Why the blog? What do I hope to achieve? The answers are ever-changing, and I hope that this blog can be fluid and adapt to my needs as time passes.

To put things simply, I am currently a few days into my latest career move – going self-employed. It is nerve-wracking, and I have spent the past months agonising over the decision. The motivating factor was the desire for a proper holiday. Having saved for months, I decided to explore Europe, but in order to do it effectively I realised I would need time. Then when the weather turned, I decided that Europe should wait until the summer months. So I am off to South East Asia instead.

The plan is to freelance (I’m a graphic designer), and to stay travelling for as long as possible (assuming that I don’t hate life on the road). I am a serial planner, and seem to spend my life obsessing over my material goods – the food processor needs the blades replacing, the hands-free set for the phone crackles. It’s time to leave the ‘things’ behind, pack a smallish bag, and run off into the sunset.

In order to make this viable, I am taking some time to learn the basics of programming (HTML, XML, CSS, JavaScript, Perl, SQL, Unix). This should give me more scope for finding work, and make it easier to apply for work visas where I need to.

So for the next month or two, I will be preparing to travel, and after that the real adventure begins…