I’m falling in love. It’s an online affair – for now. I’ve been looking for a long-term relationship that’s based on trust, with comfort at its core, and it looks like I’m on to a winner … after I make a few changes.
Before you tell me I’m going about it all wrong, hear me out.
I’ve been through the traditional approach and it doesn’t work. Promises made don’t live up to reality, which can be disappointing, and expensive.
Glory to gory is how I describe my most recent experience.
One minute I’m gazing out at fields, daffodils in full bloom, dancing their rainbow dance – next, corrugated steel cubes surround me – one of which was to be our home for the week. My boys and I went away for the recent school break. This was our very first taste of a static caravan park. A last minute work commitment fell through, which meant that we could go, but everything was booked solid.
We had a great time though – because of what we did, not because of where we were (this place was pretty much just corrugated cubes).
We found fossilised dinosaur footprints – they are huge – and imagined pterodactyls in the sky, swooping down, with us dodging both them and being stomped on by the prehistoric giants. We discovered dinosaur bone on the beach, and many other fossilised prehistoric bits. It was amazing.
Experiences. Not things. That’s the way to go. Possessions buy happiness, but only up to a point. Your experiences are really part of you. Your stuff isn’t.
Which is why I want to do something that might be considered financially irresponsible.
I want a motorhome. A mobile hotel, something that will help us traverse Europe or whatever continent we’re in, without flights, airports or packing. It means spending yes, but it’s cheaper than the alternatives – and more appealing to me than piling a car high and putting up a tent.
A blue bus. It’s a big blue bus that I’m falling in love with. Having spent many an evening researching motorhomes, I have come to these unscientific, conclusions:
• It will cost me a third of the price of a converted bus to hire a motorhome for a couple of summer holiday weeks – prices peaking over school breaks as we know.
This conversion gives us autonomy and comfort. At a fraction of the cost of a “real” motorhome. It even has a squishy sofa. Which allays my apprehension around having an achy bum after weeks of sitting on the unforgiving surface of traditional motorhome seating.
I won’t go into the other specs. Suffice to say that (basic) creature comforts are more catered for. It’s even been taken to ski resorts, says the current owner, without freezing over. Plus it’s unique – my kinda thing.
• The all-important money issue: I am making the case to spend in order to save. If I was to purchase an appropriately priced motor home, use it for the summer, then sell it, I’d still be quids in. If I keep it and use it for other holidays I’m sorted. Yes I know there’s upkeep and insurance-type costs to factor in.
It reminds me of a group of friends who, wanting to explore New Zealand, clubbed together, bought a cheapo second-hand motorhome and sold it at the end of their adventure. You just know that they saved heaps on hotels, not to mention eating out.
I’m not calling for a sudden uptake in motorhomes, I’m sharing how my approach to family holidays is changing.
Out with the multi-stop plane journeys. In with meandering towards a destination – knapsacks tucked away safely and bikes at the ready. Cooking, living and laughing on board our big blue bus. This will be less, much less, expensive than many a holiday so far.
And it fuels the most important ingredient: memories – you just know there’ll be fantastic stories to share. Beats sitting in an airport or on a plane.
Assuming you have your finances in order, and have surplus cash, or holiday and entertainment money saved up, take note: research shows that people who spend a lot on a product valued it less immediately after buying it.
It also shows that we know this, and that memories are more important, but we cave in the face of trends and social pressure. A 20-year study by a Cornell University professor has a simple, powerful conclusion: want happiness? Buy experiences, not things.
Yes I realise I’m looking to buy a possession. But it’s about what the possession does for me. It opens up my world to many more experiences, and will give me a huge happiness return on my investment.
It’s claimed that relationships that start online have a greater chance of succeeding. Here’s to finding out – big blue bus here I come.
Nima Abu Wardeh describes herself using three words: Person. Parent. Pupil. Each day she works out which one gets priority, sharing her journey on finding-nima.com.
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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The%20Genius%20of%20Their%20Age
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
ENGLAND SQUAD
Team: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Maro Itoje, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Sam Simmonds
Replacements 16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Jack Nowell
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The%20Killer
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Company%20Profile
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
Company%20Profile
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Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Kashima Antlers 3 (Nagaki 49’, Serginho 69’, Abe 84’)
Guadalajara 2 (Zaldivar 03’, Pulido 90')
FIXTURES
Fixtures for Round 15 (all times UAE)
Friday
Inter Milan v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Saturday
Atalanta v Verona (6pm)
Udinese v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Juventus (11.45pm)
Sunday
Lecce v Genoa (3.30pm)
Sassuolo v Cagliari (6pm)
SPAL v Brescia (6pm)
Torino v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sampdoria v Parma (9pm)
Bologna v AC Milan (11.45pm)
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
NBA Finals so far
(Toronto lead 3-1 in best-of-seven series_
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109
Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123
Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5