Exact Date. Every Day.
Adrian Edmondson‘s stuffy old schoolteacher dad (pictured above) was an Escapologist in his way:
For the last few years of his working life my abiding memory of Dad is of him spreading his paperwork out on the dining room table every evening. This isn’t marking homework or doing lesson plans, or anything to do with school, he’s trying to work out when he can retire.
he has various bits of pension entitlement from many different sources, and little bits of money squirrelled away, some of it in a bank in Jersey, which sounds dodgy. Some of it is obviously tied to interest rates, and in these days before computer spreadsheets, each evening he looks up the indices in the newspaper, adjusts various predictions, factors in inflation, dreams up possible variables, considers future interest rates, looks at his bank balance, tots it all up, and comes up with an exact date. Every day.
I suppose it’s a reminder that everyone — of all generations and temperaments — is running away from something.
What you’re trying to escape probably depends on which component of The Trap has got you down. In Ade’s case it was school, in his dad’s it was work. Which, oddly, was also school.
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New Escapologist Issue 18 is in the works and can be ordered today for November release.
Their Preoccupations Are Meagre
A whopping great “thank you” to Reader O for sending this in.
In Letters to a Young Poet, Rilke writes to the aspiring poet Franz Kappus.
“Two sections in one of his letters,” writes Reader O, “stood out that made me think of your work with New Escapologist.”
In his letter “Rome, 23 December 1903,” Rilke writes:
My dear Mr Kappus,
You shall not go without greetings from me at Christmas time, when you are perhaps finding your solitude harder than usual to bear among all the festivities. But if you notice that it is great, then be glad of it; for what (you must ask yourself) would a solitude be that was not great? There is only one solitude, and it is vast and not easy to bear and almost everyone has moments when they would happily exchange it for some form of company, be it ever so banal or trivial, for the illusion of some slight correspondence with whoever one happens to come across, however unworthy … But perhaps those are precisely the hours when solitude grows, for its growth is painful like the growth of boys and sad like the beginning of spring. But that must not put you off. What is needed is this, and this alone: solitude, great inner loneliness. Going into oneself and not meeting anyone for hours – that is what one must arrive at. Loneliness of the kind one knew as a child, when the grown-ups went back and forth bound up in things which seemed grave and weighty because they looked so busy, and because one had no idea what they were up to.
And when one day you realize that their preoccupations are meagre, their professions barren and no longer connected to life, why not continue to look on them like a child, as if on something alien, drawing on the depths of your own world, on the expanse of your own solitude, which itself is work and achievement and a vocation? Why wish to exchange a child’s wise incomprehension for rejection and contempt, when incomprehension is solitude, whereas rejection and contempt are ways of participating in what, by precisely these means, you want to sever yourself from?
Think, dear Mr Kappus, of the world that you carry within you, and call this thinking whatever you like Az Whether it is memory of your own childhood or longing for your own future – just be attentive towards what rises up inside you, and place it above everything that you notice round about. What goes on in your innermost being is worth all your love, this is what you must work on however you can and not waste too much time and too much energy on clarifying your attitude to other people. Who says you have such an attitude at all? – I know, your profession is hard and goes against you, and I had foreseen your complaints and knew they would come. Now that they have come I cannot assuage them;
I can only advise you to consider whether all professions are not like that, full of demands, full of hostility for the individual, steeped as it were in the hatred of those who with sullen resentment have settled for a life of sober duty.
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New Escapologist Issue 18 is in the works and can be ordered today for November release.
What’s a Young Berserker to do?
Comedian Adrian Edmondson runs away from boarding school in 1973. The escape, recounted in his new memoir, Berserker!, doesn’t go according to plan:
There are only two options really […] face the wrath of my parents or run away. What’s a young berserker to do? I hitchhike straight to the docks. A keen reader of Tintin as a child, my idea is to find a cargo ship, shimmy up the anchor rope under cover of darkness, stow away in the hold until the ship reaches international waters, then present myself to the captain as a willing and capable deckhand. […] Unfortunately, Hull docks are closed. […] Bloody oil crisis, bloody stock market crash, bloody double inflation.
But adventure is still on the cards:
I’ve got nothing with me except some small change and two pairs of underpants, both of which I’m wearing. […] The next day I wake up in a chicken coop near a farmhouse just outside Beverley. [The chickens] look confused. Is that confusion? No, it’s not. It’s… opprobrium. They’re judging me! Chickens!
