The mornings are getting lighter, birds are singing again, and life feels good.

Now that the dust has settled from launching my book, Local (did I mention that I’d written a book…? ?) I’m a bit of a limbo phase trying to work out what to do next.

I’d like to keep pursuing some of the key themes from that book, but feel I need to wait a bit first to see whether they gain any traction.

I’d like to write more books, but I’m not sure in the era of A.I (and ever more demands on people’s free time for reading) whether it’s a wise idea to focus on writing books over the next ten years.

I’d like to relaunch my podcast, but can’t work out how to make it pay.

I’d like to do more speaking events, but can’t yet work out how to pivot from ‘cheerful, inspiring adventure guy’ into ‘shake people by the shoulders and fix the planet guy’ without going down like a lead balloon.

In other words, lots for me to mull over but not a lot of actual action recently! Any advice gratefully received, as always…

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• I’m doing some talks up and down the land over the next couple of months. Please come along if you live near west London, Yorkshire, North Wales, the Lake District, the Northeast, or Edinburgh.
• If none of those are close to where you live, I’m also doing an online Zoom webinar chat thingy on Feb 29th. Please sign up for a free ticket and log on to ask me some good questions about logging off and exploring locally…
• A comprehensive history of bikepacking. This is fabulous.
• Different dance moves from around the world. This will make you smile.
• The wonders of Google Street View.
• I love Cheryl Strayed, I loved her book ‘Wild’, and I love the Do Lectures.
• Fascinating insights into overwintering in Antarctica.
• I’ve spent several years reading depressing books about the state of the planet (and now writing one!) So this book felt like a balm: Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet. A data-driven look at how things aren’t quite so bad and that the solutions are not easy, but they are simple (stop burning fossil fuels, change what we eat). Fabulous book. (Also available to listen to on Spotify.)
• 94 Years Old and still climbing.

Let me know if you have a relevant project that my readers would appreciate. Here’s what you guys have been up to recently:

Shouting from the Shed 68