Aurora in 2024

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Steve,

It makes me happy, knowing that y'all are going to take some time for yourselves. Remember to plan for maintenance. Check tires, lights, and brakes before you roll. Be safe on the roads. But, most of all, take the days slow and take em easy. I reckon you've earned it.

 - Rook

Full Service already booked for day 4 of the trip

Although, apart from three days with family and four days at the village of Moreton-in-Marsh in a area of England called the Cotswolds, we have nothing booked at all. Our intention is to only book one campsite at a time, arriving at that campsite before booking the next one, so we don't have commitments. We will go where the mood takes us.

BTW, if anyone from abroad is planning to visit the UK, I highly recommend checking out the Cotswolds, the North Norfolk Coast and the Scottish Highlands. Those are three places we will definitely be visiting extensively during our trip, although timing TBD.

Above ArcWolf mentioned YouTube. We both considered that, but we will probably do a written travel blog instead with photos. Creating decent videos is more of a time commitment, requires specialised equipment to do it well and neither of us has any experience in that area. We both like to write and while videos are a much more popular medium, there is also a lot more competition. Plus, we can ease into the travel blog and decide later whether to do it commercially. I do have a Mavik 2 Pro drone, so I might put some video from that on any blog.

EDIT: An interesting fact about Moreton-in-March is that it is considered to be the inspiration for Bree in the Lord of the Rings and the Bell Inn is the basis for the Prancing Pony. I need to mention that in the blog

[stabliser]

Steve

When you get to number 3 on your recommended list get in touch, I can find you a quiet spot with a view. Its more Erid Luin than Bree though.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Steve

When you get to number 3 on your recommended list get in touch, I can find you a quiet spot with a view. Its more Erid Luin than Bree though.

Thanks, I will do that. Whenever we are in the highlands, its always mountains and/or lochs

[Kelewan]

don't forget the glens 

[Kiero]

Also remember that, prolonged stress can lead to more serious mental health-related issues. Such as depression, which is sometimes hard to spot on its own.
If it seems to you that something is wrong and you can't even quite name it. It is always good to ask for help, even from a friend. Let him or her tell you if there are any changes in you, behaviour, mood.

The first step to solving a problem is to recognise that there is one.

Sometimes it is easier to reachout to a stranger.

You'd be surprised how many people around you have struggled with these things.

There's this video from a "Disturbed" concert.
Just type in "A tearful David Draiman shares a powerful, very personal story during Disturbed concert" on YT.

[QuakeIV]

Happy to hear your health issues got better, I guess you could say you no longer have the back-bone for your previous job, heh heh heh

[boolybooly]

Good luck with the travel blog, link us please, I am sure you will.

Neuromuscular tension is a funny business, I can understand how it might build up unconsciously. Back and spine muscles are especially complex. One can employ yoga and relaxation etc (which I do myself) but helps most not to get so tense in the first place, obviously.

It makes sense to prioritise relaxation and enjoy life. Permanent holiday sounds like a great idea. Maybe you will find something remunerative you can do and also enjoy doing on your travels. Hope you can find somewhere warm for the less clement seasons.

I would definitely travel more if I could stand it, unfortunately in my own case long term ME/CFS/CFIDS is prohibitive. ME makes me very sensitive to stress so I understand what you are saying, though for the record my condition is immunological in the first place. In my case I was undiagnosed for ten years so the stress from living like that was off the charts, which made it all worse, long story.

So I am happy now to make the best of being largely housebound with the company of a clattering of jackdaws, a mischief of magpies, a cote of doves, a scurry of squirrels, a charm of goldfinches and your common or garden flock of pigeons. So quite a busy garden. I keep on their good side by supplying sunflower hearts.

Aurora helps to while away the odd afternoon though, so thanks for sharing.

 

[Ush213]

Although, apart from three days with family and four days at the village of Moreton-in-Marsh in a area of England called the Cotswolds, we have nothing booked at all. Our intention is to only book one campsite at a time, arriving at that campsite before booking the next one, so we don't have commitments. We will go where the mood takes us.

