Sometime shortly after the first lockdown ended, Sophie and I sat down to take stock of the situation: we were 6 months behind in rent; all our projects had been cancelled; our funding to work with the indigenous of Iquitos, Peru had been postponed and we had no savings whatsoever. We realised that if, as we expected, another wave of Covid-19 was coming, we would be unable to survive another lockdown: due to the NGO status of Real Lives, we would not receive any support from the State; Mark could not work in Austria due to his poor German; and the only job available for Sophie in the area was working in the local cafe/bakery.  

Daunting as our situation was, it was not that new: every freelancer or creative has periods of little or no cash flow and others where they are flush. We are used to having to reinvent ourselves and find money for new projects. Admittedly, the complications that a global pandemic and economic collapse added to the equation made our next move more difficult and more important.  

During the lockdown, I had started a podcast of conversations with creatives and freelancers to see how they were coping, both as a means of connecting with others like me and sharing stories our stories of adaption. The one overriding theme of these discussions was, ’freelancers/artisans adapt easily to changes in their environment and only by doing do can we continue to create no matter the circumstances in which we find ourselves’. Let’s face it, no one decides to become an artist for an easy life. I think suffering is considered a pre-requisite and, yet, we only suffer from the same passion that makes our lives full. 

From that insight, came an idea…if we knew we would die from Covid, how would we want to live our last days: stuck in a small town in Styria, Austria, with no ‘life’ or among those who choose to live fully no matter how much time they have left.  

So was born, Plan Bee: to travel by van throughout southern Europe; documenting the experiences of artisans, freelancers, culture protagonists and everyday people; and capturing as much traditional knowledge through oral histories at a time when we are losing elders faster than every in modern history.

Plan Bee was born out of necessity. Some would say we are crazy, they would not be wrong. Others would say we are refugees, they would not be wrong, either. And even others might complain that we are following a dream when we should be practical, they definitely are not wrong…at least about the dream part. But, however you rationalise it, Plan Bee was the only road we could see that did not lead to death or despair.