Travelettes, backpacking in h… oh no, wait…. better no heels this time. Preferably wellies… Yes,  better bring the wellies… A while ago we introduced you to the amazing Do Lectures, a little gathering for big ideas held in a teeny tiny tent in the middle of nowhere. Each year only a small number of attendees are invited to come – and this year Katja and I were delighted to be two of them. So join us reliving an inspiring, yet rainy weekend lost in the Welsh woods, happily freezing in tents at night and learning at first hand from the DOers of this world!
Tent life
fforest Farm in South Wales – Just a hop and a skip and a plane ride and a train ride and another train ride and a car drive away. Finally arriving in the Welsh woods, we immediately feel like being on a Harry Potter movie set. Through the branches we make out people gathering around an open fireplace, sheep grazing on green hills under a cloudy sky – and all sorts of tents: small tents, big tents, round tents and even a tent that looks like the speaking hat from Hogwarts.
There’s no such thing as bad weather…
…Only bad clothing! When packing for our five-day-trip to Wales, we acted against all our inner urges and left the high heels in the closet. The weather probably wouldn’t suit fancy shoes – we figured as much. (Although Katja still managed to include some height in her footwear, as you can see in the pictures below…)
Cold at night
We left behind a blue and sunny Berlin sky, willing and even enthusiastic to spend the next five days jumping into puddles and inhaling some fresh country air for a change. Little dit we know of just HOW cold it would get at night (…in retrospect the farms’ url did sound suspicious though: http://www.coldatnight.co.uk/) and how it would feel to spend  24/7 under a constant cover of cloud and rain. But the magical atmosphere made up for all of it and we managed to adjust to the wet circumstances by getting glued to our umbrella and drinking lots of tea (well, when in Britain…)
And eventually, the sun did come out and bestowed us with the most beautiful colours at twilight.
Kitchen delights
People who heard about the Do Lectures before probably have seen videos of the talks on the internet. But there is a lot more to it. You become part of an open-minded community with whom you share your thoughts  – and your meals. And they are delicious meals! From breakfast over supper and little snacks to dinner, a fun and committed kitchen crew serves yummy, freshly prepared, homely meals. Even the bread is made from scratch!
Around the fireplace
The afternoons and evenings are dedicated to spending time with the other attendees. In several workshops from digital storytelling to bread making and painting you get to know everyone and time simply fades away over a talk around the fire while listening to incredible musicians and poets.
Inspiring talks and amazing people
In the fifth year of the Do Lectures everything seemed to evolve around the fact that life is short and whatever it is that gives you sleepless nights, you have to go out there and make it real. We heard some amazing talks by storytellers, illustrators, designers, creative directors, zen priests and artists that got us thinking a lot. Instead of retelling what we heard, we recommend visiting the Do Lectures webpage, where you find all of this years’ talks (and all the previous ones as well) and leave you with a few striking quotes we picked up during the lectures as well as a short interview we made with a young, amazing woman named Anna Felton, who was part of the Do Lectures since its very first hour.
“Perfection is the enemy of the do.”
“Trust your intuition, your certainty will give you wings.”
“Trust is the vital part of success.”
“Do the thing you love and if you change, do that.”
“There’s serendipity found on twitter.”
“Practise not doing and everything will fall into place.”
3 Comments