"What is it that I want?" - an Adventure with a Raft and a Piano. Living Adventurously 15

Ben Cummins is on a mission to deliver a piano from Liverpool to London. On a home-made raft. That he propels himself. Within 25 years... So far it has taken Ben seven years to push his raft the 127 miles along the canal from Liverpool to Leeds! This adventure / art project / way of life began when Ben asked himself a brilliant question, "what is it that I want from my life?"
Ben Cummins is on a mission to deliver a piano from Liverpool to London. On a home-made raft. That he propels himself. Within 25 years... So far it has taken Ben seven years to push his raft the 127 miles along the canal from Liverpool to Leeds!
This adventure / art project / way of life began when Ben asked himself a brilliant question, "what is it that I want from my life?"
Ben invited me onto his charming, quirky, stylish canal boat-cum-raft (built from locally-salvaged and donated materials), cooked me lunch, and told me his story.

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SHOW NOTES

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  • Piano Raft - A floating centre of excellence. @pianoraft on Instagram. Website here.
  • Focus on "allow" not "how" - let stuff happen rather than worrying too much.
  • Nick Weston, who lived in a treehouse.
  • Ben Parry, artist.
  • I didn't want to be a numpty, to be irresponsible or unsafe. They were my concerns. 
  • Having an anchor or a framework to the project is helpful, even when allowing possibility and serendipity into your life.
  • A 'purposeless mission' allows all the good stuff to happen once you have started.

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You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.


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© 2019 Alastair Humphreys