“Don’t worry…be happy!”

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” is a song by American musician Bobby McFerrin released in 1988. It was the first a cappella song to reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which was a position it held for two weeks. Originally released in conjunction with the film Cocktail, the song peaked at No. 1 on September 24, 1988, displacing “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses.

Here we go………lift off!

So that’s it, I’ve finished! Actually that’s not strictly true. Although I wanted to retire on my 55th Birthday, I can’t, because it actually falls on a Thursday. My official retirement date is the 2nd May and that’s because for the purposes of pension calculation you have to finish at the end of a full working week.

Add in a substantial amount of “owed” annual leave and I finished working in the NHS, as a doctor today, the 24th March. So I have now “retired” from the NHS and a life I have known for the last 35 years!

Happy days?

Hopefully! Retiring early and travelling has always been an aspiration from the first day I started working back in 1989! But, who knows; yes I’ve taken that leap, but could it be one great feck up!? All anyone wants is to feel good with a sense of permanence, a foundation of contentment that all is good in the world.

Yes we might have a job, be financially secure, have a beautiful house, wife and family surrounded by possessions; most we more than likely, don’t need. But does this make us happy?

If so, that’s great and I’m pleased for you. But in a society where many, have so much, and life is arguably much easier than it was many years ago, why is it so many people are unhappy. As such, worsening mental health has become more prevalent. In fact, more than 300 million people, 4.4% of the world’s population, suffer from depression. It is estimated that mental health conditions, will affect a staggering one in four people at some time in their lives. Worse still, almost one million people commit suicide annually worldwide, accounting for 1.4% of deaths worldwide. There are indications that for each adult who has died by suicide, there may have been more than 20 others attempting it.

The issue of mental health and the devastating impact it is having on individuals and the economy has been hidden behind a curtain of stigma and discrimination for far too long. The magnitude of suffering and burden in terms of disability and costs for individuals, families and societies are staggering. Particularly when you factor in the associated drug, alcohol and personal abuse that results from it. In many way suicide rates are just “the tip of the iceberg.”

In the last few years, the world has become more aware of this enormous burden and the potential benefit for society, if mental health can be improved. Thankfully, the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness is being eroded.

Yet, when you consider how the world has reacted to Covid, it seems crazy; little in comparison has been done for mental health. Particularly when it is a disease, which unlike Covid, predominantly affects younger people who have so much more to live for.

I’ll go one step further, worldwide it’s estimated there have been approximately 2.5 million deaths from Covid 19 by the beginning of March 2021. The WHO estimates that between 290,000 and 650,000 respiratory deaths globally each year are associated with seasonal influenza. If we do the math and suggest these influenza death were likely to occur within the Covid cohort over the last 12 months, the excess deaths related to Covid is arguable less than 2 million. This equates to 2-3 years of deaths, related to suicide alone. In addition, this does not take into account deaths related to alcohol abuse, estimated by the WHO Worldwide to be 3 million deaths every year. Add in Global estimates suggesting that, 245 000 deaths are attributable to illicit drugs each year ( WHO 2004) and a grim picture emerges, when you look at the global cost of the Covid pandemic.

We have witnessed, yet ignored, a hidden pandemic of deteriorating mental health. Manifesting itself at one extreme, with suicide through to deaths attributable to drugs and alcohol on an annual basis that pales Covid deaths in to insignificance. And what have we done about it……..NOTHING!

Yet, we have risked the world’s global economy and the future well-being of our children on this Covid 19 pandemic. They will be burdened with the debt, estimated to be approximately 19.5 trillion dollars (Bloomberg) for the next 20 years, at least! Do you really think, the Covid pandemic and its fallout will be over this Summer. Think again! Rishi Sunak’s recent budget dropped big hints about the fiscal black hole that awaits us all. My bet is it will take a generation to sort out and that’s if no other calamity hits us all.

Staggering political incompetence!

Modern life, technology and mental health

 I remember as a kid, when the first computers entered our lives. They were sold as the new labour saving device in the work place, and the opportunity to replace time previously spent ‘working’ with more leisure time. Eutopia was on the horizon, lets have the machines do the work for us!

Remember the floppy disc!

In reality , all I have seen is people working harder and perhaps longer with more work completed, in the same unit of time, driven by greed and the capitalist need for growth.

What has also changed and perhaps not for the better, for young people, is the influence of technology on leisure. As a result of the move of the computer from the workplace into the home and wider society, facilitated by the smart phone introduced in 2006, now a glorified hand-held computer.

