Hamish McKenzie - How to recycle yourself out of the system
Hamish McKenzie lives and works on the highly unique houseboats he designs and builds. Think Mad Max more than the quaint canals of Amsterdam. Hamish is as an engineer by trade and an artist by nature.
The first thing you notice when you meet Hamish is his stripey beard and the words fate, hope and clarity tattooed across his face (he traded the tattoo for a raptor skull). Then, as soon as you start talking to him, the tattoo and the stripes disappear. We only thought to ask about his tattoo as we stepped off the boat.
He's a frugal doer. When he has an idea he gets stuck in and then works out how to fill the spaces that remain. They might be gaps in the structure he's building or gaps in his knowledge, either way, he works out how to fill them. He's a natural recycler which explains why so many gaps need to be filled and how he's developed the knack of seeing beyond an object's current form. When we see a bus for sale. Hamish sees all the windows he needs for £200.
He sees money as fuel. When he's running low he'll work for others to refill the tank but he has no interest in money unless he knows exactly what he's going to use it for.
It would be fair to say Hamish is not a conventional man. Check out The Bizarre Houseboats of Britain to see what I mean. He thinks and acts differently and the effect is certainly different. In this conversation he tells us:
- Why he got rid of the TV at 18 years old
- Why he rescued a shapely old Portsmouth Ferry from the riverbed
- How his floating home became a reflection of his warped self
- What a squircle is
- The freedom that comes from a frugal lifestyle
- The simple way to get a bus on a boat
- Why he and nature prefer curves to rectangles
- How a spell at VSO shaped him
- His unwillingness to ask for help
- His confidence in his own ability to solve practical problems
- Why he's done with the car
- Why he's done with politics
- Why we should listen to Greta Thunberg
- He's ready for a change and fancies getting his hands on a wood
Greta Thunberg
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3124660/From-rusting-coach-coal-carrier-Del-Boy-s-car-sticking-wall-wackiest-houseboats-Britain-selling-325-000-each.html
- Why he got rid of the TV at 18 years old
- Why he rescued a shapely old Portsmouth Ferry from the riverbed
- How his floating home became a reflection of his warped self
- What a squircle is
- The freedom that comes from a frugal lifestyle
- The simple way to get a bus on a boat
- Why he and nature prefer curves to rectangles
- How a spell at VSO shaped him
- His unwillingness to ask for help
- His confidence in his own ability to solve practical problems
- Why he's done with the car
- Why he's done with politics
- Why we should listen to Greta Thunberg
- He's ready for a change and fancies getting his hands on a wood
Greta Thunberg
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3124660/From-rusting-coach-coal-carrier-Del-Boy-s-car-sticking-wall-wackiest-houseboats-Britain-selling-325-000-each.html
Creators and Guests
Host
Neil Witten
Entrepreneur, Business Advisor, Podcaster @lifedonediff, Co-Founded @StoryStreamAI now building https://t.co/61uQZyYifN & https://t.co/wIogojBjyT You only get 1 go, live consciously 🏂
Producer
LifeDoneDifferent.ly
Home of the https://t.co/eegDhGkRPT podcast. Inspiring interviews with people who go against the grain & live their lives differently. @nwitten & @rayrich