Two Snails

Two Snails is a record of a Big Adventure. Mr and Mrs Snail are to go travelling. They will sell their home on a remote Scottish island in order to purchase a camper van and then live on wheels for ten years or so, while they explore the world.

The Two Snails adventure began in February 2008. As with most adventures, this one was sparked by the smallest of chance remarks – so chance, so innocent, and so immediately forgettable that it is very difficult to recall exactly what that remark was. I do recall the cause of that remark, and that was the reading of a blog entry by Woolly Wormhead.

Mrs Snail’s innocent remark regarding the travelling life landed in Mr Snail’s ear about the time that he was feeling deeply unhappy about his work. He was regretting the long life remaining in the mortgage, which was delaying the prospect of retirement significantly. Thus, a plan was hatched and Two Snails emerged; two snails without a shell between them.

Far from being a madcap plan, this was something that had been discussed as an outline idea several times before. Now this was no longer a “some day” idea, but a “let’s make it happen” plan. If the adventure was ever going to happen, commitment began right now. Without a firm commitment even the best plans fade away. You can read more about the plan and the commitment in the summary pages and the Blog posts. It is sufficient for now to remark that this public statement, this writing of a blog, is a large psychological step. Failing very good reasons, such as ill-health, there is no way out now. The Snails are going. The colours are tacked to the bricks and mortar now and the days of the mortgage are numbered. That number is delivered, minute by minute, to Mr Snail’s computer desktop, by way of a countdown timer. If there is a way of showing that timer here, it shall be done.

It is a five year plan. Perhaps six years away. There are 2,222 days on the counter as this article is being written. One day, though, Mr and Mrs Snail will have their shell on their backs, with those colours firmly nailed to the front bumper, and they are going to see the world. At last.

The backstory is here

The blog posts are here

The summary begins here

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two snails, 28 February, 2008