
A moment that changed me: I had a wild London party life – until I met a man who lived on a houseboat
Romantically, I was jumping from one emotional disaster to another, falling for unsuitable people, closing my ears to those who dropped hints about biological clocks. I had my dream career in publishing and most weeknights could be found stumbling out of the Groucho Club and into a cab. In the early 00s, publishing was all about 'networking' and there was always someone keen to go for 'just one' – code for a late night of heavy drinking, often culminating in karaoke. I'd get out of bed at 9am the next day, get on the tube and be at my desk by 10, with my boss shaking his head knowingly at my 'breakfast meeting' alibi. Then I'd do it all again.
I was a total ageing party girl cliche. My parents had given up on the idea of me settling down and, luckily, I had a younger sister who was getting married, which took the pressure off. I spent her wedding determined to be the last one on the dancefloor in my bright pink dress and feather boa, so that no one would guess I was as worried about my future as they all seemed to be.
And then I met James. We'd actually crossed paths some years earlier, but our mutual friends began to nudge us towards each other around 2008, after we each went through a breakup.
Something in me knew that I needed to tread carefully with him. James was super-smart and intuitive, didn't like arguments and stood up to me when I behaved carelessly. He challenged me in a way I hadn't encountered before.
He also had a rootedness about him, seeming settled and happy on Taggs Island in Hampton, south-west London, where he lived. I'd heard some time before that James lived on an island houseboat, a place where you woke to the swans and the geese, and the rowers, with an eccentric and wonderful community, like a floating village. At that stage, I hadn't been interested in swans, or rowers, or community, but when he invited me to lunch at his home, I thought I'd better go and see what all the fuss was about, swallowing the expensive 40-minute cab ride to get there. That July day, everything sparkled on the river. We sat in the garden, surrounded by climbing roses, watching the boats going past, with friendly neighbours dropping in to say hello. We even swam in the river. By the end of the date, I didn't want to go home.
Things became serious between us very quickly and we decided to try for a baby, but that didn't mean I wanted to give up my flat or my work-hard-play-hard lifestyle. Even though I could be in Waterloo in 40 minutes, Taggs Island felt like a long way from city life – and I was looking at an hour and a half's commute to work. When I became pregnant, I knew that living between our two homes was no longer feasible, but I found it hard to let go.
I finally moved to the houseboat the summer before our son was born, after James convinced me that it would be an amazing place to bring up children: the freedom, the river, going to school by boat, a huge park on our doorstep. James was already a devoted islander but I found the change hard at first. I wasn't used to the lack of privacy, the island WhatsApp group that pinged all day long or the long commute as I got enormous and tired.
And then, something magical happened. On one of the first days of my maternity leave, I was feeling lost and out of place, miles away from the 'real world', when I received an invitation from a lovely neighbour, who also had a baby, asking me for tea. We had a lot in common: she was also an older mum, a writer, and had previously led a Soho life. That tea on her balcony led to us spending most of our maternity leave exploring local child-friendly cafes together, and forging friendships with other mothers on the island. Some of them had grown up there themselves and had wanted to return with their own kids.
It gave me a sense of the legacy and the unique appeal of this extraordinary place where I now live. After that, there was no stopping me: I leaned into island life, joining the local book club and even taking up kayaking. I began to discover what community means and how important it can be in supporting you when you feel like a fish out of water. I now have a floating office in a canal boat and enjoy working from there more than I ever did in the city – even if there are fewer opportunities for post-work drinks and late-night karaoke.
