For me, it’s the ultimate high. It’s stimulating. It’s addictive. It’s an adrenalin hit. And, it can kill you. No, this isn’t cocaine, smoking, gambling, booze or even high-speed track racing. I’m talking foraging. Yes. Shrooms.

You might imagine bearded, basket wielding gentlemen in their 60s, and you’d be right. But foraging is a high-risk sport, where you can gain as much as you risk. I’m not so much into hogweed, seaweed, wild sorrel or sloe berries: none of these things quite do it for me as much as fungi.

With mushrooms there’s a greater sense of serendipity, there’s more geekery to learn, there’s more pleasure in the eating, processing and storing, now I sound like a serial killer. But there is also greater risk. One of the esoteric and delightful peculiarities of the mycological world are the dark and evocative names given to different fungi. The Destroying Angel, The Fool’s Funnel, The Deathcap, The Funeral Bell. Like Ronseal, they do what they say on the tin.

Which is why foraging is something that should be taken incredibly seriously.

Just like Bieber and the Beckhams, many edible mushrooms have deadly look-a-likes, so you have to be 100% certain before you transfer anything from field to plate. This involves going on courses, learning how to forage responsibly as well as safely, consulting reference books, doing spore prints, quite a fun exercise with a piece of paper and a glass, and if you’re really serious, examining cell structures by taking slices of shroom and looking at them under a microscope.

You may well be asking yourself, where’s the pleasure? And what on earth does this have to do with lockdown or advertising?

A moment of escapism

So, here’s the thing.

Our industry can be quite intense. And to evoke the sacred COVID mantra: now, more than ever, we all need a bit of escapism. The ability to change tracks, shift our focus, leave the day job at home, as we’re no longer able to leave it in the office. To turn off our jobs and do something completely different instead.

For me, there is no greater kick than getting lost in the woods on a hunt.

Foraging connects you to the seasons, to nature, to trees, to decay, to the weather, to the soil. All these things and many more help you to determine where to look and what to look for. Because mushrooms are constantly hiding in plain sight. But unless you are tuned in, 99% remain invisible. They grow everywhere, on the side of the road, in your garden, in cemeteries, in cities as much as in the woods, some of them can grow right through concrete.

Taking the pressure off

I could write paragraphs on my favourite edible finds. The watermelon smell of Druid’s Saddle in spring. The sulphurous bright yellow velvety Chicken of the Wood, followed by spongy, delicious intense Boletes. Oyster mushrooms springing from trees Golden seams of Chanterelles hidden amongst beech leaves. Wood Ear mushrooms that actually look like human ears growing out of elder trees. Beefsteak mushrooms that look like a human organ, red and bleeding but that make awesome jerky once marinated and de-hydrated. Bright purple Amethyst Deceivers that are excellent steeped in vodka and transformed into a Martini.

St. George’s mushrooms that fruit in fairy rings on each St George’s Day. Trooping funnels, Cauliflower fungus, Honey fungus, the delicious Velvet Shank, the purple legged Field Blewit, the Prince, I could go on.

But I haven’t written this to try and convert the world to forage. Quite the opposite; the less foragers the better! My realisation is this: if you work hard at what you do, whatever that may be, if you give it your all, you need an equitable diversion to find balance. Something else that though it requires as much dedication, energy and commitment it is totally different. Something that stretches your mind in a completely different direction.

Because if you pour your brain, body and soul into something else with equal vigour, it’s the best way to create space, to take the pressure off and breathe. Netflix and chill, which just saps the little energy I have left, as I sink deeper into the sofa, doesn’t quite kick it for me, you see.

So, if you really want to escape, find something you love. And whatever that may be, cycling, baking, candlestick making, give it your full attention.