Benjamin Wylson 05.04.81
I was born in Islington in April 1981. My first home was a Crouch End flat, but my stay was short lived, and by the age of two I'd moved, because my architect father had bought, a tall ship called ‘Excelsior’; in need of drastic restoration. It was Dad’s dream that transported us, in the old blue Volvo, along the A12 to our new home. We moved from London to the most easterly town in the British Isles, Lowestoft, in Suffolk.
We lived in a terraced house, number 24 Windsor Road, without central heating, T.V or in some places, floorboards. Dad was senior architect for the local authority. He rebuilt the house and pumped the rest of his efforts into the boat, leaving my devoted Mum to cope with bringing up the family, which soon included my brother Jack when I was four, and when I was six, my sister Lizzie.
Throughout all these upheavals, Mum was dedicated to, and forever willing to accept her husband’s cause. ‘The Excelsior’, became one of the top 50 most important historic vessels in the country, opened by the then Princess Royal.
I went to local schools, and in the evenings stoked up coal fires while the bitterly north easterlies blew. The beach was my playground and in the holidays I stayed on my Grandfathers Farm in Kent, living a parallel existence of a wild country child.
As time passed, Lowestoft made my feet uncomfortably itchy. I spent much of my time talking of escape with the friend and mentor I call ‘And’.
Finishing High School gave me my first taste of outdoor adventure when I became trainee Boatswain on the very ship that moved us from London to my east coast home in the first place.
Then for four years I studied for my Degree in Interior Design at Bournemouth University, dreaming of all the places that -until we'd invented Free Wheels East- I'd only ever read about in books. Now I am on the road experiencing those places. All you need is a bit of money- surprisingly little -we think about 4000 pounds per year- the will to do something different and a window of commitment-less opportunity.
If you have a chance to get away, take it, you may never get that chance again.
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