Skip to main content

Going carless!


Having been inspired by Race across the world to challenge myself, I've decided to give up my car for a month in favour of alternative transport; I feel this will improve my finances, the planet and also my mental health. 

Often I feel unable to drive and it's been a repeated phobia of mine when I'm too ill to safely get behind the wheel. so I'm hanging up my keys and embracing bus and train travel and walking. 

So far it's day 2 and I feel better already - there are plenty of apps to help you plan your travel and we have just started Westlink in this area, a dynamic bus that can take you where you want to go. 

I'm delighted that a number of people are interested to know my progress so I will be blogging about my experiences. 

On my first day I got a half-hour walk, as did my daughter. I thought she would complain but instead she was skipping along, stopping to look at flowers. She is six. We then had a lovely chat with a lady at a bus stop and managed to make our way to the park. No stress of parking and the Westlink app is very slick, but sadly the bus wasn't the early one so I'm yet to give that a try. 

Watch this space. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rollercoaster

I've been reflecting a lot about my career lately and all the twists and turns it's taken in the last few years, especially since having my daughter. I've experienced a toxic work environment, redundancy, a need to change jobs due to ill health and a huge reduction in hours for my husband due to his M.E., but despite the odds my freelance business has thrived, I've secured a great part-time job and we've managed to keep a roof over our heads.  Also my dad just came out of palliative care as he's doing so well. We are survivors us Mitchells (maiden name). Well, Jacksons too - my Mother-in-Law was just given an MBE for her charity she set up due to a really impossible situation when she was denied contact with her first grandchild. Life takes us through many ups and downs, particularly as someone with bipolar and menopause, but it's how you respond that counts.  Just thought I'd share my musings as I thought you might like to see my personal side. People w...

'What's the Matter with Tony Slattery?' - must-see documentary for anyone keen to know about bipolar

I don't shy away from sharing that I have bipolar disorder, and actually it has more recently been triggered by PME - pre menstrual exacerbation and menopause. But I don't share it for sympathy, really I just want to spread awareness of these under-researched and under-funded conditions, for which treatment is still lacking and very little understood.  So I was really impressed by the documentary ' What's the matter with Tony Slattery? ' that I watched on the BBC recently. In it, the late Tony very bravely lets us into his world and we see a man who is a shadow of who he once was. I grew up watching 'Who's Line is it Anyway?' and this propelled his career in TV comedy, but I hadn't realised that, despite his career rapidly taking off, it ended just as quickly and he fell into alcoholism and substance misuse.  A familiar story for successful comedians -  in my TV production career whilst working at Endemol I worked behind the scenes on 'Kings of C...

Menopause and intermittent fasting

I've just been listening to this fascinating podcast that a good friend shared, in which Dr Rangan Chatterjee talks about intermittent fasting for women and the impact on our bodies.  It's no secret that I am facing a huge uphill struggle when it comes to menopause. It all began as early as 40 and we now understand that my bipolar has been triggered by it and I've had several years of mood swings, intense anxiety and weight gain.  So I've been searching for answers, falling through the gap between gynaecology and psychiatry but slowly but surely things are finally starting to ease.  I've tried surgery, medication, HRT and vitamins and now I'm also adding intermittent fasting to the mix. I first discovered this thanks to Pauline Cox and her fantastic books especially Hungry Woman . I've been fortunate enough to meet Pauline, who has a wonderful shop in Clevedon, Sow and Arrow , where you can buy all sorts of keto-friendly foods.  Keto helped me lose some wei...