickets to one of friends families executive box at St. James Park, Newcastle United’s Football ground.

First time in these boxes and it was pretty swish. Got a three course Sunday dinner, cheese board, food at full time, was pretty nice. Took along my buddy Jonny who is always good to me to because he’s an ex season ticket holder.

Newcastle did lose but the team did have a bit of a foothold on the game trying their best to press on the opposing Arsenal when then they could in a competitive match.

Either way it was a nice bit of Newcastle with my brother and some friends to kick off my last week before Madrid. Also it’s sparked my appetite for a bit of Football when I get over to Madrid.

Speak soon,
Andrew

Weddings and FOMO

There are two fears that can be block out living freely and adventurously, a fear of failure and a fear of missing out. I spent the start of this weekend at a lovely wedding at Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds and these fears are some of the things that come to mind when at an event like this

Moving to a country and a city where I know nobody opens up hundreds of opportunities but it also closes a lot. All my friends and family back home will be having celebrations, events and adventurous of their own I will be missing out on.

I am sacrificing spending moments with a lot people I really care about and that’s something that came into my mind over this wedding.

I am wondering if anyone has any experience with the negatives of living freely and away? I have spent so much time anticipating all the excitement of new things, but very little time mourning the loss of the old yet.

Speak soon,
Andrew

Learning a language

I am moving to Madrid with no friends, no family, no one out there. It’s a total fresh start and one thing I want to avoid is just acting like a Brit abroad.

I caught a show on BBC2 this afternoon about a family that had moved to Australia and they felt extremely lonely until they found a Scottish family to be friends with. It seems ridiculous to me, move to the opposite side of the world just hang out with some people from Scotland? Mental.

So I know I don’t want to just move there and be default friends with the handful of other people who are about my age who are also there. I mean I know some of them will be lovely but I don’t want my circle to be a small little one.

I was taking Spanish lessons last year (wasn’t considering moving at this point, just because I felt ignorant) but those dropped of because of a clash with my work timetable. So at best you could say “Hablo un poco de español…” (which I do say often when people ask me.)

I’ve been using Duolingo a lot to try and brush up vocabulary and get some skills before I move out there. But was wondering if anyone else had anything they recommended? Any tips on learning a language would be greatly appreciated. I keep telling myself it will be easier when I get out there!

Speak soon,
Andrew

Decluttering

When it comes to wild camping, I am all about packing light. My first camp of course I brought way to much but have learnt the art of only taking what is necessary and minimising my base weight (I am sure I will write about this at length later.)

In gearing up for move to Madrid though I have been having to try and cut down on all the earthly possessions I have gathered over the years. I have found this tough.

I keep looking at things thinking, well I wouldn’t go out and buy this now but I still don’t want to throw it away… I have done my best to sell and re-home as much as I can. The car is sold (I used Gumtree to advertise this and it was gone within a day) and a lot of my old media I don’t have use for anymore (sites like Ziffit and Music Magpie.)

One thing that has been a nice source of income for me has been selling off all my old collectables, which mainly consists of Hasbro/Kenner Star Wars action figures. This has taken a lot of time but the return has been quite considerable. Although it’s been very hard to part with a lot of my things, the pay off in being able to live freer and more nomadically is one that really excites me. I don’t want to be tied down and restricted by objects.

They say that when you live in excess your stuff owns you and I have really felt that in the past, will be nice to get away from that. Moving to Madrid also gives me the chance to experiment with the complete opposite, living minimalist and only with a few essential possessions.

Once I get the hang of that and learn how to live with only a few things it will free me up even more to continue to move around the world and not be tied down by old books and lightsabers. I will have lifted the anchor of stuff and be ready to set sail for more adventure.

Speak soon,
Andrew

Moving to Madrid

My name is Andrew and I am a wild camper and explorer, spending as much time as I can getting out of the house and living adventurously.

I have wanted to document some of my journeys for sometime now, both for myself and to share with others information I would have found useful.

I am moving to Madrid in the coming weeks and with this being my first time living outside my home of the UK it offers a whole new wealth of opportunities for for wild camping and travel.

I plan on posting ideas for packs (for my own reference, I know there are thousands already out there). Places I have been to and how to navigate a new country for adventure.

I will be in a new land without a car so will have to rely on services and wit to get myself around, but I really look forward to all the new places I am about to find and the things i’ll find along the way.

Speak soon,
Andrew