Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes by Alastair Humphreys

Author:Alastair Humphreys [Humphreys, Alastair]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2014-06-04T16:00:00+00:00

Rain began to fall. It threatened sleet, but we continued to work. Dusk arrived, swiftly, and the lights of towns began to shine through the gloom. The road beneath us was a mesmerising river of white and red lights. It looked beautiful from here but I was glad to be up on this hilltop, above those rush hour queues, and free for a little while.

I enjoy microadventures close to built-up areas as they confirm that you do not need to travel far from a town to find something new and different. As evening descended and people returned to their homes, we were out in the wild building a home of our own.

Rich began to light the fire. The flames brought colour and warmth and soon the smell of sausages filled the air. Standing around a fire, sharing warmth and light and food with interesting people: these are things I never tire of. We were close to a city but sufficiently distant to feel the cold of the snow and the rain. Whether we had a warm, comfortable night would depend completely upon our own hard work and skills. I liked that.

The hut took ten hours to build. We wouldn’t even sleep in it for that long, but that was not really the point. The time had come to test it. We’d made our bed, so now we had to lie in it. We began the huffing and puffing wriggling process of climbing into sleeping bags in a homemade hut high on a hilltop. The beds were surprisingly sturdy and comfortable, so long as you avoided the occasional sharp stick jabbing into your back. There was much whinging and complaining and moaning about the beds being too small. Allegations abounded that I, the token Englishman, was the biggest complainer. I disputed this vigorously, though suspected there may have been a grain of truth to the allegations. (But I definitely did get the shortest bed…) At least all the wriggling to get into a sleeping bag warmed us up. It was one of my most enjoyable sleeps of the year.

What did I get from this experience? I visited somewhere new. I met interesting people. I did something I’ve never done before. I learned new skills. And it was fun. (I try not to underestimate the importance of that.) It was also a good reminder that working hard and making something that you can be proud of is a satisfying accomplishment. Too often I am slapdash, hurried and impatient. I loved building this hut, spending time pottering around the woods, clearing my head, working hard, and escaping from life for a while.

OTHER THINGS TO TRY TO BUILD

A coracle

A pizza oven

A writing shed

A treehouse

A birchbark canoe

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