Reasons To Be Cheerful. Part 3.

For some reason Ian Dury and The Blockheads are whistling out of my brains today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcjh1a9Yoao


This post is partly in response to the childish comments I have been deleting. I would like to explain why I maintain this blog, and what my travelling existence is all about.

I travel for work. I travel for adventure. I love to hike.

I am not hiking on some sort of endurance test. F*** that quite frankly. I move as slowly as possible. I am not out to win medals. I am not looking to gain accolades. I do not have any desire to earn brownie points to move my status up into some sort of higher echelon of 'been there - done that' travelling league of idiots. There is no potential for cheating - there is absolutely nothing to cheat, or lie about.

Travelling is a fundamental necessity in my life and search for the work I enjoy. I love the adventure. The experience. I even enjoy the hardship, pain and sacrifices that have to be made. If you don't experience the lows, where are the highs supposed to come from? It is not a life for everybody, but it suits me just fine for the time being, and hopefully for long into the future.

This blog is not designed as a chronological recording of evidence. It wasn't designed for anything other than my own amusement. It has become a very useful way to record my own recollections, stay in touch with friends and followers, let existing, and potential clients know I am still alive, still looking for work, and possibly heading their way.

I often try to explain that the majority of my income does not come from the cash I make on the streets. It comes from the people I meet on the streets. Working in capital cities throughout Europe, I meet many people who may well be art buyers. They are on holiday mode; relaxed - not at work. If they like what I am doing, like who I am, they happily give time, then we exchange contact details, and who knows? The day may come when they need the work of an artist. Travelling as I do is as much about networking and making connections as anything else. Cash on the streets, day to day helps cover my costs. That is about it.

The logistics of travelling as a hiker mean I don't always have an internet connection, or even charged batteries. Nowhere to plug my laptop in among all these Spanish Oaks. Often I will post retrospectively after consideration. I may not have power in my laptop, but I am an artist - I always have old fashioned pens and paper. Jotting down memories for possible publishing a few hours, days, or even weeks later is common practice for myself. The last post I made about Setubal was posted whilst I was in Santigo do Cancon some Two days after leaving Setubal. There isn't really a 'live' timeline to follow here.

I really haven't bothered to waste my valuable internet time deleting posts in the comments here. The spammers are frustrating, and do themselves more harm than good other than improving their Google rankings. But, downright malicious remarks for no good reason really isn't on. The cowardly way they read just depresses me. So, from now on, any posts in the comments I don't like will be deleted. I have left the last one just as an example of what I am on about. The guy is becoming obsessively abusive here and on a web forum I have used for many years. TBH, it is a little bit concerning.

Anyway, I am actually in Portimao today. Nice enough place, although I don't see much cash making opportunity here. I will sketch for enough cash to cover beer and tobacco to get me to the next destination. Hiking is an expensive way to move from A to B, but you can do it little by little in financial increments. I shall stay for the day, and walk this evening, or early morning to the next town.