Could You Spare A Couple Of Squid, Mate?

MikeachimThe Everyday18 Comments

Sometimes, I think my life is nothing but one long pursuit of squid. A memory from growing up in Cyprus: All around me, and much higher than me, the hubbub of Greek chatter. It’s late in the evening and I’m tired, but they’re Greek and haven’t even had their evening meal yet, so they’re full of energy and it’s making … Read More

Soft and Prickly: Our Fickle Love Of The Countryside

MikeachimThe Everyday8 Comments

When it comes to the British countryside, we don’t know which way to turn. In the 17th Century it was something we feared – a chaotic, violent place where Nature, red in tooth & claw, vied for a taste of your blood with bandits, highwaymen, smugglers, murderers and the clinically befuddled. Mention the countryside to Thomas Hardy and he would … Read More

Go Home Again: 4 Ways To Love Where You Are

MikeachimThe Everyday26 Comments

cat and owner

One of the best points of any journey? The second day back home. It’s like this. Being wise, you’ve taken an extra three or four days off work for a post-holiday holiday, just enough time to battle jet-lag and sort through the mail. The first day is all about sleeping – and on the second day, in the same exhausted, … Read More

What lonely planet?

MikeachimThe Everyday4 Comments

It’s a chilly Saturday morning, and you’re hard at work enjoying the idea of a quiet, customer/writing-deadline-free day ahead. In no hurry, you get coffee and breakfast (a nicely gloopy banana smoothie) ready and sit down to catch up on all those blog posts that have been piling up on your RSS feed over several busy weeks. Right around the … Read More

What Is A Staycation?

MikeachimThe Everyday12 Comments

As the leaves turn golden and Christmas approaches, our thoughts naturally turn to what truly sucked about 2009. Top of my list? “Staycations”. Oh, you horrible, horrible word – a wretched portmanteau of “stay” and “vacation” (and perhaps a silent “bullshit”). British media coverage has been intense. Every newspaper, every radio presenter – such as this one – and every … Read More