happy (5th) birthday Dumbo Feather! + all about Caravan

I was reading the  dumbofeather.com/blog a couple of days ago and noticed a couple of interesting posts on the blog of this magazine which was started up 5 years ago in June, 2004 by Kate Bezar. Last year my wonderful friend Louie from Newcastle sent me a subscription to this quarterly magazine which was the best gift I could have been given at the time! Dumbo feather, pass it on ...a mook- half mag, half book- features 5 'remarkable people' telling you their stories....each quarter brings 5 new stories! Its a non glossy mag with a few ads  ( of the kind you dont mind reading) and such a curious, seemingly low key approach that it actually forces me to stop and sit back a bit and find my way in to it... slowly... thoughtfully. I read Dumbo feather over a few days because I find it provoking musings on all kinds of subjects, yet  always starting with a story. Creativity, passion and integrity are the key elements in each story gathered....and it can vary from a person devoted to human rights in some remote location to one committed to baking the best sourdough bread in the world and everything in between. I find the most valuable characteristic of this wonderfully conceived mook is that much of what one reads tends to linger on the mind for days. More than most things I come across it actually leaves me restless and pondering how to shift various parts of my life around ...both small and large things...and not because of any tone of "10 sure ways to be more successful etc, etc"  which is common currency now. Instead, it is the very absense of hyped up, over-blown cliche story-telling that seems to give rise to the imaginative thinking around one's own choices and direction in a useful and timely way.

The other thing to pass on was found at The Nest by Dumbo feather and it was a post on the 'world's first housing resource just for creative folk' by the lovely Rebecca Wolkenstein called Caravan. Being curious I looked into it straight away and discovered the enterprising Rebecca, pictured below,

has recently soft launched Caravan as a house swap and sublet resource for creatives. Caravan are offering a month's free subscription to the first 20 people to list their properties. The free subscription can can be redeemed at any time. Remember, she says, making a listing is free! I exchanged several emails with Rebecca and she was absolutely charming and helpful. I wish her very well in this project as it provides a really wonderful possibility for interactions and exchanges between likeminded people and great places to stay with the added bonus of the affordability factor...  

Do Pass this on if you wish to see Caravan grow!