As is now an annual tradition, the group headed to sunny Suffolk for our writing getaway. OOO was on, Inboxes were shut, and WhatsApps were left with two grey ticks…

We started out at The Locks Inn Community Pub for some refreshment and to discuss our agendas for the week. For me personally, my Everests were to draft two papers: the first was to rework an earlier draft of a scoping review on the psychosocial benefits of transgender sporting participation; the second, was to edit a media analysis on whether a recent legal ruling affected transgender representation in UK Newspapers. I didn’t end up reaching either summit, however, both my climbing paths were rerouted to prioritise thoroughness as opposed to speed. The resultant final drafts will be much better for it.

Post the nourishment of our feed, and first 90-minute writing block, we set off in convoy to our farm/barn home. Embarrassingly, I managed to get lost trying to take a short cut… thankfully my driving was in juxtaposition to my academic approach on the trip. We arrived to the now familiar sound of bleating sheep and unpacked the Tesco delivery. Without boring readers with the premise of my current nutritional doctrine, all I will say is that my personal selections were met with disdain. Despite the seafood sticks being a solo venture, we ate communally all trip and thoroughly enjoyed the ritual of eating together.

One of our communal ‘pick ‘n’ mix’ dinners

Although a retreat in name, there was in fact no withdrawal from our Word documents’ calls to action. Our next few days were timetabled with multiple 90-minute writing blocks and the occasional treat of a 120-minute block. I needed every minute. Flow state is often discussed in certain disciplines within psychology, and for us it was certainly achieved. Between the satisfying tap-tap-tapping of keys, we scheduled an afternoon at the beach.

Tom working in the door of the beach hut…

The sea air was not the only thing to delight the nostrils of my colleagues, as I arrived sweaty post lunchtime run, fashionably late of course. My olfactory hum soon joined the humming of Laptop fans as we settled into our cute beach huts for some work. Amid the beach writing sessions Steph and I braved the sea, which I think certainly in my case, due to hygiene alone, the group was pleased about. The second writing session’s closing dip was finished with some delicious fish and chips expertly ordered by Leila. As a fine Englishman, and a Southerner at that, I insisted that my Irish colleagues tried a saveloy. Unfortunately, I think it was mainly enjoyed by a particularly brave seagull. Very rude indeed!

Steph, Reanna, Nichola and Tom in the sea…

All-in-all, I would say the retreat was yet again a resounding success! I already very much look forward to my third year of retreat writing in Suffolk. Next year, I hope to be drafting my PhD thesis for a submission comfortably before the deadline. In life, however, one can plan and hope for a lot of things, but what will come to pass shall always remain unpredictable. Thank you, of course, to all the team for putting up with me on the trip and for making it such a pleasant working environment. I remain optimistic toward the belief that outwardly I wasn’t too academically intimidating on the trip. Most importantly though, thank you to Steph for organising another productive getaway! I won’t speak for all of us, but I certainly don’t deserve such an effortlessly cool supervisor.

Until next time sheep.

Writing retreat… (written by Tom)

A bit of background