23rd March

Today I worked on the "travel in your mind brief". My initial impulse was to "travel" to a destination I have read about in a book, over lockdown, as that is my usual method of experiencing other places I cannot usually visit. 

I then read the article about it. This confused me. The article seemed to assume we all have a desire to travel and visit new places and were upset by having to stay at home because of covid. This could not be further from my experiences. I have never felt much of a need to go places. I spend a great deal of time exploring the area where I am living and getting to know every little interesting detail. But I never have a desire to go even to the next town, let alone further afield. I also really like being alone with my thoughts. Not to "travel" within them partially. And I absolutely loved lockdown. I consider it a huge improvement to everyday life and am genuinely very upset that it is coming to a close. So my initial reaction to the article was sad and confused. I usually feel very different to those around me, but after reading that I felt alien. 

But then I thought about it, and I realised even though I don't feel confined, or want to "travel in the mind" to alleviate that, I do still travel in the mind absentmindedly. I have always had a very overactive imagination, and find my thoughts wandering off to other places and times and memories all the time. Not purposefully. It just happens. 

So where does my mind wander too most often? I think these are maybe the current top 5:

Me wandering along the marshes by my house in Gosport
Me at my old school
Me squatting in a barn in Wales (note I have never squatted anywhere, or been to a  place like this, or seen anything like it in real life. It is entirely of my own invention)
Me living in this gorgeous house on the Clifftop near Madenporth I saw on a walk. 
Me walking at Kennel Vale. 

Note the lack of any real "travelling" here. All of these are less than 10 miles from either my student house or my family home. I guess because I love both Falmouth and my hometown, I have little desire to go elsewhere. Why travel when you live in your idea of paradise?

Given I could physically visit the house on the cliff and kennel vale, and that the barn doesn't really exist, I think I have to choose either the marshes or my school. 

And actually, the marshes is somewhere I do actually miss, but can't travel too. So I think that works. 

I do have many, many photos of the marshes on my phone, but I guess that is seriously cheating. I will post one here though so you can see what I am aiming towards.