📍 Last Updated May 2026
Where we are, what we're working on, and what's occupying our thoughts right now. What's a now page?
Albrighton, Shropshire, England
We're settled in a quiet English village through early June 2026, caring for Trixie (a boxer mix with strong opinions) and Buddy (a golden lab who's mastered the art of looking desperately hungry). Since arriving in February, we've fallen into the village rhythm — regular co-op trips, the post office runs, long walks through hedgerows in that particular grey-green English light.
The birds here have been a pleasant surprise, the flowers blooming when it's cloudy seems odd, and the countryside is far greener than expected.
One of us keeps the lights on with software engineering and technology consulting work. Remote-first, async-friendly, occasionally loud about it. After Google made the decision to enshitify to a morally unacceptable degree, he also has been working on automated methods to assist normal users in de-googling themselves. Open Source software doesn't necessarily bring in the dough, but it makes the world a better place so far. He will continue to support it.
The Admiral is carving at the workbench — animals slowly taking shape, one of which will stay behind here as a small gift to the village when we leave.
Researching the next chapter: whether it's another petsit, a longer rental, or something unexpected. The finca is always in the background; logistics are in the foreground.
The harmonica — slowly, inconsistently, and to the mild bewilderment of Trixie and Buddy.
Local birds: robins that are inappropriately bold and jackdaws that are unsettlingly intelligent.
The finca — what grows in Ecuador's climate, what self-sufficiency looks like on a small scale, what kind of home and community we're actually building toward.
We depart Albrighton in early June 2026. After that: 10 days to figure out, and then Southend-on-Sea. The beauty and terror of this life is that "next" is rarely locked in until it is.
Ecuador is always on the horizon. Always getting closer.