In the end, he goes to a phone box and calls a schoolfriend who reveals the police are looking for him. Adrian thinks he’s in trouble for a fire he idly set in a scrub brush, but apparently it’s not about that. Is it just about running away? he asks. “It’s about,” says the friend, “you going missing.”
I love that. He’s not really an outlaw or a fugitive. He’s not “wanted,” he’s “missing”!
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New Escapologist Issue 18 is in the works and can be ordered today for November release.
Idleness Has Style
Here’s some more from the diary of New Escapologist contributor Dickon Edwards, this time an historical note from 25th August 2004:
I had some actual work due in today. An introduction to a new edition of Jerome K Jerome’s Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow. It’s been out of print for 20 years. The book is effectively An Audience With Mr Jerome and often reads like the transcription of an 1886 stand-up observational comedy routine. One section is titled “On Cats And Dogs”. Jerome K Jerome – the Victorian Eddie Izzard.
The book was written three years before Three Men In A Boat, which instantly made Jerome rich and famous. Idle Thoughts, however, is very much written from the point of view of someone holding down an office day job after surviving bouts of genuine poverty. In the book, this tempers his haughty epigrams comparable with the best of Wilde, with humanity worthy of Dickens.
The publishers of this new edition are suddenly keen to get the book out as soon as possible, given the new trend of Idleness that’s starting to appear in the news. The French bestseller lists are dominated by an anti-work charter, Bonjour Paresse. Italy has held its first National Convention of the Idle, declaring Idleness to be a sign of intelligence rather than a vice. In Britain, Mr Hodgkinson, editor of the Idler, has published a heavily-researched, semi-historical manual, How To Be Idle.
It’s all done with a certain amount of humour, naturally, but there’s some serious points made about idleness as an existential, even political act. In these desperate times of feeling At The Mercy Of Others, whether it’s uncaring employers, politicians or TV producers, a little deliberate idleness can be no bad thing. If there’s nothing one can do about things, sometimes the only option is to indeed do nothing – but on purpose. Idleness should never be confused with default laziness or characterless apathy – Idleness has style.
This marks a special moment for me, actually. It was when I started reading the Idler, catching up — and trying to join in — with that scene. But the reappearance of the Idle Thoughts book probably also nudged me into thinking about a stand-up comedy of the page, leading eventually to A Loose Egg and Stern Plastic Owl (and, one hopes, a third similar volume someday). This post of Dickon’s is a bit smoking-gunnish really.
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Dickon’s Diary at the Centre of the Earth Vol. 1 is available to order here.
Letter to the Editor: The Act of Moving Through the World
To send a letter to the editor, simply write in. You’ll get a reply and we’ll anonymise any blogged version.
With reference to that digital nomads item, Reader C writes:
What resonated most is how they celebrate the imperfect details that form the real story: missed trains, unexpected rainstorms, street food that’s more exciting than Instagram-worthy meals. Those are the moments you don’t plan for, but they shape you more than the postcard-perfect ones.
I also loved the idea of travel as life capital. Each encounter, whether with fellow travellers or locals, builds empathy and understanding. By “investing” in curiosity and connection, you come home not just with photos but a renewed outlook on the world.
It’s a hopeful reminder that even when things go sideways, that twist becomes part of the adventure. It’s not just about collecting places. It’s about becoming more interesting, more resilient, and more open through the act of moving through the world.
In an age where travel has become easier and sometimes more commoditized, this piece brings us back to the heart of wandering: living out loud, staying curious, and knowing that regrets don’t fit when you travel with intention.
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New Escapologist Issue 18 is in the works and can be ordered today for November release.
The Wrong Existence
From Poor Artists by the White Pube:
He never had luck with funding or galleries. He worked in a shop and he told me once that he felt like he’d lost his identity. It sounds over the top but it so thoroughly destroyed the fabric of his existence to live the wrong existence. I get in my head about it, thinking he’d probably still be alive if there wasn’t such a problem with how money is distributed in this country…
The book is about the struggles of wanting to be an artist today. It’s hard to make money, to be taken seriously, to be a full-time artist without a time- and energy-sapping day job.
Mum said I could grow up to be whatever I wanted to be; school said all we had to do was go to university; university said stick together and see where life takes you. Things had not been going to plan, and I was stuck doing an irrelevant job that used up all my time and energy.
It’s hopeful though:
Most artists can’t afford to be artists, and yet, that doesn’t mean you should stop trying. It is probably an irresponsible thing for me to say, but I do believe deep down that it’s worth being skint and free, rather than a bit better off and suicidal.
