Our flat is on the first floor and looks out and across at some hills. At night houses light up the hills like a low budget Monaco.

I discovered Monaco for myself about ten years ago, when I had the major thought discovery that I could get a 25 min train to Gatwick, get a 2 hour easyJet flight and then be in Nice and South of France. So easy. I realise though it’s not very environmentally friendly, but I don’t have a car so….

My wife Sacha wanted a chair to put by the window, so we could sit and look out. We got a really nice one from a shop in Lewes, and we use it a lot. 

I’ve moved it nearer the window now. We don’t have curtains up so if you were outside in the street you will often see me sitting there, or doing yoga, or scratching parts of me in my underwear (or worse), sometimes playing guitar, or more recently me walking round with our new baby looking completely destroyed.

I seemed to have spent a lot of my life sitting in places staring out at the world watching the light change; it’s one of my favourite things to do.

Yesterday I was going through my photos and noticed lots of pics featuring sitting and thinking, so here’s a few of them with descriptions and memories attached:

I remember coming across this guy in the middle of the Downs on a trail run I was doing. He was just sitting there, doing nothing. I went up and started a conversation. He said he often drives down to these hills from South London to just sit, unwind, and improve his mental health. He said it was ok if I took a pic.

I took these four photos on two trips we made to Kalamaria in Greece. Sitting around is part of the culture there – on beaches and especially in coffee shops. I mean that in a positive way – it’s a more civilised / cultured societal approach. I particularly like the two dudes sitting around in the last two pics. 

I lived on a boat in the marina for ten years. After work I often sat on deck feeling like I was on holiday and everything would always be OK. I did that many many times, watching the light change. I miss my boat.

My daughter Jess has travelled around a lot, and shortly after she returned temporarily to Brighton we did this walk along the cliffs by the sea.

Jess has Canadian citizenship now after living in Tofino on Vancouver Island for some time. We visited her once and were stunned by the beaches which we spent a lot of time on at the end of days. This pic is ‎⁨from Tonquin Beach⁩, ⁨Tofino⁩, ⁨British Columbia⁩.

My wife and I got married ten years ago and started our honeymoon in Turin, Italy. One night I remember us sitting in this square as it got dark, and no lights came on – it just got darker and darker until we just sat basically in the dark. It was great. 

I learnt to sit around by myself from growing up in Southend, where often I felt pensive and the need to escape as I didn’t like my teenage years much. It was an early form of therapy for me. 

I still like to sit on beach huts watching the sun go down.

Part of me definitely feels like a failure for not doing more and actually travelling the world. I do have plans for multi day cycling adventures and trips with the fam, but for the most part, I’m happy sitting and thinking at my window, in coffee shops, in nature, on my boat, on holidays, or anywhere by the sea…