For the past four weeks, we have been staying with Spencer and Nicola and their two children Oscar and Maud, in London. We live in their lounge, which they have cleared out for us. Most evenings, the six of us pile into Spencer and Nicola's bedroom to watch TV. Maud sometimes practises her cello and Oscar is learning Sweet Child O' Mine on the electric guitar. There is always tea and biscuits, and fresh eggs (the children are rearing two free-range chickens in the back garden).
Nicola says they get a lot out of having people stay. "It helps the children to be open-minded and prepares them for the world out there," she says. She doesn't like British attitudes towards owning property. "We are a community, we should have people coming into our houses. It creates memories and shared experiences."
Next month we are moving to New Orleans and we have already set up the first two months of surfing. There is an ideology forming here: of freedom and mobility. Less impact on the environment through shared resources. Less impact on the bank account. Helping each other. A bit hippy perhaps, but with rising living costs and a rapidly changing climate, maybe it's time for that again.
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