Getting to Know Restless Jo: PRIORHOUSE INTERVIEW with Johanna Bradley

Hello Readers.

Guess what today is?

It is time for our first Priorhouse Interview of 2023.

Today’s Interview is featuring Johanna Bradley, also known as Restless Jo. 

All photos in this post are from Jo’s blog and belong to her. I shared a few to give you a feel for her style and vibe. 

Prior: Hello Jo. I think we have been blog friends since around 2013 and my goodness, the years sure have flown by. 

Jo: It’s fascinating looking back, isn’t it?  I started my blog in September 2011 and it was called Restless Jo: https://restlessjo.me

On that blog, I wrote mainly about my Northeast of England roots and the places I loved to wander.  Chief among them, Portugal, where I had a holiday home and hoped one day to retire, and Poland, where I had a newly acquired Polish family and a story to tell.  Dad had left his family home at the age of 15 and not been reunited with them until 64 years later.  The 10 years that followed were amazing in many ways, and at one time I thought I might write the book of Dad’s life story. 

Prior:That sounds like it would have been a great book but I can see how the blog worked better in this case. 

Jo: The cast of characters involved was huge, for overnight I had acquired 26 Polish cousins and members of their families. I felt that I did not know enough of the details and did not wish to offend anyone with half truths, so the blog format provided the perfect showcase for snippets of family history.  When Dad died in 2016, many of the facts died with him, and it seemed as well to let sleeping dogs die.  I still maintain many of my connections with Poland, but a permanent move to Portugal had then become a possibility and occupied much of my attention. 

Prior: I think I met you through your Dawn Miller’s Window Photo Challenge, and that led to Monday Walk with Jo,

Jo: I remember joining Dawn’s challenge too. And I started the regular walking feature on my blog in March 2014 and called it Jo’s Monday walk.  It was simply a means to showcase the different places I enjoyed visiting. 

I was a member of a regular walking group in the UK and walking is still my main form of exercise today.

Although I wrote in general terms about travel, most of my explorations have been on foot. I’ve never been well coordinated. I can’t ride a bike, or drive.  Don’t even mention roller skates! 

In the years when our house in Portugal was just a holiday home, we joined a couple of walking groups in Portugal, both to explore the surrounding area and to establish friendships. The groups have served us well and my closest friends in the Algarve were met on walks.

In November 2018, we finally sold our UK home and made the move to live in Portugal. We left behind family and many friends, always with the exhortation to come and see us whenever they could.  Most have visited, and all have loved the place we now call home, but there were plenty of doubts along the way.  All found their way into the blog in a series called Living the Dream: https://stillrestlessjo.com/living-the-dream/

Prior: I saw that “living the dream” page on your new site and can you share a little about how your blogging has evolved over the years? 

Jo: Preparing for this interview with you, I spent some time reading back through blog posts and many comments. It stirred up a lot of wonderful memories. However, so many of the people I met early in my blogging years no longer blog.  Some, sadly, have died. 

In the beginning days of blogging, I took part in various blog challenges.  It was the accepted way of meeting people and expanding a blog following.  I loved the connections I made. 

Prior: In addition to your walking challenge, you are also noted for being active with the Six Word Saturday challenge. 

Jo: Yes, the Six Word Saturday is a challenge that I carried forward for many years. Here is a milestone page for that challenge. 

Six Word Saturday has provided me with a lot of fun and I adapted it to suit myself.  A lady named Viv, who had Northeast of England roots, moved to Brittany and she was a fine poet.  Viv and I formed a mutual admiration society. As sometimes happens, we arranged to meet, at a newly opened park, Northumberlandia. A bitterly cold day, we almost had icicles on our noses as we struggled to the top of a manmade hill to look down on the grassy figure of a woman and the lakes surrounding her.  The tearoom afterwards was probably the best part of the experience. Here is a link to that walk

Warming soup was followed by cake, and my reputation as a lady who eats cake was born.  Viv died just a couple of years later and I attended her funeral in Newcastle-on-Tyne. Ron, a published poet and a good friend of Viv, Tillybud, and a lovely old guy called Jim, who had numerous blogs, and a snowbird called Jackie, who loved to travel, were among the many other people I met. 

Six Word Saturday was originally hosted by an American authoress, Cate. She had a good following in the U.S.A. Then, with over 400 six-word posts under her belt, Cate decided it was time to move on.  Reluctant to let the challenge disappear, Debbie, from Travel with Intent took the lead and the base transferred to England.

Prior: Even though I do not participate in Six Word Saturday, I do remember when Debbie took it over. I have followed Debbie Smyth (here) for many years and I remember when her gravatar initially said, “Happy Person.”  I thought that was pretty cool. I also thought her photos from around the world were pretty cool. 

Jo: I greatly admire Debbie’s wonderful photography.  And Debbie had a very relaxed attitude to hosting the Six Word Challenge and so I continued to contribute.The challenge has been going strong ever since. Along the way, I met many new friends, which included a talented cartoonist, Jakesprinter. 

Prior: Wow. I remember Jake! I recall that he used to make incredible “moving images” and had very advanced gifs (well, advanced for back then…)

Jo: Jake ran a challenge for a while, then stopped. I think he recently restarted in a different guise (here). At the time I met Jake, I also met a lady I know as Poppytump, who paints beautifully and takes superb photographs. Poppy found artistic expression in delving deeper into painting and photography and no longer blogs, but occasionally I have a lovely surprise when she pops up on my blog in the comments.  I love being a small part of so many people’s lives.