BTW, if anyone from abroad is planning to visit the UK, I highly recommend checking out the Cotswolds, the North Norfolk Coast and the Scottish Highlands. Those are three places we will definitely be visiting extensively during our trip, although timing TBD.

Are you planing any trips to Ireland or will it mostly be to the continent? My family owns a campsite in Westmeath. Be great to have you visit. I promise i wont burn the ear off you with questions. haha.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Are you planing any trips to Ireland or will it mostly be to the continent? My family owns a campsite in Westmeath. Be great to have you visit. I promise i wont burn the ear off you with questions. haha.

My wife is keen to travel to Ireland as she's has never been (I've only ever been to Dublin and Belfast) and we have discussed a motorhome trip in the past. so its a possibility. We've only planned the first week so far. After that, we will make it up as we go along. I'll drop you a DM if we decide to come over. Thanks for the offer!

[Ush213]

Are you planing any trips to Ireland or will it mostly be to the continent? My family owns a campsite in Westmeath. Be great to have you visit. I promise i wont burn the ear off you with questions. haha.

My wife is keen to travel to Ireland as she's has never been (I've only ever been to Dublin and Belfast) and we have discussed a motorhome trip in the past. so its a possibility. We've only planned the first week so far. After that, we will make it up as we go along. I'll drop you a DM if we decide to come over. Thanks for the offer!

There are some great places to see along the west coast. The Wild Atlantic Way the route it called. Speaking to others doing long camper journeys who have stayed with us in the past. They have toured England went north to tour Scotland then ferry from Scotland to Ireland toured a good bit of Ireland and then Ferry from south Ireland to France and onward.

Could be something to look into. Certainly DM me if your trip brings you into the Irish midlands.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Are you planing any trips to Ireland or will it mostly be to the continent? My family owns a campsite in Westmeath. Be great to have you visit. I promise i wont burn the ear off you with questions. haha.

My wife is keen to travel to Ireland as she's has never been (I've only ever been to Dublin and Belfast) and we have discussed a motorhome trip in the past. so its a possibility. We've only planned the first week so far. After that, we will make it up as we go along. I'll drop you a DM if we decide to come over. Thanks for the offer!

There are some great places to see along the west coast. The Wild Atlantic Way the route it called. Speaking to others doing long camper journeys who have stayed with us in the past. They have toured England went north to tour Scotland then ferry from Scotland to Ireland toured a good bit of Ireland and then Ferry from south Ireland to France and onward.

Could be something to look into. Certainly DM me if your trip brings you into the Irish midlands.

Yes, that does sound interesting. I'll check the ferries involved.

[kylofon]

It seems to me a donation-based model, using a platform like Patreon (or writing your own - seems like it’d be easy for you) is what would be perfect here.  There really is no commitment or selling per se, so the relationship between you and Aurora players is easier to handle than with an early access model or anything else.  I’d estimate it could easily net around 5k USD per month and would work very well both with your will not to monetize and the project not taking up every waking moment of your life.

[TMaekler]

Had the same issue with my back and arm at the end of 2019. Luckily my doctor immediately diagnosed it to the stress I had at work and gave me a long break to recover. Additionally, we found out that I was holding my head too far forward so we worked on that and the general posture I had in my upper body. I was free of pain after a year and am now since then.

All the best to you and enjoy your year off. Would love to do that 

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

I am now officially nomadic!

My wife and I are in our Motorhome and travelling in the UK. I had hoped to get a new Aurora release out before we left, but we were too busy getting everything into storage, selling a lot of stuff we didn't use and sorting out all the admin side of being mobile. It will be a while before another update, as my new laptop has Visual Studio 2022 and a new .NET version, which I need to get used to. Until now, I was developing on VS 2015, but that is no longer supported so I thought it was time to move on. Plus, we are just going to relax for the first few weeks after being non-stop since Xmas.

On the bright side, any updates on Aurora in the near future will probably be focused on improving single-screen playability

[Garfunkel]

Sounds exciting for sure! Good luck on your meanderings