Surely he’s not serious?

Nothing too serious but nothing not serious? I guess I am pretty serious if you ask my mates (I hope I still have those). It’s hard to know where to begin with something like this, putting thoughts to paper (you know what I mean). So I will just free form. No need to get deep and personal so early on, my intent with this is really to share some experiences, seek advice, posit a few questions and use as an experiment in re-learning how to write whilst breaking every grammatical rule in existence. Interests? I have many – The Simpsons (seriously nobody gets the quotes anymore), entrepreneurship, surfing, beer, sport, shit talking with mates (or what I refer to as Philosophy),  personal development, fitness, mindset, growth. Wow, this sounds like a speed dating session. But fear not, I am married. No my wife is not insane, she just wasn’t wearing her glasses when we first met.

Why start now?

Speaking of my wife, I initially set up Sneakers and Jeans because I had this idea that I was going to become a world-famous travel blogger, as my wife and I cruised around the globe. Live the dream I thought, travel and get paid to do so, anyone can do it. Ok, take it down a notch, have more than just my parents interested in where we were travelling and what we were seeing. But I quickly realised some things which prevented me from writing a thing until I had returned home. First and foremost, I am not even the remotely bit interesting, my wife on the other hand, a comedic genius, me just a mundane Australian, mumbling about and devoid of any photogenic qualities. I have flashes of self-proclaimed brilliance, but it is not until I attempt to execute, or even think about executing that I realise how reality is far removed from theory. I guess I should know that already from the type of work I engage in during the nine to five rat race. What was I talking about again, that’s right, I am not interesting, but then again, half of the internet is interesting, or maybe it is? Someone tell me.

I procrastinate

The second thing, I procrastinate. Severely. In all honesty, it’s actually been two years since I set up this page. What was I waiting for? Something to say, I guess. And after two years that’s still the case. But here I go anyway. I thought having a break from day to day, living the dream without responsibilities and without a schedule, would be the perfect opportunity to write and share our experiences. Turns out it wasn’t, most of the time, on holiday you wake up groggy, too many craft beers the night before (oh yes, I am a craft beer wanker). I also learned that we need routine, counterintuitive but it actually gives you freedom – from your own self destructive behaviours, such as the random but grand idea of day drinking – who cares you tell yourself, you only live once, for the 10^th day in a row. Goes without saying, but nothing was written or shared on this holiday.

Time for some sentimentality

Third, and most importantly, I just really wanted to enjoy my honeymoon with my wife. Time for some sentimentality, but being able to share experiences of discovering new places, eating new foods, pushing physical limits, drinking new beers with your best friend

But I was scared

Finally, the real reason I kept putting this off…I was scared; scared of what other people would think about what I had to say (since I am not really saying much, then that’s cool, we call that a defence mechanism). Stepping away from it all has given me some clarity, and maybe that’s because the only company I have really had in the past four months is with someone who genuinely likes me, confidence is high. I realise that no matter what I do or say in life, someone, you, will judge me, and I cannot control that, it’s your right to judge whoever you want. And just like that first brave soul (an engineer no doubt) who wore sneakers and jeans to the sneers of all the fashionistas, I am putting myself out there. Judge away.

How long will it last?

I am not sure where I will go with this, or how long it will last. And yes I can hear 99% of you saying “I hope this guy shuts up after one post”. But for the 1% of you that this has drawn some sort of a smirk, I hope to bring some level of thought-provoking content. I promise it will mostly contain insights from the things I am interested in, travel, my pursuit of corporate escape, a love of beer and a few quotes from the Simpsons. I have some interesting mates and some pretty boring ones, but I love them all the same. If I can convince them, I’ll even add a few random guest posts from other people you have never heard of. Why? Because I believe we all have a story to tell.

One post down about nothing, it can only go up from here.

MC