A Creative Stand

My old room mate - Charlie

Last summer I lived in my van, a beat up Mitsubishi express with a mattress on the floor. I figured that I am away so much for work that I may as well not pay rent. With the approaching winter and craving a little more stability in my life I managed to find a share house in West Launceston. The price was reasonable and I moved in the next week. One of the best things about the house was its kitchen, copious bench space, floor to ceiling pantry and a six burner gas stove. The cherry on top was that my two room mates barely cooked, one favoured ‘National’ pies reheated in the oven and one take out meals. The kitchen was mine. I’d slow braise wallaby in a bath of rich Chinese sauces, bake focaccia and I even got back into small batch brewed alcoholic cider and perry. Although I enjoyed having free reign in the kitchen it was because of my roommates that I decided to move out. I had just come back from a three week overseas work trip, my right index finger housed nine stitches and I had four days off before flying to Western Australia for another sixteen day trip. Neither of them asked me how my trip was. They launched straight into the nuances of their own life and took no interest in mine. When I was flying from Melbourne to Perth I was struck with a multitude of thoughts that I struggled to put down on paper fast enough with my bandaged finger.

The notebook I wrote in is an enjoyable re-read, incredibly messy, littered with spelling mistakes and a thought structure that could only make sense to an incensed mad man.

“Analogue music. – Does radio count

cycle places, boy fresh daily.

Mood lighting. forage

Boycott the duopplay of coles

& Woolworths”

After multiple pages of scrawl where I considered myself an urban version of Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall, I summarised my ideas into a concise mission statement for my new life;

The main goal is to create a creative

home that I will live in for at least

12 months. The home will be

designed in a way that will maximise

my ability to create & hinter my

ability to wastefully consume.

There will be a spectrum of activities

that will be well set up to allow

me to flit from creative outlet

to outlet.

They will likely be;

• Cooking

• Fermenting

• Brewing

• Spoon carving

• Book binding

• Writing

• Water colours

The space will be very low tech

- No WIFI, TV, Spotify, Netflix

- A dumb phone when not working

-Smart phone and laptop are in

public settings/WIFI

-I will sell the van, walk & cycle

everywhere and potentially buy a

motorbike.

Once the set up is done I can begin

begin to sell the products of my creativity

I will host dinners, craft sessions,

reading sessions, learn from people

The house will be anyone’s who needs

an outlet that is focused on making

or at least not consuming.

The project will be called Urban

Homesteading, or something to

that effect.

It will need good lighting.

Well I wrote those notes 15 weeks ago and I thought it would be interesting to see where I am at as of the 21st of October 2026.

The new flat

I have signed a 12 month lease on a two bedroom flat in Launceston and I have been here around two months now. With that, being away for I work I have probably actually been in the flat for 5 weeks. But that is the first mission complete, find a place.

There is no WIFI, no TV and I have cancelled my Spotify and Netflix. What I do have is access to Stan, because I am Aston Villa tragic and need to watch Premier league football. But, they play once a week and the viewing is very intentional. I purchased a CD/DVD that plugs into my laptop for playing DVDs and I am the proud owner of fourteen DVDs. The CDs I have gone at little harder on, with 23 CDs and a CD player that connects to FM and DAB radio. Yes, I decided that radio does count.

I did buy a dumb phone, and I use it sporadically at this stage. In an ideal world I have the dumb phone running at all times (when I am not a work). Unfortunately, there always seems to been a reason that I need my smart phone. I am currently waiting for a new bank card to arrive and I need my phone to pay things or the fact that last night my car window got smashed and I felt I needed my smart phone to call police and log photos. To my recent frustration with the loss of my bank card, I realised that I cannot withdraw money from an ATM without my card, tying me to my phone. I cannot even access my back accounts using a web browser, it needs to be on an app.

Shaving out the window

What I have noticed during the periods when I am using the dumb phone is how much simpler life is. My reality is that no one really needs an immediate response to anything they send me, and if they do they would call me. So the people who call me are the folks who want to catch up for a beer or have an immediate problem I can solve. Removed is the constant desire to check my emails, Whatsapp, and numerous group chats where people share short videos. Don’t get me wrong, I love a short video. But, having access to them does not help my mission to create more than I consume. The point is that if I need access to the internet, then I won’t hold myself from it. I just need to be intentional with my use. So I have been visiting cafes with free WIFI when I actually need to use my laptop. An example would be, I am writing this article at home on my laptop which isn’t connected to the internet. When I am ready to publish I will walk down to a cafe, buy a coffee and publish the piece. Simple.

The van I have decided to keep, its useful, especially because I am still sourcing furniture for the house. I don’t use it much at all, mostly just to drive to work and to the sauna (and op shops). Saying that, my flat is very central. It’s a five minute walk to most things I need in town. I love being walking distance from it all. There is genuinely nothing better than realising you’re out of butter, walking two minutes and picking up an organic slab of cultured butter for way too much money. I mean, you’re home before your toast gets cold. More on the duopoly later.

Something I have been doing lots of is brewing and fermenting. I made a huge batch of kimchi, some of which has been past around my work circles. There has also been a near continuous batch of cider on the go which I am bottling and saving for the new year. My first kombucha I’ve made is mostly vinegar, but the second batch is coming along nicely!

I am yet to host a dinner, a craft or reading session. But my friend Nick flew down from Sydney to help me build a bench for the kitchen. Together we created something that didn’t previously exist, we learnt from each other and from the process. What we did consume together was an incredible book – The Road Less Travelled – and our fair share of beer and whisky. There was a focus on making yes, but also maintaining. Maintaining our friendship and our sanity in a world that is growing more complex.

The new bench - complete with celebratory beers

‘Urban Homesteading’ was a nice name and concept, but it felt too fixed and sterile. Before I had moved in I was walking from the old share house into town and was reading some quotes in my notebook. One was from my favourite author, Jack Kerouac, from his book ‘Dharma bums’. It describes a time when he was living in a hut as a fire lookout in California.

“I was feeling happier than in year and years,

since childhood,

I felt deliberate and glad and solitary”

So I have named my space - Glad, Solitary and Deliberate.

Glasoldel.