Prior: I also like being a small part of people’s lives. And I have had a few special blog moments with you, Jo. Like the time we both snuck online on Christmas day and had a little “in-real-time” holiday chit chat. That was fun. 

I have also enjoyed your varied photos. When I think of your vibrant photography, I think of the beach, art, food, tea, flowers, paths and lookout points to majestic views. I also think of culture-rich photos with unique tiles, art, and of course hanging laundry!

Jo: I was thinking about “What draws us to each other as we blog?”  Many of us connect through a love of photography, love for words, art, nature, cookery, sewing or, in my case, travel.  However, many times the connection relates to having a shared background.

For example, two ladies from Australia, Rosemay and Pauline, both have a family background in Yorkshire and the three of us exchange details that have shared meaning. Also, I have much in common with Jude, of Cornwall in Colour, and Tish Farrell, of Writer On the Edge. I found I had so much in common with them both.  

Meg Davis, another Australian lady, has Polish twin grandchildren and I met up with her in Lodz in Poland, and again in Warsaw, with Lucid Gypsy, lovely Gilly from Devon.  Neither are currently in mainstream blogging but we keep in touch.  

So much joy has come to me through my first blog.

But changes were afoot.  

If you court an audience and are successful, the numbers of visitors begin to build. 

 It was always my policy to respond to each and every comment and to make a return visit whenever a ‘like’ was registered.  Gradually, your blog can usurp your life. 

Prior: I agree that the time spent blogging “can usurp your life” and I can understand why people walk away for good. I also understand why breaks are needed and I try to take time away “before I need it”  – but it is NOT always easy to do. Oh and while I was getting some of your images for this post, I discovered this sunset photo you shared in a post. To me, it felt like the opposite of burnout. This feels like joy.  It is such a fantastic photo, Jo.

Joy

Jo: Thank you and blogging does take assessing. There was a time when I began to resent the amount of time I spent responding. Once I moved to Portugal, my very active life there meant that I no longer had the time to do so.  Yet I still wanted to write, and to share my experiences. The challenge system became a hindrance to writing freely on themes of my own. I decided to cut loose (close down RestlessJo blog.  So when it was time to renew my fees to WordPress in September 2020, I started a new blog. I did not sever ties completely and I actively sought the company of many I had liked and respected from the first blog.  But I resolved to keep the new blog small, and to write for myself.  

My blog is essentially a diary and I’m happy with that.

Prior: Sounds like a happy outcome.  I think a big takeaway from our mini interview today has been the highlight about the HUMAN SIDE of blogging. We all need regular assessment with output and engagement. Your sharing reminds us that we need to evolve with our blogs and we might have MANY changes.

Blogging has changing seasons. Times when we “pour in” and times when we “pull back” or maybe even stop.  The thrill of blogging can get lost in a black hole of a drain and each one of us needs to assess regularly so we prevent burnout that could lead to being done for good. As noted above, I found that taking blog breaks helps me. It can be hard to start the break and then difficult to find a groove after a break, but I try and take them to stay fresh. 

Jo: I agree. I do still always write for myself but some things seem inescapable and Jo’s Monday Walk challenge reappeared on the new blog.  

Prior: Well Jo, I think you also sensed that many folks really missed the walks. And i knew it was back again because I saw posts coming up – lke Janet’s here. I am glad you started the walk challenge again. Readers can find out more about Jo’s Monday Walks here.

Jo: The challenge works for me as a way of showing people my world in an informal way.  And cake has become a tradition. 

Prior: Yes ma’am – the cake (often at the end of lunch after a walk) has become a fun part of many posts.

Jo: Not that I have an especially sweet tooth, but my husband certainly does.  And as he’s the one with the sense of direction, I have to keep him sweet.     

Prior: Speaking of sweet, I wanted to share a photo of your daughter, Lisa, with the teacup on her head. Partly because just last week you and I were chatting about how you used to tell us that the “kettle is always on.” 

Prior: Jo, thanks so much for your time with this interview.  How can readers connect with you?

Jo: It was a pleasure, Yvette. The Stillrestlessjo website is here: https://stillrestlessjo.com/

Closing Notes for Readers

     For those that want a sample of Jo’s original and stylized writing, here is a snippet from her light show post in 2011: 

“I couldn’t conceive how such a thing was possible and the magic of the whirling snow flakes enthralled the crowd. So much more was there to see.  We lingered beneath the towering illuminated viaduct as trains slipped across, seeming not to wish to disturb the soundtrack to the patterns created on the side wall of the North Rd Methodist Church.  Up the steps to the Gala Theatre, head swivelling to take it all in. And then …. ” (read the full post here) 

      For those that want a sample of how Jo leads us through a walk, here is a snippet of a 2022 post:

“As the sign suggests, we were a long way from home, but seldom have I been happier than on that sunny morning. At peace with the world, and the world was certainly peaceful in Lamego. As yet, not a coach trip in sight as we mounted all 611 steps. Plenty of time to stop and stare at the beauty all around.” (read the full post here)

 For those that want to see a sample of Jo’s awesome street shots, here is a painter in action (with a few of Jo’s words included): 

Questions for readers:

• Have you done a Walk with Jo post or a Six Word Saturday post?

• Any comments or questions for Jo? (Like why is she so restless? jk) 

• Is cake a tradition in your life? (I am glad I have fund a have a nice Paleo recipe)

• Have you had any blog changes that led to breaks, changes, or creating an entirely new blog?

Thanks for joining us today!

***Update: Jo’s Interview @Always Write is HERE***

Other Priorhouse Interviews can be found HERE

Next Interview is with author Liz Gauffreau HERE

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