So it is the 3rd week of August 2018 and quite warm (take that to mean hot) here in Cartagena in Spain.  We have been having daytime temperatures of 30degrees+  daily since we returned from our UK trip and last night was the first night the temperature dropped to a comfortable 23degrees.  I’m not complaining.  This is why we sailed south for the sun and warmth.  How people work in these temperature though??  It’s not just physically draining, my brain is melting.

We had always said that after sailing we would go down the campervan/caravan route and still travel to new places just by land not sea. That moment has arrived. Sooner than we ever thought it would and before we have seen some of the places we wanted to see from Gleda.

We all know life is full of change and how you embrace that change has a massive effect on your wellbeing and future. I have mixed emotions. I love living on Gleda. I love the fact that not only did Neil build a boat he built us a home. However, home is us together and when Gleda sells that home will be in a fifth wheel caravan. We will have different opportunities in our travelling. Being able to easily visit inside a country and not just the edges being one.

Whilst I was craving crystal clear waters and starry skies I know that I can see crystal clear waters from our blow up kayak launched from a beach and that the skies will be just as starry from a remote inland site. I’ve not let go of my dreams but have just shifted them to our new reality.

Having re-read the above and despite bit of a weep, because I love Gleda, I love our live and I love what we are doing, I know I can embrace change, make it work, enjoy it and be happy. As Neil just said, he could never have imagined when he asked me to join him in his dream to build a boat and sail away that he’d see me upset about it coming to an end. That said if money was no obstacle would we keep Gleda and have a caravan? Possibly, probably, not sure. Gleda was built to sail oceans and to keep her as a houseboat and not let someone else let her reach her potential feels selfish. I might be selfish enough to do this but Neil isn’t.

We all know the adage about when one door closes another one opens and I’m a great believer in this and that sometimes the fates give you a nudge. I felt this about my redundancy (although still bitter about how we were treated, yes I know I should let it go) which was at the exact moment the boat was finished and gave me a financial cushion and now the caravan we have bought is based on the same site as Neil’s dad’s park home. A sign I believe that it is the right thing to do at the right time.

Neil is, as usual, being manly and bottling up his feelings but what a massive tug on his heart strings. Gleda has been in his life for nearly 12 years and the building process changed his outlook and life in unimagined ways.  It changed my life too.  We have no idea how long it will take for Gleda to sell and it feels a bit like we are in limbo.  We can’t make the caravan our home fully until we have sold and left the boat.  That said, I have been starting to sort out my stuff ready for the move from the boat to the caravan.  I have lists of stuff to sell, stuff to take, a little bit of stuff to store.  Long term we would like a permanent base.  A bit of land/home we can go back to after travelling.  Neither of us imagines that to be in the UK and having the truck and caravan gives us a means to travel around looking for areas we may like to make our home in the sun.  Some of the stuff I have to store is for this eventual home.

I’ve also done a bit of sewing and crochet and tidied up my website a bit.  I’ve updated Neil’s Books page and the Blogs/sites I follow page if you fancy taking a look.  The link is up in the top bar.

Neil’s Dad is coming to visit us in September.  He will be here for the annual Romans and Carthaginians festival.  It will also be his first time flying/leaving the country for around 20 years.  Airports will be a big shocker to him I guess.  They have changed a lot in 20 years and are a lot more stressful to negotiate.  Still at nearly 90 he’s doing really well after losing Betty at the end of December.  We are looking forward to showing him around and why we love it here.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow as Mum, Bry and friends of theirs are coming in on the P&O Cruise ship Azura and I get to spend the day with my Mum.