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New Escapologist Issue 18 is in the works and can be ordered today for November release.
Ease
This is from Julian Simpson’s Cartoon Gravity journal:
[Ollivier] Pourriol talks about ease a lot, the idea that when you’re doing something that you’re good at or that you enjoy, less effort is required. Conversely, if you find yourself putting a lot of unpleasant effort in, you may not be doing what you should be doing. Obviously effort is a subjective idea, because even things we love doing don’t always feel easy, so we need to be conscious of the difference between being challenged and essentially wasting energy.
It’s an example of “do what you like,” one of the genuine escape plans in my book. Simpson and Pourriol make it clear that the ethic can be used at a project-level as well.
Simpson’s whole post is worth a read, actually. It’s not very long and contains a productivity hack he describes as “irritatingly simple but incredibly effective.”
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Treat yourself to a New Escapologist digital edition today. Why not?
Woes Wanted
We have a column in New Escapologist called Workplace Woes. It’s an opportunity for readers to anonymously blow off steam about their jobs, past or present.
In Issue 14 there was the story of an office Halloween Party that went from embarrassing to worse. In Issue 16 there was the story of the boss who stalked his assistant, adding extra spaces after their full stops.
If you’d like to vent your spleen about this sort of workplace shit, please send me your Workplace Woes by email. All stories will be treated with utmost confidence. That’s the whole point.
Please keep them under 200 words (no need for elaborate scene setting: just cut to the chase). Stories can be funny or anger-inducing or a little of both. It’s all good.
It’s always particularly nice to receive Woes from the worlds of retail or hospitality and also outdoorsy Woes (e.g. from farming or the construction industry), but if your story is simply office-based then that’s good too!
The deadline for Issue 18 is the end of August but any latecomers will be saved for future editions.
Thanks everyone. Over to you. Get moaning. Turn the air blue.
Watch Out, Watch Out for Work
This is from On the Clock by Claire Baglin, a short novel about work.
I wrote up my CV and my cover letter with mama’s help, my father read them over but didn’t have any comments. He frowned and added there’s more to life than work, you’ve got to have hobbies, passions, things you do on the weekend, and you can’t let yourself get sucked in, otherwise that’s it. I don’t understand what’s it and my father says again watch out, watch out for work.
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We’ll review On the Clock in New Escapologist Issue 18. Order your copy in print or digital formats today.
Letter to the Editor: We’re Not Perfectly Rational Economic Actors
To send a letter to the editor, simply write in. You’ll get a reply and we’ll anonymise any blogged version.
In response to our post about a Rent vs. Buy calculator, Reader Z writes:
If you want to really get into the weeds on this topic, Ben Felix on YouTube has a few videos on Rent vs. Buy that covers it pretty well.
In the end, renting is usually the mathematically ideal way to go if you invest the difference. However, that last bit of investing the difference is a massive hurdle for us humans. For most people, the forced savings that happens with a mortgage is much more likely to build wealth over time compared to renting due to the discipline required. Even with automatic contributions, it’s easy to reduce those due to some “just this once” reason.
On the other hand, owning a home makes us more likely to spend more on the home to make it the way we want. We also fall into the trap of justifying these upgrades by assuming we’ll get at least as much money back in home equity. At least with a rental, it’s unlikely we’re going to spend thousands on a kitchen or bathroom renovation. Also, due to high transaction costs of selling a home, owning for less than around 9 years before moving can be very expensive.
The outcomes of each option is similar enough that it really does come down to feelings, in a way. Much to the chagrin of economists, we’re not perfectly rational economic actors. Some people truly would be happier with one over the other even if, in practice, they are identical or the other option is better overall. Of course they could also learn to overcome these biases that are limiting them to one choice, but if they’re similar enough, is it worth it? I don’t know.
Side note, but I’ve just bought a home after wanting to rent for my entire life. The main thing that led me to this was that the house was a setup that I really valued, but I could not find a way to rent my way into that situation. I’m not saving anything over renting, but I’m excited to live in a way that I’ve been dreaming of for a long time.
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Hey Z. Congrats on the new home and thanks for telling our readers about that YouTube channel. I strongly relate to what you said about wanting to avoid the trap of justifying upgrades: we had our floor done as soon as we moved in, which I’m glad we did, but it was the first time I felt the pull of that investment logic. It’s certainly something homeowners of an Escapological mindset should look out for.
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