When I was a kid, we played out from dawn to dusk, and we had to entertain ourselves. Which meant you had to interact with your peers, whether you liked them or not! Your first exposure to knowing and learning about yourself and more importantly for life; others. Immediate and raw social interaction. Social interaction, that now has largely (to varying degrees) been replaced by radio waves with a frequency of 2.5 or 5.0 megahertz. Also known as WiFi.

Yes, there was always the weird kid that didn’t play out much but that was rare. Everyone was on the street occasionally up to no good, warts and all. But we were out there, our strengths and weaknesses equally exposed. We didn’t have much, but we sure made the best of it. Probably because we knew no better! Our imagination and ingenuity was boundless and I loved it! Perhaps it’s because I knew nothing else and in many ways so what, it was a happy time, even if we didn’t have “a pot to piss in”. We just didn’t care and it didn’t really matter, we didn’t know any better!

Now, the world is your oyster, at least it is on that screen you’re glued to. There is nothing you cannot see or learn on these devices; be it good, bad or ugly. It’s all there for you, whether it’s realistic or not. You can have what you want, when you want it……………………….or can you?

Social interaction for many now, is predominantly through so called ‘”social media”. I don’t know if friends are becoming less important in society but the concept of family certainly is! Having a cool social media profile seems to becoming more important for many, rather than being real.

It must be emotionally exhausting, to operate in a social milieu where we project the best sides of our lives through social media, but revile real vulnerability. There’s a dark space between the ever-mounting expectations of the everlasting American dream – to be better, to have more – and the actual truth: life can, on occasion, be a bit disappointing. Perhaps our ancestors were less burdened by disappointment because they weren’t socialised to expect so much.

Capitalism….the beast behind it all!

In many ways, the world doesn’t need happy people, it just isn’t good for the economy. If we were all happy with what we had, why would we need more. The world needs you to worry. Capitalism relies on economic growth, which is in essence, getting you to buy shit you don’t need.

How on earth would they be able to sell you insurance if you didn’t worry about what could go wrong? Sell you products to make you feel young, if the world’s capitalists through media didn’t make you feel old? Or buy the latest version or upgrade if you didn’t feel you could miss out or be left behind.

This “consumerism” of increasing levels of consumption and shift to “materialism” has some huge drawbacks. Constantly consuming goods in larger and larger quantities promotes self-centered attitudes, that have created a negative impact on society. Individuals place more value on products and having stuff. Rather than more abstract things, such as happiness, relationships with friends and family or people within their community, eroding society even further. An obsession driven by social media, pushing many people to borrow money, they can’t afford, in order to pay for goods that they don’t always need. These borrowings often getting out of control, with dire consequences such as the loss of their homes, the breaking of relationships and the destruction of an individual’s life.

And what if you have wealth, why is it, that those with plenty of money are often unhappy despite it. Where as, many with little can be contented. It’s because they recognise what is important in life.

The pursuit of happiness

Any structure or construct needs a firm foundation on which to build, grow, thrive and flourish. Happiness is no different. I think many confuse happiness with day-to-day pleasures that add fun, joy, and excitement to our lives. For example, buying yourself something you want (often when you don’t need it), evening walks along the beach, a few beers with your mates, great sex or a good meal. But these activities are transient and only enhance our daily pleasure, contributing little to a meaningful happy life.

But what is meaningful? For me it’s how you see yourself in the world you live in, during the short time you’re on this planet. How you benefit the lives of others through your commitment to a marriage or partnership, friendship, family life, work or cause of any kind. How you make the world a better place, is the basis of contentment and this contentment is the foundation of happiness.

For practical purposes, it is an enduring state of contentment, because one’s life has meaning, rather than merely the transient positive moods we all experience in our day to day lives, through the items or activities we purchase that leads to an enduring happiness.

Vanlife begins……..

When I tell people I’m retiring, they often cannot understand how I will occupy my time. From my recovery following the surgery, I have not had a single day where I’ve had nothing to do. Between now and the end of July, I have 2 main aims. The priority will be the Van build and the other will be getting in shape for the adventures ahead.

The Van

So the next few months are going to be occupied with putting together the Van. Delivery of the AWD 319 LWB Sprinter from Dusseldorf has been delayed by a few weeks as expected probably because of Covid. This, in many ways is beneficial, as the build slot is not until the beginning of May. However delivery is expected within the next 2-4 weeks!

