The Big Blue Book Swap

I landed back into Blue Earth Summit for the third year in a row, this time with a travelling book swap in tow. 

Cue the 6AM train to London with a suitcase big enough to house the outfits of a woman travelling the world for six weeks, only, it’s filled with secondhand books. Two trains and two tubes later, the books arrive in London and so do I, albeit a little warm, a little weary, but ready for action. 

Blue Earth Summit is one of my favourite events to attend in the year. The people, the panels, the pure energy that is radiating from every corner of each room, it’s always so magic. 

There are a few things I could write and say and some of them are going to live in little homes of their own to stop this piece from becoming novel-length, but what I do want to share is the magic and the community that builds here year on year. 

Seeing Uncomfortable Conversations blossom after seeing them take the stage by storm in year one was something I will never forget, with Charlotte, Matt, Tess, and the team creating a whole vision and world for the spaces held for the big conversations, no matter how uncomfortable. 

Bumping into Hannah Cox on day one while wearing my thrifted Bristol jacket that she also owns, but hadn’t seen in, well, a good few months. Was this her jacket that had found its way to Bristol? Or were there two of these patchwork, worn-armed vintage jackets in the world? We had to wait over a week to find out, but it turns out there are two roaming the streets but what a trip and what a treat. 

Hosting the Big Blue Book Swap on day three and seeing good humans thumbing through pages of books that inspire, uplift, and make you wonder was a very juicy feeling indeed. Thankfully I only had a handful to bring back with me, so thank you for enjoying them and rehoming them for me. 

I’m off to ponder a little further and a little deeper into the themes and conversations that touched me over the three days, and I will share them with you when they’re ready to be heard. 

See you there next year?

I, for one, can’t wait.