Life In The Camel Lane by Doreen M. Cumberford

What genre do you write and why?

I write non-fiction, through the lens of travel and self-development. I find this intersection very stimulating; it’s firmly affixed within my soul as a result of my life story living in eight countries on four continents for the last four decades.

I like to mix persuasive, descriptive and narrative writings to motivate, educate and inspire people to take action and conquer their struggles.  Fuzzy personal growth concepts can be mixed in with specific and definitive actions which use both sides of the brain and helps deliver balanced ideas and activities.

This field gives me the opportunity to write about living, working and learning across different cultures.  I can cover everything from culture shock to arriving and settling well into a home.

I love the constant variety and possibilities that reside in this seemingly narrow niche!

What is your next project?

My next project is “Home Again, Home Again, Jiggedy Jig….A Guidebook to Returning Home Well After Living Overseas”

For people who have never moved overseas and then returned home, this book might seem redundant.  After all what is there to be done other than packing, putting your body on an airplane and disembarking at the destination – right? – sorry wrong answer!

In this case reality is so far from the truth that we might as well start by speaking another planetary language.  The subject of Repatriation is wide and deep.  A variety of people are affected by international moves, including, but not limited to, the military, State Department employees, Non-Government Organizations, Charities, Corporations, Peace Corps, Global Nomads and location-independent populations.

Home Again, Home Again will be a combination of stories of people who have moved home and suffered through the challenges of Re-entry, and is designed to give people a coping system by which to manage the process and recreate a new adventure back home.

This book will contain exercises, questions and processes by which Returnees can process their overseas experience and ultimately build happier transitions.  The longing to reverse course and move back overseas to what had become familiar and natural is common.

My purpose in creating this work is to document my stories and the stories of others who have walked this path and unveiled the hidden gems along the way.  It’s also my heart’s strongest desire to support this community during these transitions with love and grace.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia forbids the sale and use of alcoholic beverages. How did you get along without it?

We did not do without.  We just adapted, like all good expats do.  This short article explains how we coped with the alcohol prohibition.  As a preface to this story, you must be aware that corporations employing western expats have dispensations from the government allowing them the freedom to make alcoholic beverages, but not to sell or transport it, even within the western compounds.

Memories of the Blue Flame

Back in the 1970’s some creative soul, a chemical engineer probably, wrote a document that was to become part of the holy grail of Aramco history.   The Blue Flame has become legendary in many circles.   Because Saudi Arabia has very strict laws regarding the production, drinking and possession of alcohol, the Blue Flame is an instructive manual on how to produce booze effectively at home.

Most of our homes had garages with an extra space, like a storeroom, except it was built with cinder blocks and was reinforced with a drain in the floor.   Air conditioning and water hook ups were piped into this room.

The natural ingredients for booze, or siddiqi (meaning friend in Arabic) were easily available at all grocery stores and even at the Commissary on the compound.   Many people had their own stills and a built-in sales business.

While we didn’t own a still, we were able to buy the raw siddiqi.  We also purchased and imported flavored wood chips which we would toast in the oven then soak in the raw liquor for weeks or months, or until at least the next party or occasion.  This created a kind of flavor liquor similar to American whiskey.   Many of these beverages were delicious and to this day many Aramcons prefer their “brown” to commercially made liquor back home.

In our household we tried our hand at winemaking.  This was in my opinion a grand failure.   About one out of every three bottles was reasonably drinkable, our reds were barley palatable, it was always a delightfully serendipitous moment when we managed to achieve a good wine.

Champagne, now that’s another story.   My husband applied himself more to brewing champagne than any other beverage and he was reasonably accomplished with it.  The recipe was simple, basically sugar, yeast, grape juice and water.  Each bottle was encased in a plastic grocery store bag in case of an explosion.

Yes, explosions were frequent.  The bottling factory was under the sink in our daughter’s bathroom, we occasionally heard pow – pow in the middle of the night.   We all learned to quickly go back to sleep.

