Watching Ben Fogle’s New Lives in the Wild as I’m writing this evening, he’s visiting a couple living on Great Blasket island just off the coast of Ireland. I’ve probably seen every episode of every series and I find people’s stories really inspiring. I think this is why I find myself drawn to visit wild and isolated places.
For quite a few years I have dreamed of giving it all up and finding a little untouched part of the world to live out my days. Back in 2016 I was feeling restless and thought I might leave my job at University College London (UCL). Instead, the following year I took three months unpaid leave and travelled around the world and came back refreshed and ready to face new challenges.
Lately I’ve been thinking a bit deeper on the subject of whether I would like to live in the wilderness and have come to the conclusion that maybe it’s more of a romantic idea, and the reality of being totally isolated is probably not for me. I would be very happy living by myself in a remote location, but would need a village shop, library/community centre, hardware store and of course a pub, an hour’s walk away or 20mins in a boat up the river or something.
This is because while I love having time to myself and very happy in my own company, I am also quite social and have many interests that need other people to be able to enjoy. I also actually like working and enjoy my job. I’m lucky to be surrounded by a great team and absolutely love working at UCL (15 years and counting!).
Today I had a number of site visits around campus and based myself at the new (well, not new anymore, but still feels new to those of us who have been at UCL a long time!) Student Centre in between meetings. The building has won at least 11 awards since it opened including a prestigious Prix Versailles world architecture award for its design. It’s one of the greenest student centres in the UK, and “achieved a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) ‘Outstanding’ rating, reflecting exceptional environmental, social and economic sustainability performance”.
The building was really buzzing, and almost all of its 1,000 study spaces were occupied by busy students studying, collaborating and socialising. That buzz really reminded me that everything I, and my team, are doing to assist with enhancing UCL’s facilities and buildings is really worth it and maybe I’m not yet ready to sail off to my desert island just yet 😊
Elizabeth Mooney 