There is a lot of work to do, particularly because of the external design specification. Many of the parts needed are from either Australia or the US. So we are ordering now, as the lead time can be several weeks for delivery. In order to minimise any delays, we want to have the products at Mclaren before May.

Front end protection

Bull bars in the main are now banned within the UK and Europe to protect pedestrians. The huge winch bumpers from the States look great and have the functionality of a winch but the legality of them over here is a mine field. Whilst having a winch would give overland recovery utility, the challenges in installing and using one, I felt for my needs was not worth the hassle. Recovery capability is discussed further down this section.

I still wanted the front end protection even if that means forgoing a winch. There are not many EU compliant products available. I have decided to order a Misutonida Nudge bar in black, shown below.

The bonnet can be prone to stone chips particularly the front section, so in addition, we have ordered a Terrawagen Aero hood spoiler from Terrawagen in The States, as seen in the picture below. Also the standard chrome badge and grill trim will be replaced with matt black identical parts to match the spoiler as in this picture below.

Lighting

These can be expensive but I’ve found a great product from Australia by a company called Terralume. The ICON LED 8.5 inch driving light is pictured below and will sit on the top bull bar either side of the Meredes Benz logo badge.

These are a serious bit of kit and will illuminate the track ahead when off-road/ off grid and in the middle of nowhere!

At the rear over the back doors, a smaller work light attached to the right side of the roof rack, a smaller LED light will illuminate that space at night when accessing the garage.

Finally, and this was not something in the original spec, 8 RGB LED camp rock lights will under light the Sprinter. Although headlights and fog lights are useful to see the road around and ahead of you at night, rock lights are designed to be installed underneath the vehicle so that drivers can see rocks and debris that might potentially cause damage to the vehicle.

You download a free Bluetooth App and take control of the entire system, from the touch of a button! With millions of colour choices, animated modes and basic functions, they can all be controlled from the easy to use the Bluetooth App.

Most popular choices are choosing colours to suit the environment, like an amber shade to reduce the bugs or dimming the system to provide no intrusive light. The options are literally endless!

Roof rack

The defining exterior modification will be the roof rack with access from a side ladder. Traditionally for transporting additional luggage and kit (2 kayaks), the roof rack will also support solar panels for an off grid power set up allowing up to a week or more travel without mains re-charging etc.

I also want the whole roof rack deck to be easily converted into a viewing deck, which will be a great spot to fly the drone from, to get the best film footage. In addition, it will also function as an elevated rest area with a canopy to relax when camped down for any length of time. Sounds fanciful and yes, the design is likely to be challenging and costly. But it will happen. See the attached document of the first draft design spec with some very “iffy” sketches by my fair hand!

The Wheels/rims and tyres

The standard rims on the AWD Sprinter are 16″ and plain steel. These will be replaced with 17″ alloys by Black Rhino. The Warlord Matte black with Machined dark tint lip is my preferred choice and are now at Mclaren. The standard tyre is a continental 225/75 R16. I will be replacing them with 265/70 R17 BF Goodrich T/A All Terrain KO2 tyres for greater ground clearance and traction on soft ground such as mud and sand.

A spare wheel will be carried at the rear and I have sourced the wheel carrier from wheeliams, based in the North East. Will, who runs the business has been very helpful. This company is a good supplier, easy to order from with prompt delivery with great products.

Recovery system

I eluded earlier to having decided against a winch given the cost and hassle with legislation, figuring I will be off road but not overlanding. If I get stuck and that is going to happen, I do need a recovery option. The maxtrax recovery board system appears to be the best option. These will be mounted on the driver side of the van to the rear, in the equivalent position to the passenger side, where there is a CR Laurence half slider window. These have been ordered in black with the mounting pins from Devon4x4 and delivery is awaited.

Most van owners mount them to the side of the roof rack or often on the back of the rear spare wheel carrier. I’ve even seen them fixed to a bonnet. I like the look and convenience of the side mount and have sourced a pair of brackets from offroad animal, an Australian based company.

In addition, I will be fitting a rear hitch receiver, which is similar to a tow bar but rather to tow a trailer it allows the placement of a hitch shackle to effect recovery with a recovery strap/winch from another vehicle. You can even have a receiver hitch with an attached winch for self recovery. I am yet to decide whether this is needed and will consider it when I get stuck and struggle to get recovered!

And finally………

I often finish a post with a heart rendering piece of music to reflect my mood at the time of writing. Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2 is just great and this rendition of “Oh happy day” is just fantastic and hits the spot…..enjoy!

DAYS UNTIL NO LONGER AN EMPLOYEE!