River of Stars by Georgina Moore is published by HQ on 3 July (£16.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
6 minutes ago
- The Independent
Oasis dedicate song to Ozzy Osbourne as they begin series of gigs in London
Oasis dedicated one of their hits to the late rocker Ozzy Osbourne as they made a triumphant return to London for a series of gigs as part of their world tour. Liam Gallagher told tens of thousands of fans of his pride as the band graced the stage at Wembley Stadium for the first time in more than a decade. Just three songs into their much-anticipated appearance, he declared the crowd was 'f****** beautiful', having bowed to the sea of raised arms before him. Liam and brother Noel played with their band for the first of seven nights at the stadium on Friday – with five shows over the next week and two more scheduled in September. It was the first time they had appeared together onstage at the London venue since July 12 2009, when they performed during their Dig Out Your Soul tour. Towards the end of the gig, they paid tribute to Osbourne. Lead singer Liam said: 'I wanna dedicate this one to Ozzy Osbourne, rock 'n' roll star.' The Black Sabbath star's death at the age of 76 was announced earlier this week. Oasis superfans in bucket hats and branded T-shirts had packed the Tube en route to the gig from earlier in the day, with international accents denoting the band's worldwide popularity. As with previous gigs Liam and Noel walked onstage hand in hand, opened with Hello and proceeded to belt out many of their classics including Some Might Say and Morning Glory. The packed-out stadium was in full voice throughout and at one point Liam threw a tambourine into the jubilant crowd, while later positioning one on top of his head. Despite pledging to concentrate on his vocals rather than talking – telling those gathered 'every time I open my mouth at these gigs I seem to get myself into a lot of trouble so I'm just going to do the singing' – Liam later engaged in some light football banter. The well-known Manchester City fan appeared to poke fun at Arsenal fans in the crowd, joking about their position in the Premier league. Phone camera torches lit up the stadium as darkness fell. Friday's show – the eighth of the tour – followed a five-night run of homecoming gigs in Manchester's Heaton Park and the two opening shows in Cardiff earlier this month. Following the first part of their Wembley stint, the band will head up north to Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium followed by Dublin's Croke Park. The group will head to Japan, South Korea, South America, Australia and North America later in the year. Oasis announced their reunion tour in August of last year – 16 years after their dramatic split in 2009 which saw Noel quit following a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris. While fans were excited at the Britpop band's reunion, many were left outraged after some standard tickets in the UK and Ireland jumped from £148 to £355. The controversy prompted the Government and the UK's competition watchdog to pledge to look at the use of dynamic pricing.


Daily Mail
35 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
From delays to 'sub-par' performances with barely any singing - insiders reveal what's really going on with Justin Timberlake's world tour
Justin Timberlake 's world tour has been mired in controversy since his DWAI arrest in the Hamptons, where he made headlines when he told the officer, 'This is going to ruin the tour.' Since his much-publicized brush with the law in Sag Harbor, Timberlake's tour has been plagued with a slew of issues, including wardrobe malfunctions, low ticket sales, last-minute cancelations, feuds with his staff, and now, accusations of 'lazy' performances. Earlier in July, an explosive video surfaced of Timberlake, 44, completely losing it on his stage crew in the middle of his set at England's Lytham Festival. The viral clip showed the pop star trying to keep his cool after sound issues disrupted his performance of Cry Me a River. Timberlake seemingly had a meltdown, and launched into a furious tirade before storming away from his stunned team. But that's not the end of his touring woes. Now, the pop superstar is facing backlash from his fans for his tour stops in Romania and Ireland as they accuse him of a 'lazy' lip sync and demand that he's canceled for wasting his fans money. Daily Mail can exclusively reveal the drama behind his controversial concerts... and why his wife Jessica Biel is pleading with him to give up touring amid the brutal backlash. One insider told the Daily Mail that the SexyBack singer is 'in a rut' amid his flailing tour and desperately 'needs to do something new.' After he played Romania, a viral TikTok received 460,000 likes after a fan who paid 'a lot of money' to see him called him 'an absolute disappointment.' The Social Network star was late getting onstage, and then apparently only sang about five words of each song, according to concert-goers. He also wore glasses and a hat, so the audience couldn't see him, leading many to walk out in anger. 