Living The Dream

Ollie Hibbert is only 22 years old, but he has owned this fine TR3A for three years already. We went to Norfolk to see if we could discover his secret.

- Simon Goldsworthy

They do say that the key to good comedy is timing. You could argue that the same thing is true of life in general, but while a stand-up comedian is generally in control of the microphone, we tend to float down the river of life at the mercy of its swirls and eddies and timing is largely out of our control. So, for example, as teenagers most of us have few responsibilities and plenty of time on our hands, but little cash to do all the exciting things we dream of. By the time we have a steady job and hopefully a decent salary, we can be too busy paying a mortgage and raising a family to do all the exciting things we dream of. Then as the years advance, we might find the dreams, the ready cash and the free time all coalesce, but health and energy might not be as plentiful as they once were.

I do realise this is a rather gloomy view of the world, and that a more positive outlook combined with a gungho attitude can help you grab life with both hands and wring the most from it at any age. For example, travelling on a shoestring and eking out every last penny in backpacker hostels as a teenager can be so much more exciting and educational than simply stumping up the cash for an all-inclusive package holiday. As for getting old, that can be as much a state of mind as a physical reality and I know plenty of people in their seventies and eighties who are still essentially teenagers at heart.