Trade 31 | Kimberley Mills
I arrived on the Sunday evening and, after initial greetings, was whisked out for dinner. Kimberley, Justin and Nina (I had met Nina during Trade 26) were keen to try the new Sushi place that had recently opened in Balham. We talked about Trump and Brexit (obviously), the role of University, Tim Ferris and, among other things, hot dog eating contests. Dinner and good conversation is definitely one of my favourite ways to begin a trade... so I could tell this was going to be a good one. The world record stands at 70 hotdogs in 10 minutes if you were wondering.
“How we consume is the only real power we have.”
It was novel to hear each of them separately describe living in London as (relatively) more affordable, spacious, friendly and nature accessible. Their collective time spent living in Hong Kong being responsible for this unusual outlook. Additionally, Kimberley's ability/discipline to maintain such a stockpile of snacks around the house and not inhale them all within half a week I also considered a novelty.
Not yet have I stayed in a household that took so much care in how it consumed - always trying to choose food/products based off the impact each selection had on the environment as well as the humans in the supply chain, sorting their recycling further than the usual standards and even using a renewable energy supplier (that I didn't even know was a readily available thing). As Justin put it, how we choose to consume holds far more weight than how we vote in influencing what happens further along the chain.
I also joined in on Kimberley's Yoga classes, Nina brought me along to the early morning Project Awesome workouts in London (more on that in trade 35) and I even tried and ate chicken liver and mussels for the first time.
The trade itself was creating some imagery for Kimberley's Yoga practice. This started in her studio then progressed to Wandsworth Common, Richmond park and weird looks from passers by on Millennium Bridge.
You can join her classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings near Wandsworth common (Monday also includes a post Yoga supper club). Get in touch with her here.
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British photographer moving between hosts and countries through a back-to-back series of creative trades. Exchanging my photography for all of my needs in a mission to reach every continent without needing money.