'You can't be singing two songs and then taking a break,' the content creator said, calling his behavior 'rude' and 'disrespectful,' before asking him to 'rethink' the concept behind his tour. The 'lackluster' performance was so embarrassing that multiple fans demanded a refund. In Dublin, his performance was much the same, as showcased by videos of Timberlake dropping the mic and simply walking around the stage lazily, without doing the dance moves he's known for. The same insider divulged that Timberlake 'wants to create new music and to do something he hasn't done yet' but feels stuck singing the same old songs he's been performing for decades, leaving him unmotivated. While there have been murmurs that he would reunite with his boy band NSYNC, it has yet to come to fruition. The reunion rumors reached a fever pitch as their former competitors the Backstreet Boys reunited at the Las Vegas Sphere as part of a historic residency. In fact, fans online begged Timberlake to rejoin his former boy band, joking that if he wanted to sing so little during his recent tour dates, he should at least have the others join him onstage. 'It's embarrassing how he's been basically doing karaoke,' the insider agreed. 'He knows that he's lost his mojo and he really wants it back.' A separate source weighed in on the state of his marriage, and how the tour has been leading to issues with his actress wife. The couple share two children, Silas, 10, and Phineas, four. 'Jessica thinks Justin has aged years since he started The Forget Tomorrow World Tour last April,' the insider claimed. While the tour is set to end on July 30, with stops left in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, Biel, 43, has seen 'how it has taken its toll on him, not just physically but emotionally.' Timberlake's devoted wife has stood by him amid multiple high-profile controversies, including in 2019, when he was caught holding hands with actress Alisha Wainwright during a night out in New Orleans. Now, Biel is worried that he's 'taken on way too much,' with the insider adding that 'he's no longer a twentysomething who can fly around the world doing concert after concert.' While Timberlake previously reigned supreme in the pop world, he's been met with lackluster sales and even worse reviews throughout the tour. Some locations have even dropped tickets to embarrassingly low prices while he's also performed to half full venues. It hasn't helped Timberlake's case that he's been forced to cancel a number of concerts with short notice, leaving fans fuming after they spent money and in some cases even traveled to the shows before getting the news that he wasn't taking the stage. In February, the Cry Me a River singer canceled the final show on his U.S. tour at Columbus, Ohio's Nationwide Arena Thursday, claiming he was sick. The shock announcement came only four months after he canceled his October 23 concert at the same venue amid a bout with laryngitis and bronchitis. It's not just his fans that are upset. The insider spilled that one reason Timberlake has been upset is because 'ticket sales haven't been as buoyant as he'd hoped.' 'He's become short tempered both on and off stage,' the source divulged.


Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Flight attendant's bizarre 'air aerobics' class mid-flight leaves passengers stunned
Flights are often getting delayed, but one airline employee has come up with a unique way to make sure passengers aren't held up too much. A traveler on a recent EasyJet flight, named Joe, took to TikTok to share a hilarious video of a cabin manager taking passengers through a series of movements in their seat, dubbing it 'air-aerobics.' The clip began with Joe in his plane seat listening to the voice of the crew member speaking through the inflight PA system, with a strange request for the passengers. On the clip, Joe wrote: 'What is going on?' as he looked amused and listened to the crew member. 'Just before we come into land … I've been flying for 30 years now … a couple of weeks ago, I just tried something to help the crew out, to help our operations to turnaround the plane quicker,' he said. 'I came up with an idea,' the experienced crew member continued. 'If you want to join in with this, please feel free … it's a bit of a laugh and a bit of a giggle. It's called air aerobics.' The crew member then pointed out the passengers had been cooped up in their seats for three to four hours due to a delay, before guiding them through some stretches. 'So what I'd like everybody to do is stretch around,' he urged. 'Lets see those arms.' He told everyone to lean to the right, then to the left, and then the middle. 'Touch your head,' he instructed. 'Touch your nose, touch your shoulders, touch your knees, no touch your toes.' Then, the stretch got interesting, with the crew member telling passengers to reach into the seat pocket in front of them and locate the safety card. 'Everybody pull that out and wave it in the air like you just don't care,' he directed, before delivering the final instructions of his air-aerobics. 'Put the card back in the seat pocket, with the "safety on board" sign facing you and placing the card in front of the other literature in the seat pocket,' he requested. 'Believe it or not, that's knocked seven minutes on my turnaround time,' the cabin manager told the plane full of passengers. 'Thank you very much for helping us.' The Daily Mail has contacted EasyJet for comment. Users chimed in with their thoughts in the comment section, many whom work in the airline industry. 'That's hysterical! Putting the safety cards at the front facing the right way does actually knock time off the turnaround,' agreed one user. Another joked: 'I thought he was going to say, "So you see the instructions for a crash landing, that's the brace position you all now need to take as the landing gear is stuck."' Someone else pointed out making sure to move on a flight can also help prevent deep vein thrombosis, which is a a blood clot that forms in a deep vein, usually in the leg or pelvis. 'In 2001 there was a lot of awareness of DVTS. I was on a flight and part way through Mr Motivator came on and made us exercise! No making us read though!' they quipped.