Public service announcement

The weekend just gone, I took a trip to North Wales. It was the 70th anniversary party for the North London Mountaineering Club. Of which I used to be president. More importantly, I caught up with a lot of people I haven't seen in several years, and had fun. I even got shoved up an "accessible" (lol) path by friends on the Saturday afternoon. You have to understand: climbers gave up a dry Saturday afternoon in North Wales to push me up a path. I know of no greater display of brotherly love.

Earlier that day I caught up with another friend. We talked about a lot of things, but she pointed out that maybe I should update people as to how I'm doing. After all, I used to post very regularly, and then I just stopped. People might be wondering if I'm okay.

The answer is that I'm very okay. The reason I stopped posting is that I just didn't have anything to say anymore. The last entry felt like a natural conclusion, and every time I sat down to write something else, I felt like I was writing for the sake of writing. To keep up my “numbers.” And that is never a good reason to write. So I stopped. (I also thought it was funny to stop right after going viral for the first time. I guess that won't be a surprise to people who know me.)

At least, I stopped waiting here. I've instead become a semi-regular columnist for Unherd moaning about universities, with other bits and pieces in places like the Times Literary Supplement and The Guardian. Including an appearance (sort of) on the Football Weekly Podcast.

All of my writings can be found on my personal website, in case you care. As well as being back at work full-time, I’m soon going to be doing fundraising talks on behalf of The Matt Hampson Foundation, as well as training as a mentor for Back Up.

And I'm now completely in love with my tricycle front wheel adaptation. I recently took it to the New Forest and went on a couple of 12km hikes with friends. Next month, it's getting upgraded to be 3x3, all-wheel-drive, and off-road capable. Plans are being hatched for next year. Watch this space.