The Pivot: From Routine to the Road

Before we get into travel blogging, I’m going to detour into the how this all came about. When I met Stewart, he had already given everything up, sold his Family Law Practice and house and got rid of the car to go travelling in India and beyond. Being someone who had always toyed with working abroad or was thinking of ways to dodge GCSE exam result week and extend my solo travelling to the full summer holidays, this dream resonated with me quickly. But I’m also a creature of habit and love a routine! How do you give up everything and leave your home and security behind? For Stewart, it was a different story. He needed a challenge, a break, a new reason for being that wasn’t just about amassing more pension. We talked about doing this in a few years time – maybe me retiring early. But then grandchildren and parents might need us more on a day-to-day basis and it would feel selfish to just do for ourselves when they needed support. I became more and more sure that now was the time, particularly this year. Watching how connected Stewart is with his family, I knew that our priorities were the same and they would always be our constant no matter where we went or for how long.

So decision made? We’d go this year. But even though I was sure – it was stupid things that made me falter. My books: my colour coordinated bookshelf. Storage is so expensive and there’s only so many bits you can stow away in your Mum’s bungalow loft. Friends would say: but what about your books? I realised that even they didn’t matter. In reality – I have had 11 years of that ‘stuff’: clothes, books and Fiesta deals. What did I want? 10 more years with the same things or a bunch of memories, photographs and experiences that break with routine and set me on a crazy new path. I’m not saying losing the stuff was easy but once I’d made my mind up it was going, it just became a process. Stewart already knew how difficult it was to decide what to do with everything, particularly when you get down to those pesky bits in the ‘rubbish drawer.’ But it was amusing watching him on the last night in the house surrounded by the 20 bits of things he’d reunited with since India or bought, none of which would fit in his backpack!