[philbarr]

I went on holiday to Spain once, bought an inflatable dinghy and paddled with a friend for a long time around the coast until we got to a beach. On the beach was a naked man. After we had convinced him to get some pants on (mickey mouse boxer shorts) he told us his story.

Basically he'd gone on holiday exactly like us once, found this beach, and just thought, "fuck it" and stayed. Fuck the job, fuck the family, fuck the friends, everything. He lived in a cave near the beach, the locals gave him food and he did the odd job when he could be arsed.

Ever since I've thought, "if it ever gets so bad I want to kill myself, I'm just going to get up and go back to that beach."

That simple thought alone has got me through some rough times.

As we paddled away from the beach other people started coming out of other caves to come and watch us leave.