Welcome to OOO
Like every clichéd copywriter, I’ve had many writing ideas over the years, most of which remain as scribbles in a notebook. But this one has stuck around in some form or another since going freelance. And nearly two years later, I’m ready to put pen to paper.
Out of Office is me getting as remote and wild as I can between nursery drop offs and pick ups. It’s my 9-5 when I’m not 9-5ing.
And here’s why…
Cycling the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, 2018
1. Adventure
This is one of the reasons I went freelance – potentially even the reason: To squeeze more adventure into my days, between work, parenting and everything else life piles on.
It’s something I did in what feels like a different life now (pre-Covid and pre-baby). I was always hiking or cycling somewhere, bivvying on some hill, or undertaking some ludicrous challenge. And don’t get me wrong, weekends are full of family adventures, but OOO is about me going solo.
A wise friend said to me back when my daughter was just a year old: “JB, you’re a mum. Nobody is going to give you any time to do the things you want. You need to give it to yourself”.
Bivvying at Hadleigh Castle, 2016, shot on a potato apparently
2. Writing
I enjoy writing but it’s been a while since I’ve done it outside of work.
I once walked the Camino de Santiago with a friend and wrote a daily poem, which I performed (loose term) at dinner. I cycled from the UK to New Zealand with my partner and kept a weekly blog. And I documented marathon training and fundraising with a raft of daft social posts.
This is me easing back into writing for myself, and who knows, it might be the gateway to finally turning all those UK to NZ cycling journals into a book. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
3. Work
Yes I’m a no-niche copywriter who can work on anything from banks to booze and broadband. BUT that doesn’t dim the want to work with brands I like, follow…and ultimately spend all my spare cash on.
As a freelancer I have the luxury of potentially working with a few. So OOO is a step towards more outdoor, adventure, sports and nutrition brands.
Walking the Camino de Santiago, 2015 (not sure what the seven fingers mean…)
Microadventures
To keep the momentum going I’ve promised myself one microadventure every month in 2025. That seems doable. One weekday a month to escape somewhere wild, complete some kind of challenge, or try something new – all within office hours.
My first microadventure is in the diary for January, so here’s to a year of getting Out of Office and seeing where it takes me.
One of my all-time favourites: Microadventures by Alastair Humphreys.
