January, 2022 | Roger Swannell

People become digital nomads or vanlifers or travelers for all kinds of reasons. For some it’s a way to save money, to see more of the world, to find yourself.

For me it was about choosing to live life intentionally and having a bit of an adventure, so I decided I would live in my car as I travel around the coast of England, Wales and Scotland, and that it would take as long as it takes.

What car do you have?

I have a Ford Galaxy with the back seats laid flat. On one side I have my bed (luckily I’m not very tall) and on the other side there are boxes to organise my food, clothes, books, etc. The rear windows are tinted for a bit of privacy but I can still look out and see the world around me. One of my reasons for not getting a van was that I didn’t want to feel like I was living in a box. Windows let me connect with the beautiful places I visit.

How often do you move?

I go somewhere different everyday. Each morning I look at a map and choose where I’m going to go. I never plan ahead more than that day. Not needing to plan ahead is part of pleasure of a nomadic life. If I move on and can’t find somewhere to park for the day I always know I can go back to where I was yesterday, but I’ve never needed to.

Do you get cold?

It can get a little chilly sometimes but I’ve never been really cold. I have thermal underwear but I’ve never used it. I have two sleeping bags, a thin 1 season and a thicker 3 season, which together have always kept me warm at night. My car has heating if I need it and the small space warms up really quickly. For my laptops, getting too hot is more of a problem in summer than getting cold, but I cover the windows and use the car’s air conditioning to cool them if I need to.

Is it safe?

Safety for myself and security for my car and belongings is something I consider quite carefully. The reason I choose the car that I did was so I can park on a residential street at night and no one takes any notice. It’s pretty easy to spot most vans that people are living in, but I wanted to be a bit more stealthy about it, not for the majority of people who aren’t bothered, but for the one person who thinks that if someone is living in their car then they probably have all their possessions in there, which means there might be something worth stealing.

I have a rucksack that has all my important and valuable possessions, which I take with me whenever I leave my car for any length of time. It also has a spare set of clothes, phone battery pack, and all the other things that I’d need if my car was stolen and I needed to go to a B&B for a few days. Going to a B&B is pretty much my backup plan for if anything goes wrong with my car. Doing a risk assessment and having a backup plan is part of being safe (not just for nomads, everyone should do it).

What do you do with your possessions?

I don’t own much. I never have. I threw away a lot of stuff when I started living in my car and I keep throwing away even more. The things I kept ‘just in case’ turned out to not be needed. So all I own is some clothes (still more than I need), my laptop, phone, etc., and books. Too many books, especially given how heavy they are. Maybe I’ll get rid of them too one day.

Do you cook?

I don’t cook. I used to have a kettle that plugged-in to the power sockets in the car but it blew the fuses and seemed more hassle than it was worth. I’m pretty ambivalent about food so as long as my body is getting the nutrients it needs I’m fine with cold food. Occasionally I might go to a cafe for some hot food but I’m really not that bothered. My simple diet usually includes cereal and a banana for breakfast, fruit for snacks and sandwiches or tinned food for dinner.

How do you work?

I work digitally, remotely, and quite often asynchronously. All I need is a laptop, power and mobile phone signal. I have two laptops so that I always have a backup, and an invertor which I plug my laptops into to charge them. I use an app called MastData to find areas with the best signal strength and park there for the day. I look for places where I can switch my engine on to charge my laptops without annoying anyone. Remote working has been an enabler for this lifestyle.

What do you do with your free time?

I go for a walk every day. Usually to a beach. In the winter that might mean walking in the dark but that’s part of the adventure. In the summer, it sometimes means going for a swim too. I work on lots little projects too. I do things like creating the greatest collection of stiles on the internet, writing an email newsletter that offer a different perspective on common ideas, and creating a guided learning course about the skills we need for a successful future career.

Do you get lonely?

No. I don’t miss company at all. I probably have face-to-face contact with another person once every two or three months, and that’s usually someone serving in a shop. I talk to people on the phone, do video calls, chat, etc., but I believe I could go without human contact for a long time without it bothering me. Digital nomad life doesn’t have to be so anti-social but for me it’s an important part of it. It’s part of figuring out what really matters.

