I've changed my mind, I take it back - erase and rewind
I, Jules Lucock, have changed my mind. A shock, I know. Some of you reading this might need to settle into a comfy chair with a cup of strong tea to digest such news. Ok, probably not. I'm pretty much renowned for indecisiveness. The particular decision I'm talking about this time was that one involving Cornwall and, er, moving there on a whim with no job and nowhere to live. I was feeling a little bit stir-crazy, as though I needed to shake things up a bit. That certainly would've done the trick - homeless, jobless and friendless. Great plan, Jules - right up there with replying to creepy Chad's email in Fox, New Zealand, with, “Yes, I'd love to come and stay at your house even though I'm a lone female and you're a potential axe-murderer/rapist”. Though that could've turned out worse, thankfully!
Happily, I have common sense in the form of Si. If it weren't for him, I'd probably have handed in my notice at work, cancelled the tenancy on the house and be packing my stuff into my old kit bag once again. He put the brakes on a couple of weeks ago: after initially agreeing to move to Cornwall with me, when I started nagging about saving up and applying for jobs etc. he said he hadn't saved any money at all and wouldn't be able to for a month of so. Plus, he said, his car insurance was due for renewal in March and how do you insure a car without a permanent address? He was right, I had to admit: March was not good timing. So we settled for April.
That was, until a sheepish-looking girl wandered into Salsa a week ago with a flyer bearing the headline, 'Searching for a new career?' Yes, I certainly was. The flyer was for a local business which had expanded and needed... drum-roll please... graphic designers. I took them my CV and digital portfolio.
The more I thought about Cornwall, the more I thought I could do with a holiday there. Do I actually want to live there, though? What do I actually want out of life? Can Cornwall supply me with everything I need? In a word, no. To have a creative career involving design or editing, the best places to work would be London or Manchester. I don't really want to live in a city and I'd like to spend more time outdoors - climbing mountains, seeing waterfalls and chasing sheep over cliffs etc. So I need to live somewhere in between - a close commute but nearer nature. Using those criteria I think Warrington doesn't fit the bill too badly. I whinge about it - we all do - but it's not really that bad. We could've drawn the shorter straw and been born in Birmingham, for instance. Or Middlesborough. At some point it would be nice to be a bit nearer the Peak District, maybe Buxton or Marple etc. - an easy-ish commute to Manchester but nice and leafy, too.
So, yes, you heard me right - Cornwall's off. At least for now.
Happily, I have common sense in the form of Si. If it weren't for him, I'd probably have handed in my notice at work, cancelled the tenancy on the house and be packing my stuff into my old kit bag once again. He put the brakes on a couple of weeks ago: after initially agreeing to move to Cornwall with me, when I started nagging about saving up and applying for jobs etc. he said he hadn't saved any money at all and wouldn't be able to for a month of so. Plus, he said, his car insurance was due for renewal in March and how do you insure a car without a permanent address? He was right, I had to admit: March was not good timing. So we settled for April.
That was, until a sheepish-looking girl wandered into Salsa a week ago with a flyer bearing the headline, 'Searching for a new career?' Yes, I certainly was. The flyer was for a local business which had expanded and needed... drum-roll please... graphic designers. I took them my CV and digital portfolio.
The more I thought about Cornwall, the more I thought I could do with a holiday there. Do I actually want to live there, though? What do I actually want out of life? Can Cornwall supply me with everything I need? In a word, no. To have a creative career involving design or editing, the best places to work would be London or Manchester. I don't really want to live in a city and I'd like to spend more time outdoors - climbing mountains, seeing waterfalls and chasing sheep over cliffs etc. So I need to live somewhere in between - a close commute but nearer nature. Using those criteria I think Warrington doesn't fit the bill too badly. I whinge about it - we all do - but it's not really that bad. We could've drawn the shorter straw and been born in Birmingham, for instance. Or Middlesborough. At some point it would be nice to be a bit nearer the Peak District, maybe Buxton or Marple etc. - an easy-ish commute to Manchester but nice and leafy, too.
So, yes, you heard me right - Cornwall's off. At least for now.