Let’s Get Started

In a lot of ways this post has been one of the hardest things I’ve written. Not because it’s deep or important. It’s hard simply because it’s the first. Where do you start?

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve spent countless hours tinkering with the website, nudging small details into place and getting things exactly how I want them. Then doing it all again when I think the text would look better in a different font. It’s been a steep learning curve considering my web design skills are basically nonexistent. But my lack of ability aside, it was probably good enough to publish a while ago. The problem is, I let the search for perfection hold me back.

I heard someone say recently, “done is better than perfect.” Which at first sounded lazy to me. It feels very at odds with being a perfectionist. How can you settle for good enough? It made no sense to me until I really thought about it. The site doesn’t need to be perfect straight away. It just needs to exist. It can be a work in progress that I can build on and improve over time. The only way to get better at something is just to do it, and keep doing it, learning and growing as you go.

Life Happens While You’re Making Plans

It’s the same with writing posts. I have so many ideas in my head, our recent trip to Japan, how I go about planning adventures, what I take when bikepacking. But instead of getting words down, I got caught up in decision paralysis, endlessly planning instead of actually getting pen to paper. Or fingers to keys in this case

So here we are. This isn’t an epic expedition story or a definitive guide on the best packing tips. It’s simply a way to get the ball rolling and show you a little of how my brain works. I obsess over every detail. It’s what makes me good at planning trips. I research, a lot, I plan, replan, and just for good measure I plan some more. The big difference is that with travel, there’s always a deadline. The flight is booked, the start line is waiting. I can work backwards from there and I know what needs to get done. It also means that no matter what I have, or in many cases haven’t done, becomes irrelevant because either way I will be getting on that plane.

Without a deadline, I could spend forever chasing perfection without achieving anything. Which is why I’m writing this now, in my notes app on a flight to Barcelona, without access to my normal distractions. More than being devoid of the usual distractions, being sat here made me realise that I’m at the start of another adventure and haven’t written a single thing about my last one. So it was either read the in-flight menu again or start writing.

For the record, I don’t plan to book flights every time I need to write, but today it worked.

Done, Not Perfect

So is there a place for perfectionism? Yes and no. “Done is better than perfect” doesn’t mean sloppy. For me, it’s about balance. With every trip, I do the best I can with the time and resources available and I want it to be the same here. I want this space to reflect the same values I take into every adventure: preparation, care, and attention to detail, but also the willingness to take the first step, even when everything isn’t perfect. More than just that, I want this to be an honest account of my (and Laura’s) adventures.

I’m always going to focus the little things. It makes me who I am, and although it would probably be easier to just obsess a little less, I like that I care and it makes our trips (and hopefully this site) all the better for the extra effort.

Writing this makes me excited for what is to come. The same excitement I get when starting planning a new trip. It’s a chance to explore something new and to grow.

The ball is rolling. Let’s see where it goes.


P.S. One thing that will never be perfect is my spelling. So I will get in and early apology for that…