There are layers of folklore, expat culture and history involved in the manufacturing and consumption of alcohol within the Kingdom.  Over time the original people who wrote the Blue Flame have assumed almost mythical proportions, the recipes, methods and advice has been handed down across the Aramco generations.

We frequently had fund raisers for one of the “morale groups,” another name for faith or religious groups who gathered on campus – another occupation which was banned out in the communities but tolerated and indeed facilitated by Aramco.   Someone had offered up a huge glass paperweight in the form of a blue flame, along with an original copy of the Blue Flame booklet.  It was approximately seven inches tall on a five inch wide base.   I was flabbergasted that it was auctioned off for the princely sum of five thousand dollars….here was someone who really put a great deal of stock in company traditions.

The closest I ever got to using the Blue Flame was copying a few recipes from probably twenty something year old copies; I might even have them somewhere in my memorabilia.  I tried a few liqueurs which were relatively tasty.  Homemade amaretto was made with almond essence, kalua used melted mars bars with coffee, Baileys was made by melting chocolate bars and adding condensed milk, vanilla and chocolate.

Many of us look back fondly on these deprivations and laugh about the amount of time and energy we spent circumventing the rules and the joy of rebelliousness.  Without those hardships the entire lifestyle might have been dull, with them it was anything but!

Do you ever get writer’s block? What helps overcome it?

Oh yes baby!  I have three remedies for writer’s block.

I am a huge believer in movement, both physically and emotionally.   One of the best ways for me to jump-start my thinking and there my writing is to physically go somewhere.   I can be bicycling, walking, hiking, paddle-boarding or playing pickleball and I think much more clearly during and after the activity.

I am obviously a big believer in travel.   Be it by ship, airplane, car or my personal favorite – train.

Growing up in Scotland I started traveling by train as a little girl.  My Mum would take me on a real steam engine (1960’s) to see my grandma every Monday down in Dumbarton.   I remember the pulsing pure excitement as I held her hand and walked down the Queen Street Station in Glasgow.  The great iron horse of a train would be belching, blasting and erupting steam.   I would be terrified until we boarded the train and set off.

A change of environment, an external stimulant or a piece of music, all of these can work to jog our memories and our brains which helps with writing.

On a Friday morning I am to be found in a speed writing group with women from all over Europe.   I love this group.   The different voices, vocabulary and turns of phrase really help me get in touch with the English language on a differing frequency.  Keeping our vocabulary tuned up and growing really helps us as writers to capture the ideas and concepts we would love to convey.

Finally, running water.   Sitting by a river, lake or stream – in fact any body of water, instantly helps me get into a better gear in life.  I do believe in the concept of flow.   Here’s a recipe, if you are at home, feeling jaded just run some water over some misshapen objects in the sink.  Next, close your eyes and let your mind drift….I bet something will happen, if nothing else you will get to laugh at yourself and laughter is also a terrific energy booster.

Here’s to your success in overcoming writer’s or any other block you might have.

If you could ask one successful author three questions about their writing, writing process, or books, what would they be?

One of my dreams is to sit down and have an afternoon tea party with J. K. Rowling.

Growing up in Scotland I can clearly see the threads of culture, language and imagination that tied together J. K. Rowling’s books.  I have ridden real steam engine trains, spent time in Victorian railway stations, and so many time walked the streets of Edinburgh as she did.  But I have never sat down with a very famous live author to have a conversation, and I believe that Rowling and I would have much to chat about.

I have drunk tea in The Elephant House in Edinburgh, now famous because Rowling wrote there frequently.  The café itself is a bit nondescript from the outside, but inside it’s like being on a scavenger hunt for Rowling and her thought process.

Like thousands of cafes in Scotland, The Elephant House serves the usual fare of sturdy breakfasts, amazing cakes and several authors like Alexander McCall Smith all found solace in this place.   I am a big believer in how place affects writing and, naturally, like the thousands of other authors who have sat in that atmosphere, I wondered if I could possibly channel such brilliance.

