If I were writing a CV, which I'm not, I might describe myself as a completist. I'd describe myself as lots of other things too, but one thing I do like to do is to finish things. Not everything, because some things are best left well alone, but if I have a grand sequential project to complete, I finish it off.
The crowning proof of my completist nature is my diary, which I've been writing nightly since I was 11, and has now reached its 41st volume. That's 14739 days without a gap, if you're counting, which obviously I am. When I have a wild evening I catch up the following day, or make notes if necessary, but over 40 years I've never gone "ah stuff it, I won't do Wednesday", and left it blank. If I were trying to get you to give me a job, which I'm not, this is a key personal achievement I might mention.
My blog is also pretty completist, in that a post always appears at breakfast time. Admittedly that's not quite every day, because there are a few gaps, most usually around Christmas or holiday time. But I am now invariably driven to present you with something each morning, even if it's a bit weak, because the completist in me won't accept a blank day skipped. Think of it as a useful motivational driver, which helps me to inform and entertain you, hopefully.
Within the blog, I've also set up various themed projects to help generate content for me to write up. A visit to the highest point in every London borough, an A-Z of London museums, a bus ride all the way around the edge of London, that kind of thing. These are all sequential undertakings which require considerable input, and once I've committed to part 1 I then have to follow up and do the rest. It generally works, anyway.
I've walked the entirety of the London Loop, and written about each section, with one exception I'll be mopping up this year. I've picked every London borough at random out of a jamjar, and written up my visit up in numerous meaty chunks... then done the same for all the districts around the edge of London too. Actually I've got one more of the latter to go, which I'll be doing shortly, but then that particular seam of inspiration dries up too. It doesn't do to have nothing on the boil.
I am working through all 52 proposed London boroughs in my 'Herbert Dip' series, at a rate of one a week, and there are still 33 of those to go. That'll keep me busy, but I do have a lot more days to fill these days. Another completable project wouldn't hurt.
I thought I'd walk the Capital Ring again. That's good because I've written about it all before, which means this time I can simply walk round without needing to write it up again. It is nice sometimes to go out and and do something without the weight of writing it up later.
And yesterday I decided I'd walk the North Downs Way. I've walked bits before and they were gorgeous, but it's a mighty task to walk all 153 miles to Dover, so not something to be undertaken lightly. It'll take about a dozen days to walk the lot, but these days I can pick and choose my dates, heading out at intermittent intervals when the weather's fine. I kicked off in Farnham, trekked to Guildford, and the walk was splendid. I shall have to get round to writing it up for you soon. But write it up I shall, I've started so I'll finish, because I am a completist.
