Exit Strategies

The funk of April depressions that will not go away, even the impending launch of the old lady SC is not enough to inspire amidst the drizzle.  Nor Ivanhoe, nor the excitement of a Wembley return.  The laundry goes unfinished, the floors uncleaned, work avoided, and the fast food wrappings lie discarded around the bedroom.

What is to be done?  Antarctica beckons, but so far off into the future it is as yet unreal.  The idea of a literary writing escape in 2019 looms as well, yet feels even further distant.  There is an inertia of nothingness enveloping all thoughts - a lack of desire to exercise that would provide energy and lead to positive thinking and help escape this rut.

For that's what it is - a living in the past and an awaiting of the future that is so very frustrating.  I need to begin the writing, rather than wasting days staring at computer screens refreshing Twitter and scrolling through the meaningless stories and ads of other people.  Need to find a new calling, new experiences and insights, new freedoms, the return to the Kerouac-ian ideal of being adrift and not doing other people's work.

How?  Today is April 26th.  Let's try and avoid any further drinks -  other than Rivers, which is permitted (neat) for the launch day alone - until Scotland.  Let's try and restore the beginnings of the evergreen manifesto: the 7 min, the stairs, the groceries.

No booze until Islay, then the touring of the 7 most favoured distilleries on foot - Lagavulin, Laphroiag, Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabbainh, and Oban.  In preparation for the 3 peaks, a doable challenge that requires focus starting now.  Ben Nevis almost 18 years on, where you "probably" would not walk again.   And some touring of the Welsh bucket list places, and the Globe, and topped off with Wembley.

Who is there to tell you not to do it?  Answer: no one.  I need it, and the chance may not come again. Certainly not before 2019 given the plans.

So, no equivocating.  Let it be done.  And ponder the ultimate exit strategies for the road from the best natural sites the UK isles have to offer.