Touchdown Nottingham, Climbing a Mountain of Admin

To each and every person who commented on the previous post written as we waited at Calais, our heartfelt thanks. When we set off on our wanderings, we’d no plan to write a blog post each and every day. In fact, we’d not much of a plan full stop. Both the blog and our travelling evolved into something we came to love, most of the time at least! As the days rolled away we enjoyed more and more the way in which writing about travelling heightened our sensation of actually travelling. We’d push ourselves to be more gregarious, to lean into situations which frightened us, to look for the beauty in each place we arrived in, as we thought about what we might say about that day’s teeny adventure. We hoped to inspire more people to take the leap and to soak up the world. For each person who’s written to us to say our words, at least in some small part, helped achieve this, we felt a glow, a warm happiness.

There is of course a flip side to jacking your secure job in, renting out your house and turning yourself loose in the midst of a world-wide recession: the money will run out. We looked for ways to fund our travel and to cut our costs, and in many cases we chose not to use them. If we’d worked as chalet hosts, volunteered our time in hostels, campsites and on farms, or house-sat, then we’d still be travelling. All of these demanded we stay in one place for at least a couple of weeks, and that didn’t float our boat at the time, perhaps it will in the future. We could have eaten in less, or travelled far more slowly, and again we could still be sitting on a beach in Greece if we had, but again that missed our goal of seeing as much as we could, while we could. Oh, and I could have drunk less Lidl lager…

Now we’re back we’re in a weird situation of being unemployed, houseless (kind of, we chose to continue to let our house out) and with two years of admin to catch up on. Tax returns for us and our fledgling business, mail redirection, MOTs, insurance, dentists and doctors, you name it, it’s on a huge pile in the middle of my parent’s floor. They’ve done a sterling job too, I’ll never forget trying to use Skype to read some bit of bureaucracy we’ve been sent.

This part of the travel, the bit where we ‘slot back in’ was for us the part which almost stopped us doing it at all, a feeling which I imagine many of you reading this will share. I admit I drove off the ferry onto British soil with tears obscuring the lorries either side of me, mainly at the trepidation of getting my act back together. Our plan is to write more blog posts in the coming weeks to give some idea of how the process works and what difficulties we face, and once again we hope this serves to inspire.

So, time to head off to the Estate Agents to look at properties to Let and, who knows, maybe there’s a bank who’ll lend us the cash to buy somewhere…?

Cheers, Jay

16 replies
  1. Mick says:

    I would say welcome back to the real world, however I believe you are just stepping into a corporate world and leaving the real world behind you :-(

    Reply
  2. Simon says:

    Really good luck guys – I guess this is just the next stage in your ongoing adventure, though I can imagine it feels kind of daunting right now! I look forward to hearing more!

    Reply
  3. Susan says:

    A depressive cloud has decended over the lovely Hetty as she went into winter storage (sulking)We think she is missing Dave and his witty sense of humour but I have promised to reread all your blogs to her in preparation for her trip to Malta next April. .perhaps she will email Dave some of her adventures. .thanks so much for your stories. ..xx

    Reply
  4. shi says:

    Glad you arrived home in one piece.
    Interested not just in coming weeks but more importantly, 1 months, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year – when you’ve really absorbed it all and it’s starting to affect your ‘real life’ (tongue in cheek)
    Meanwhile, the rest of us are still living it …

    Reply
  5. Steve says:

    I will miss not reading your daily blogs they were great and very informative. Hope all works out for you and in a couple of years time get back on the road. Take care Steve, Annie

    Reply
  6. Buff Eagle says:

    Hugh and I are getting withdrawal symptoms at the thought of not seeing your pics especially of K9. We’ve enjoyed your trip so much.

    I post pics of my day on Fbook and so understand that knowing you are expecting to post about your day heightens your engagement with everything you look at and do.

    Best of luck to you both x

    Reply
  7. Linda & Richard says:

    We too will miss your daily blogs. We’re in our 60s and left New Zealand in 2010 for one year in the UK after chucking in good jobs. We’ve only been home once as there is so much to see over here. We combine house-sitting, travelling in our little van (Doris) and part-time work when funds are low. Like you, we’re not sure what on earth we’ll do when we go home, or even when we’ll go home. Looking forward to reading how you get on back in civvie street. Your writings are addictive and inspirational.

    Reply
  8. Andrew Dumbleton says:

    Dave needs to tour America I reckon. We ought to crowdsource fund yah (as long as we get a mention in the next book :)). I wish you well with your assimilation, I’m gonna miss your amusing musings; well done the three of you on your great adventure. Now climb that mountain!

    Reply
  9. Leasa Reid says:

    Welcome home from over here in Sydney Australia. You were my morning read whilst sipping my cup of tea. Sometime spilt over me from the laughter some of you adventures you blogged. You have given me something to aim for. Lap of Australia in our 1979 caravan for a year (in 5 years when my youngest turns 18) Then save hard to tour Europe hopefully in a campervan. The bus tours offered here never appealed to me but you have made us aware how the is another cheaper way & Aussie can do it too. Thanks for sharing & the best of luck for your next adventures.

    Reply
  10. lynne mosley says:

    good luck with whatever you decide to do next! I have really enjoyed your blog and look forward to hearing how you get on.
    regards to both

    Reply
  11. rose and paul says:

    you sum it up superbly Jay.
    As you know, we are with you guys and I hope anyone reading your site will just get up, get out there and do it. Live life and life will be lived as it should. Only thing we would change, like you is NOTHING.
    xxx

    Reply
  12. Julie & Norman says:

    We have loved reading about your adventures & have now taken the leap from tent to Motorhome. If you do plan a short trip in the UK in Dave we would love to welcome you to ours just outside Padstow in Cornwall. We are in Dubrovnick due to depart on the ferry tonight to Bari & back in the UK on 28th September. Hope to catch up.
    Best wishes Julie & Norman

    Reply
  13. Jenny Snel says:

    Good luck with settling back into life at home. We have been back in Aus. for 5 weeks now and are already looking forward to a trip next year. We miss our motorhome and the nomadic lifestyle it gives us and all the adventures. Glad we caught up with you in Bulgaria even if it was for only a short time. Best wishes from us both,
    Jenny and Ewout Snel, Adelaide, Australia.

    Reply

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