Smart-Arsed Urbanites
It was supposed to be a clean break from their humdrum existence in a dingy Manchester flat. But all Max Scratchmann and his partner, Chancery, did when they moved to the Orkney Islands was replace one vision of hell with another.
This is very funny. Scratchmann escaped badly and was forced to live with the consequences.
Chucking It All: How Downshifting To A Windswept Scottish Island Did Absolutely Nothing to Improve My Life was supposed to be a light-hearted warning to “smart-arsed urbanites”, tempted by the idea of escaping the rat race, who thought that starting a slower, rustic life somewhere like Provence, Umbria or the Outer Hebrides would somehow find them inner harmony.
but:
the writer’s satirical travelogue about six years among the islanders – whom he describes as “staid, emotionally repressed drunks, stuck in the 1950s” – has so enraged inhabitants of the Scottish archipelago that it has been shelved by his publishers, after threats of legal action.
Whoops.
It’s a reminder, I suppose, to do your research before leaping blindly into an escape. Or at least to visualise it realistically. I mean, what was he expecting? If social life is important to you, a remote island might not be the place to go.
But it’s also a reminder not to be a dick about your new roomies. Not everyone has resolved to escape their own “dingy Manchester flat,” or their equivalent of it.
Still, an adventure is an adventure is an adventure. Scratchmann at least has a story to tell. Even if it had to be pulled from print.
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New Escapologist Issue 18 is shipping now. We also have a launch event in Glasgow on 19th November. Come along if you’re nearby!
Launch!
Magazine: New Escapologist is the magazine for creative people stuck in a crappy day job and lusting for escape. It’s also for the ones who escaped already. Run away and be free! More info here.
Date: 19th November 2025
Time: 6pm-7:30pm followed by drinks at the Victoria
Venue: Aye-Aye Books, Broadside,123 Allison Street, Glasgow, G42 8NE
Unnecessary eventbrite link? yup.
Walking Across Liechtenstein
Walking through the country was remarkably peaceful, with a kind of quiet atmosphere that makes you lower your voice without thinking. Indeed, a running joke of the trip was that emmy and I would abruptly turn around shush each other. Shhh! Mustn’t disturb the Liechtensteiners or the cows.
Heather Delaney of the Dirtbag Dao has a nice piece in Issue 18 about her American van life.
Since we’re in touch by email, she told me recently about her plan to visit Europe and to walk across Liechtenstein. Well, she only went and bloody did it! Heather explains:
I had decided a couple years back, after walking across England via the Hadrian’s Wall trail, that walking across small countries is a mighty fine way to spend time. Rather than try to bounce around to various sights, you simply stroll your way through the entire land, following paths that are etched in history, designed by pilgrims and locals. Walking across micronations and other tiny countries gives one a sense of oversized accomplishment.
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New Escapologist Issue 18 (with Heather’s van life piece) is shipping now. We also have a launch event in Glasgow on 19th November. Come along if you’re nearby!
Living Rootless
Living Rootless is the blog of Mzuri, “an introverted woman of a certain age” who “sells her house, gets rid of her stuff, and goes rootless.”
Sounds good to me. She’s been documenting her rootlessness since 2010. That first post reads:
I’ve sold my house. Move-out day is October 15, and, as of today, I don’t yet have a forwarding address.
I’m going rootless.
The following posts document her divestment from stuff. She buys her first laptop to replace her desktop to increase mobility. She sells or gives away or destroys everything she doesn’t need, conducts research. It’s an entire escape, documented.
Each post is short, but there’s hundreds of them each year so they really pile up:
I am staying at friend Kate’s house for a couple of days. This evening, she asked, “Do you have any regrets about selling your house”? I responded, “Not a one.”
One hour later, as Kate is swiftly turning off the water main inside her house, because her pipes had frozen, and burst, and there is water spewing out over the washer and dryer in her garage, she says, “Yeah, I guess not.”
Mzuri is American and her first solo trip was Ethiopia, which strikes me as extremely ambitious and freewheeling. Since then she’s travelled in Mexico, the US, and Guatamala.
Here’s Mzuri on debt, on minimalism, on slow travel, on voluntary simplicity.
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New Escapologist Issue 18 is shipping now. We also have a launch event in Glasgow on 19th November. Come along if you’re nearby!
Issue 18 Launch Event, 19th November, 6pm, Glasgow
We’re launching Issue 18 of New Escapologist on November 19th, meaning that pre-orders and subscriber copies will be shipped very soon. In fact, we’ve already shipped a few. Maybe you have yours already.
But Red Alert! We’ve had a venue change for the launch event! Pay attention if you’re in/near Glasgow and are planning to come along.
The new venue is Aye-Aye Books, which is now in Broadside at 123 Allison Street, G42 8NE, and looks like this:
Aye-Aye Books are longstanding friends of the magazine, selling the magazine in a prominent location in their shop and everything. They were based in the CCA until very recently, so please don’t make the mistake of going to the CCA or to the previously-announced launch venue, which now looks like this:
Oh dear.
It would have been nice if the owner had told us he’d gone out of business and therefore unlikely to host us as planned, but I suppose he had bigger problems on his hands.
Anyway, Martin from Aye-Aye is a wonderful chap, and I for one am looking forward to helping to warm up his new space. Join us!
Drop in at some point between 6pm-7:30pm for a short reading and some chat, then drinks if we want them at the Victoria bar across the road.
