What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?
Packing two cats and what was left of my house into a car and driving nearly 300 miles to go and live with someone I’d only known for a few months.
Completely sensible behaviour.
Obviously.
In hindsight, I suppose there were a few warning signs.
For starters, I was leaving behind pretty much everything I knew.
Home.
Friends.
Familiar places.
The life I’d built.
And replacing it with a car full of belongings, two probably very confused cats, and a woman I’d known for a few months.
What could possibly go wrong?
To be fair, the cats probably had the biggest adjustment.
They hadn’t exactly been consulted on the matter.
I imagine their conversation went something like:
“Why are we in the car?”
“Where are we going?”
“Why has he packed the litter tray?”
“IS THIS A VET?”
And then several hours of feline outrage.
Meanwhile, I was driving nearly 300 miles towards an entirely new chapter of my life.
I’d met Mrs Bob only a few months earlier.
And somehow, somewhere between those early conversations and whatever bizarre sequence of events brought us to that particular day, I’d reached the point where I thought:
“Yeah.
This seems like a good idea.”
So I loaded up the car.
Cats.
Stuff.
Whatever possessions had survived the previous chapter.
And off I went.
Towards Narnia.
Which, for those who don’t know, is what I affectionately call this part of the world.
Although technically it’s twinned with Totnes.
Which is probably about as close to Narnia as Devon is going to get.
There’s something slightly terrifying about starting again.
We tend to imagine big life changes as these carefully planned things.
You know the sort of thing.
Step one:
Make a five-year plan.
Step two:
Research everything.
Step three:
Make a spreadsheet.
Step four:
Have another meeting about the spreadsheet.
Step five:
Eventually do something.
I apparently skipped steps one through four.
I just got in the bloody car.
And yet…
It turned out to be the best decision I’ve ever made.
The following year, we got married.
And somehow that spontaneous decision turned into more than a decade together.
A marriage.
A family.
A home.
A completely different life.
And eventually, a new career.
There have been ups and downs, obviously.
Life isn’t a Disney film.
There are bills.
There are arguments.
There are days when you wonder why you’ve spent twenty minutes trying to explain to a cat that the cardboard box isn’t actually a suitable substitute for the perfectly good cat bed sitting six inches away.
But that’s life.
It’s messy.
It’s unpredictable.
And occasionally it involves putting everything you own into a car and driving 300 miles because you have a feeling that maybe, just maybe, you’re heading in the right direction.
Looking back now, I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I’d stayed where I was.
What if I’d talked myself out of it?
What if I’d decided it was too risky?
What if I’d waited until everything was perfect?
I probably wouldn’t be sitting here now.
I wouldn’t have Mrs Bob.
I wouldn’t have this life.
I wouldn’t be wandering around Devon with a camera, photographing birds, beaches, cats and whatever else happens to catch my eye.
I wouldn’t have written all the poetry.
I wouldn’t have met all the people I’ve met.
And I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here calling this place Narnia.
Sometimes we spend so much time worrying about making the right decision that we forget something rather important.
There isn’t always a right decision.
Sometimes you just have to make a decision.
Take the leap.
See what happens.
And occasionally, against all odds, it works out rather bloody brilliantly.
So, what’s the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done?
I packed two cats and what was left of my house into a car.
I drove nearly 300 miles.
I went to live with a woman I’d known for a few months.
And I started a completely new life.
Spoiler alert:
We got married the following year.
And after more than a decade together, I can honestly say that moving in with Mrs Bob and starting that new life and career in Narnia was the best decision I’ve ever made.
Sometimes the biggest adventures don’t begin with a plan.
Sometimes they begin with a full boot, two pissed-off cats and a very questionable sat-nav route.
And maybe that’s okay.
Because if I’d waited for certainty…
I might never have found home.
Stay safe,
BC
