For me I’ve been lucky to have had jobs and experiences that took me around the globe and had me meeting new and interesting people every day. Hardly a day would go by where I would not meet and enjoy the company of another human being, face to face.
When Covid-19 hit the ‘developed’ world, I had options to return to the family and live with mum and dad whilst the storm passed. Almost 40 years old and moving in with the folks was not something I had aspired to, but these were different times…
After an excellent 4 months living in Adelaide, having daily contact with human beings and getting to know my nieces and sister much better, it was time to determine what what work options were remaining for me. Running with an old friend, one reunited and one new friend, the days passed relatively easily and comfortably in the city CNN once quoted as the safest in the world.
At the time I was employed by a British-Dutch company, Shell. Although I had had my interviews for this employer in Australia, I signed up in 2006 with the United Kingdom as my base country, and Aberdeen as my base city. Despite being Australian, and trying for many years to have my Base Country changed to Australia, the original arrangement remained. When the oil and gas industry collapses, as it has done numerous times these last few years, the role of Project Engineer tends to one of the first to go. So being without a job and having to return to ‘base’ has been a frequent occurrence these last few years. So I made my trip ‘back to base’ to see what was out there in a troubled global employment. I was of the opinion that the United Kingdom and Europe were leading the charge in the Energy Transition, a brave , some would say stupid, move to leave ‘home’ and go back to ‘base’ to chase the work. Especially in an organisation that was convulsing under the immense change it was required to make in such a short time. This fear of loosing ones job, or in my case a need to see one last time whether I could get involved in Shell’s Energy Transition campaign, drove me to return to a city that I have many mixed and somewhat negative emotions towards.
Arriving in Aberdeen, the first few months were interesting. Found an apartment, reconnected with old friends and ran through the streets of familiarity. However painful and discomforting it was to be back in a place that I had tried for almost a decade to run away from, thinking I’d never be back, at least now I was independent.
After a trip down south, travelling during Covid times reinjected the excitement that travel and meeting old friends and family brought. Returning to Aberdeen to fill the routine, even my most favorite parts of the day, writing my blog for two hours followed by running for a hour became challenging had become the daily pattern during the lockdown.
Whatever one’s job, living alone in Aberdeen without the ability to go into the office or spend more than half one’s time in the company of others, is not fun. And lacking the easy social engagement that the buzzing oil town atmosphere of 2006 brought.
Soon after returning from this trip, it was clear that my time in this town was done, and for my own physical and mental health, it was a good idea to get back into a household with energy, a family life where human contact was available because we lived surrounded by the same four walls. Leaving the solitary living approach, representing independence, in a time when human interaction was slowly being outlawed, unless in some wide open parkland, and certainly being reduced in time spent interacting with each other face to face., I made my way down to cousins in Milton Keynes. The plan was to embed myself into their household, so I could spend Christmas with the family
Ecosystem Hotspots 