gareth bouch :: stuff & things

(*Above: Bad Wolf Bay from Doctor Who)

Well it’s official – I’ve been utterly crap at updating this blog recently.
I do have the excuse that I’ve been on Twitter a bit, but nonetheless this place wasn’t supposed to get covered in cobwebs and tumbleweed.

There is another excuse, to be fair – Moving out of London…
I’m now pretty much settled down here in south Wales, not too far from where my mum came from (she’s from the Rhondda Valley – I’m just over the other side of the stunning Bwlch down in Bridgend) – and really enjoying a different lifestyle.

Starting the new company – Vroom Media – and cutting the cord with London in favour of a quieter, more pleasant and peaceful way of life seems to have undeniably been the right call, and I have an extraordinary peace with the world now, even though it’s going to be tough bringing in the work and the money.
No exaggerration; London (certainly central) was just far too noisy and stressy for me nowadays – just an endless loud montage of horns, sirens, police helicopters (known locally as the Brixton Airshow) and shouting, and I’d really come to hate commuting.
Here, at the very eastern tip of Bridgend, there’s nothing but the sound of birds (though I’m sure the cats have plans to stop them pretty soon) and the sound of the trees from the woodland that rises up the hill from the back of the garden out onto the fields above.

A central part of the move – and part of completely changing the quality of life – was the idea of getting a dog. This was to get healthy, get some exercise, and to get routine to a day working largely from home.
And it’s working… we got a 5 year old greyhound (previously called Storm, and having flirted with calling her Shadow, we’re now settled on Misty) who’s proving great company on walks around the area and around all the fantastic beaches down here – we’ve been having a great time exploring round Ogmore by Sea, the Kenfig dunes, Merthyr Mawr, Southerndown (Bad Wolf Bay in Doctor Who… and pictured above) and Porthcawl.
Misty also just hangs around in the office, watching me work on iPhone applications, some bits of branding work, commissioned reports for some new media companies, and other stuff like the Official Scott Redding work I’ve been asked to do – and the cats are getting quite used to her too, so all seems to be going well.

If you’ve not been to south Wales before, then I can’t recommend it highly enough. There’s Cardiff itself of course, which I’m looking forward to getting to know properly – and so much beautiful countryside and history. Get yourself some time out and come and enjoy it.

I thought I’d be quite torn – I’d kind of prepared myself to feel torn – about leaving London; and yet, now it’s done I really don’t feel that way at all.
I’ve loved it (and hated it too!) – but although I’m sure I’ll be glad to go back sometime, I’m really over the place, and I’m happy to be back down amongst family in a fantastic part of the world.
If it gets its own MotoGP round my life will be complete! ;-)