Edinburgh can be a “dreich”, meaning dull or dreadfully gloomy and usually associated with rain tipping down.  I imagine that Rowling sat there for many a day tenaciously writing, building images, concepts and even yes, magic into her books for hours.

I would ask her how she held onto her vision for all those years.   She shopped her book around to twelve publishers and suffered dissuasion, discouragement and I am betting some distraction along the way.   Yet, she is the very epitome of a real author who held onto her dream, lived fully into her vision and ultimately triumphed.

How does the writing process work for you? Do you schedule a time every day, work madly when inspiration hits or ? 

I meet with a group of other writers twice a week, at 6:00 a.m. in the morning on Mondays and Thursdays.   Believe me, it’s sometimes a chore and I have been known to skip on cold Colorado winter mornings, but generally for the last five years you will find me on a Zoom call with fellow authors twice a week.

Currently, my most favorite writing time is on a Friday morning with I meet with my speed writing group.  This group is a very disparate group of women.  We are differing nationalities:  one gal is Singaporean but lives in DC, one gal is English and lives in the Netherlands, one gal lives on the Isle of Man, another gal is French living in Germany and I am Scottish living in Colorado.

We choose really simple prompts, write for ten minutes then listen and offer praise.  The turn of phrase, together with the wild and visceral writing complete with a vocabulary that could fill several dictionaries emerges through these women’s voices.   I hear language and content in an environment that I could never recreate here in Colorado.

This is my most favorite and fun writing every single week.

When not writing, what do you most like to do to relax? Any favourite books you enjoy curling up with?Here’s the short answer:   house and pet sitting!

Here’s the long answer:  my hobbies are dependent on where I am in the world.

Because I am a globally mobile writer, my writing frequently has taken a backseat to the travel.  I am now managing to find my lane more frequently and easily while I am on the road.  Writing about travel while on the road makes my writing more visceral and brings it more present.  In the last year I have spent a month in each of six countries, then seven months in Mexico, four of them stranded by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This time last year we were living in a five-story townhouse in the north of Brussels, Belgium.  Near the Royal palace and parks and close to the Atomium, we were  caring for Patci, whose family were on vacation in Peru.   Patci, is an enormous Australian shepherd puppy who at eight months old was over 70 pounds packed with energy and enthusiasm for life.

We spent hours in the Royal park, meeting other dog owners, struggling to communicate in their language of choice.  French, German and Dutch are the official languages of Belgium, while normal day-to-day business is conducted in French and Flemish.   Most locals speak some English, many are fluent, the dog owners who frequented the park were eclectic and represented many nationalities, lifestyles and cultures.

Since my husband retired, we have added international pet and housesitting to our activities and have just returned from more than a year away.   Is it a hobby?  Yes! But it’s also a new lifestyle which both of us thoroughly enjoy.

Since writing is a relatively still pastime for the body, I find balance is best created by both sitting still and thinking, inter-mingled with plenty of movement.   My thoughts, ideas and inspiration come from not only moving my body through exercise, but also by transporting it somewhere by bus, train, plane, car or boat.  Leaving, arriving and departing contain terrific life lessons in leadership and culture which we can apply anywhere we find ourselves.

My home base is Colorado, in the US and while home I love to play pickleball, hike, bike and my new personal passion is now time spent paddleboarding.  Just a few days ago I managed to sustain two different yoga poses on my paddleboard, that’s a huge personal milestone for me!

Since my lifestyle is frequently portable or nomadic, I need to have activities that are also portable.   Since my feet carry me everywhere, I make it a priority whether in Scotland or Mexico, to take the time into every week to walk, hike or just generally explore.

We make a concerted effort to build some exploration into every week.  This practice seems to widen our ideas and contributes to keeping me feel like life is an adventure not a chore.