Lisbon airport 6.30 am.
The lady at the check in disc looks at us with sad eyes and says: “sorry but your flight is cancelled, we are trying to rebook you on the next one, it’s not until 1.00 pm but we can offer you some food vouchers…”. After two changed departures and one cancelation we are facing the fact that our quick little trip to the Azores has turned into a bit of a hassle. Detours, extra leg time, postponed meetings, rescheduling and a general feeling of uncertainty is what we are left with as we try to pass the time at Lisbon airport, charging our phones and eating caprese sandwishes. After about 15 extra hours in different airports along the way we feel like we can’t eat any more cheese croissants and at the same time, in a weird way, it’ the only thing we feel like eating. I’m wondering if this is what happens to you when you get locked into a sealed place and are forced to live your life there (for ever…).

Taking on a house in the middle of the Atlantic will for sure be a way to learn to love the way of living life without a plan. Out here a tight schedule is vulnerable. You are at the mercy of wind and weather and the ocean itself. Life without a plan is a life where you have the extra time around things, where you are not moving from one commitment to another at a minute schedule. The life where you are ready and open for the unexpected, instead of overthrown by it. Buffer time and marginals will be key things in this life. As well as calmness and acceptance when things change, rather than sympathetic stress response. I’m hoping to learn in this project to give ourselves more time, for anything and everything.