Its been 6 months...

It has almost been 6 months since we have been away and we are getting closer to going back to work and at the end of the journey.

So far, this has been an adventure of 2 halves and a bit. The first half was travelling to the famous Trevor Aqueduct by boat, second half has been exploring North Wales and area around Chirk (with a quick trip to the Isle of Man). The final bit has been going back and forth to the Forest of Dean and area.

Our attention initially was different, we had always planned to keep travelling along the canal until winter and the stoppages, however as the Leeds and Liverpool canal was closed coupled with falling in love with North Wales our plans changed.

I loved cruising along the canal and recall with great affection sitting on the top of the boat taking deep breaths and enjoying the fresh air. We travelling through fields, woods and towns. Even though I preferred the countryside, the towns no matter how rough they were was interesting to travel through looking into peoples gardens and the different architecture of the buildings. At times there were many boats along the canal and other times we were the only ones for miles. To me the travelling had a draw back as I could never get attached to a place as we always moved on and even though we stayed in some places longer than others, I kept an emotional distance as I knew that if I loved a place I would be sad to leave which is why the decision to stay in Chirk for longer than expected was not surprise to me.

The second half of our trip was travelling around North Wales and surrounding areas and we have done over 3000 miles in 3 months. We have seen places which the canal boat would never see and probably where you would not go if you were on a weeks holiday in the area. I have lost count as to how many different places we have visited and I think I have walked more miles in the past 3 months than I have ever done. Some of the views have been breathtaking and I would not have missed them for the world.

This journey has not fully been about sightseeing. I have been able to switch off from the stresses and strains of everyday life and have enjoyed doing one task well rather than many tasks badly. I no longer multitask or always rushing. I can spend time just sitting and taking in the surroundings and therefore notice a lot more, ‘smelling the roses’ if you will. It of course was not always like that, at the beginning I really missed work, the routine and feeling useful. It has taken me a long time to fully appreciate and enjoy the journey. Perhaps through my training for work, I do lots of reflection, so I started to think about a few learning points and what I would tell a stressed, anxious, harassed version of me. As I thought for a moment I could only come up with the usual cliché such as ‘life is too short’ or ‘ wake up and smell the roses’ or ‘ you only live once’ and it dawned on me, my light bulb moment, I have always known of these sayings, but was always to stressed, harassed and anxious to appreciate them and realise how true they are.

So what does the next 6 months hold? Well, there are stoppages along the canal so we are going to stay put for a while, we are in a fantastic location for transport back home, shops, countryside etc The stoppages finish I think around mid February so that is when we will look at our canal guides and plan our journey home if the canal is not frozen! In the meantime, we will continue to use our little borrowed car and devalue her even further by adding even more miles to the clock.