October seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye, but when I actually looked back through my calendar, I realised just how much had been squeezed into it. There were cars arriving and leaving, filming days, conferences, meetings, long drives, London trips, industry events and, rather unexpectedly, a visit to the House of Lords. At the time, most of it simply felt like moving from one thing to the next, but looking back, it was actually a pretty memorable month.
Back out in the automotive world
One of the things I enjoy most about working in the automotive industry is that no two weeks are ever quite the same. October was a particularly good example of that. Early in the month I headed up to Birmingham for Fleet Mobility Live at the NEC, followed almost immediately by a trip to Coventry ahead of the BVRLA Leasing Broker Conference. There had already been quite a bit of preparation going on behind the scenes for the conference, so it was good to finally get there, catch up with people from across the industry and see everything come together.
I think that is something I appreciate more now than I probably did a few years ago. So much of working life has become Teams calls, emails and messages that there is still something genuinely valuable about being in a room with people. You have conversations you simply wouldn't have scheduled online, bump into people you haven't seen for months and often come away with ideas that have absolutely nothing to do with the session you originally went there to watch.
Cars, filming and a very busy driveway
Cars were, unsurprisingly, another fairly constant feature of the month. The Nissan Micra, Kia EV5 and Polestar 3 all made appearances, which meant plenty of driving, writing and filming. I sometimes forget how unusual it is to have a succession of completely different new cars appearing outside the house and to be trusted to go away, live with them and form an opinion.
The Kia EV5 was probably one of the cars that surprised me most. It is exactly the sort of proper, practical SUV that I tend to like, with a comfortable driving position, plenty of space and a feeling of being a genuinely useful everyday car rather than something designed purely to make a statement. The Polestar 3 offered a very different experience again, while the latest Micra was another reminder of just how quickly the small electric car market is changing.
Towards the end of the month the Geely Starray EM-i arrived too, so the revolving door of cars certainly wasn't showing any sign of slowing down. There is obviously a lot of work involved in reviewing cars properly. Driving them is the fun bit, but there is also researching specifications, filming, photography, writing and trying to explain what a car is actually like to live with rather than simply repeating the manufacturer's brochure. Even so, I still get excited when something new arrives. Cars have interested me for as long as I can remember, so being able to make them part of what I do professionally still feels like a privilege.
Looking outside the automotive bubble
October wasn't entirely automotive either. I travelled into London for the Webtrends Optimize Client Summit at Century Club, which turned out to be one of those events where getting outside your usual bubble is probably the most valuable part. Hearing how businesses such as ODEON, Halfords and TK Maxx approach conversion, experimentation and customer behaviour was genuinely interesting. Automotive businesses sometimes have a habit of looking primarily at what other automotive businesses are doing, but some of the best ideas can come from completely different industries.
The afternoon eventually moved on to Flight Club for food, drinks and darts, which is certainly a better ending to a conference than sitting in another meeting room.
A rather unexpected trip to Westminster
Another slightly surreal moment came later in the month when I found myself at the House of Lords for the CACT Awards. There are certain places you visit where you can't help stopping for a moment and taking in your surroundings, and that was definitely one of them. Whatever your views on politics, walking through somewhere with that much history attached to it feels quite special.
I think experiences like that are also a reminder of how unpredictable life can be. There is no grand plan that says one week you'll be filming an electric SUV, another you'll be at an automotive conference and then suddenly you'll be walking through the Palace of Westminster. Sometimes opportunities simply appear, and I've become much better at saying yes to them.
Back in Brighton, there was also the Starr Trust event at Sussex Cricket, which brought things a little closer to home. Brighton has been home for several years now, and one of the things I've enjoyed is gradually becoming more connected with the city, its businesses and the people doing interesting things here. Travelling around the country is great, but there is something equally enjoyable about heading to an event and knowing you're only a short journey from your own front door afterwards.
The bits the calendar doesn't really show
Of course, the calendar doesn't show everything. Between the conferences and cars were plenty of ordinary working days, marketing planning, website projects, SEO work, meetings and all of the other things that fill the gaps. I've also been spending more time developing my own website and publishing more automotive content. That has become a surprisingly enjoyable project in itself. What started as somewhere to put a few thoughts and car reviews has gradually become something I take much more seriously.
There is something quite satisfying about building your own corner of the internet. I can write about a new car one day, an industry issue the next and then occasionally publish something like this, which has absolutely no particular SEO strategy behind it and is simply a record of what I've been doing.
Looking back at October also made me realise that I am probably not always particularly good at appreciating things while they are actually happening. A busy week often just feels busy. A long drive feels like a long drive. Another event becomes another entry in the diary. It is only when you look backwards that you realise how many interesting moments were buried between all the normal ones.
There were definitely points during October where I felt tired and probably wondered why I'd agreed to quite so much, but I wouldn't really have wanted it any other way. Cars, travel, meeting people, learning new things and occasionally ending up somewhere completely unexpected are all things I enjoy. Somehow, October managed to contain quite a lot of all of them.
And if November is even half as busy, I might need a quieter December.