What’s the best thing about being a digital nomad?

Most of nomadic life is just like non-nomadic life; eating, sleeping, working, etc., but the best bits are the surprises. When something happens that you know would never happened if you lived in one place, that’s when you really appreciate it. I was swimming in the sea one evening and a seal surfaced about twenty metres away and looked at me. I’ve seen dolphins, walked in dinosaur footprints, watched the most awe-inspiring sunsets, and sometimes felt completely at peace, like no one knows where I am and nothing can touch me. It’s at times like this when I feel my mind open and my thoughts soar.

220102

Roger on 02/01/2022

Today

Went for a hike
Wrote and sent Irregular Ideas 11
Wrote some of Irregular Ideas 12

Tomorrow

Finish Irregular Ideas 12
Future Skills email
Prep for work

Red flags and the abdication of responsibility

Roger on 02/01/2022

Red flags have always signalled a warning.

In the sixteen hundreds a red flag signalled that an army was preparing for battle. In the nineteenth century it became law to wave a red flag in front of a moving vehicle to warn unsuspecting pedestrians. And in the twenty-first century, toxic work culture is expressed in red flag emojis on Twitter.

All these warnings have something in common. They are all an abdication of responsibility.

Not a warning to exercise caution, but that the thing you are being warned about is going to carry on regardless of any harm it may do to you. The approaching army will attack, and if you are slain it is your fault for being on the battlefield. The car will precede along it’s intended route, and if are run over it is your fault for not getting out of way. The company will continue to be an unhealthy place to work, and if you are harmed it is your fault for continuing to be employed.

Displaying a red flag is the equivalent of walking around with your fist out in front of you and blaming those who get punched in the face for not getting out of your way.

The warning doesn’t say to those being warned, “I will be careful not to cause harm to you”. It doesn’t say, “I recognise that I could cause harm but I am going to change that”. Instead it says “I will carry on regardless, my warning is to tell you to get out of my way”. It says, “I’ve done all I am willing to do to minimise harm to you, I have warned you.”

When the first automobiles trundled the streets of nineteenth century cities they were required by law to have a person walk 60 yards ahead of them waving a red flag. The law has often been referenced as an example of innovation being held back by an incumbent industry, but if we consider that the law was actually meant for heavy traction engines it helps us appreciate how the red flag entered our modern public consciousness. The person waving the red flag told pedestrians to get out of the way. The red flag wasn’t used to tell the driver of the traction engine to navigate around the people. The expectation of the warning was that of, “We’re coming through, and if you don’t move you’ll be crushed”. That expectation of a red flag warning persists.

Today, red flags are still used to warn against entering live firing ranges but the armed forces have found other ways to indicate their battle readiness. Cars no longer need actual red flags because the blame has become implicit – if a pedestrian or cyclist is hit by a car it’s their fault for being in the wrong place. And so red flags have become more metaphorical than literal, although no less real, and those raising the red flags has shifted from those presenting the risk to the wary onlookers. So where does the responsibility lay now?

The red flag that is raised to call out unhealthy working practices and company cultures or toxic behaviours in relationships, is often done so with the best of intentions. It is done by those onlookers to warn others to avoid such situations, knowing almost implicitly that the situation will carry on regardless and so a red flag is the appropriate warning. The red flag has been so effective in removing the responsibility of those causing harm that they no longer bother to raise it themselves. Because you should know by now to get out of the way.

So, if you see something you think others should be warned of, and feel compelled to raise a red flag, pause a moment and think about whether it’s about something you can take responsibility for changing or whether your warning says that you accept it’s going to continue regardless. Perhaps we need another warning, one that alerts us to the risk and commits to reducing or removing it, but in the meantime, if you see a red flag raised take the warning and get out of the way, because whatever it brings will not change course to avoid harming you.

220101

Roger on 01/01/2022

Today

Went for a run
Swam in the sea
Set up some scheduled tweets about product management
ThingsIveReadRecently thread
Backed-up my website

Tomorrow

Walk on the beach
Irregular Ideas 11
More planning