Well, without a doubt I have.
In 2010 Rob and I found a lovely old 1926 house advertised as "needs a lot of loving" and we had no idea just how much loving she needed. Nor how much of the next three and a half years of our lives would be tied up in getting her back into shape.
We are really proud of ourselves that we have taken this,
Without seeing the changes that have taken place behind that door, unless you were with us for the whole process, the blood (mostly Rob's), sweat and a lot of tears, these pictures don't do justice to just what an effort it has been.
But what was all this effort in aid of?
Apart from bringing a lovely old family home back to life it is also our plan to run her as a bed and breakfast in the future. But we just need a break first and some distance so we can come back refreshed and really appreciate how beautiful she is and open our door to the public
It's been a slow process, especially while Rob was working full time, but since July, when he left his family business to take a new direction, it's been full steam ahead. Having a deadline to work to has also definitely spurred us along to get everything done in time.
And why the deadline?
It's definitely time to run away, to take life at a slower pace, to live simply, to fully live each day, to see the seasons change on the other side of the world, to experience things beyond our own door step, to meet new people and see new places, to make now count and worry about tomorrow when it arrives.
With Rob's decision to leave the business we had the perfect opportunity to take a career break, take time out to really be with the kids while they are of an age to still want to spend time with their parents but also without too much impact on their schooling. The past few years have not been so much fun for them, with most of our weekends taken up with the house.
And so we are heading off and the clock is ticking the hours away until we are whisked off to the other side of the world to start our grand adventure. The plan is Christmas in Paris then six months in Britain and two months travelling Europe before three or so months in Croatia. We have no return ticket so the world is our oyster, or we might just decide "there's no place like home".
So little time left and so much to do.
We have been planning the trip, on and off since March 2012 to bring it all together and I would say it has amounted to a full time job for me. Rob's idea was to buy the tickets and see what happens, but I have planning in my blood and I wouldn't have been able to rest until I learnt everything there is to know about cheap airfares, train tickets, enrolling in schools in the UK, home schooling and the biggest questions of all, where to go and how to get there? Hmmm this definitely doesn't match my goal of living in the moment but old habits are hard to break.
And so we invite you to take this journey with us across the world. We four may be heading off alone but we would love our family and friends to come along for the ride.
