The last two weeks have been an absolute nightmare and left me questioning whether we have made the right decision or not. The day to day chores are becoming more and more unpleasant the colder and darker it gets and heading to the laundromat every two days is an expensive, time consuming and tedious task. Not to mention having to move site every 28 days! We haven’t been able to put a single penny towards our travel fund as we’ve had a number of unexpected expenses crop up and we are no closer to volunteering within the UK despite contacting 3 more charities.
As if that wasn’t enough we had a night of absolute gale force winds (up to 84mph) and eventually had to give in and say goodbye to Ernie the awning. I have never felt so close to the elements in my life. The wind was gusting through Ernie like the Death Eaters in the scene from Fleur and Bill’s wedding in The Deathly Hallows. We were all placing bets as to where the awning would be found the following morning. Warren and I hardly slept a wink that night but to all of our surprise as well as our neighbour Jason’s (who apparently went out at 3am to check his own awning and exclaimed, ‘How the f%^> is theirs still standing! ) Ernie was still there.
Another issue is the boys (13 and 12)…being hormone riddled miscreants, still without a school place (Thank you Hertfordshire County Council) they are seriously suffering from cabin fever. As I write they are sitting at the computer doing year 9 math (Pythagoras to be exact) whilst wearing Santa hats and calling each other names when one is slower than the other. Their only respite from the school of Mom is taking a break and racing to see who wins in the battle of emptying the toilet and filling the aqua rolls! The eldest has had a few moments recently where he has expressed his hatred for the caravan and told me how he plans to move in with his friends, how he no longer wants to go on our trip and how we are doing a really shit job of this ‘parenting thing’- I am pleased to say this is usually short lived and dare I say ‘normal’ for a child of his age. He is still regularly adding new destinations to our list so I believe, deep down, he is still onboard!
On the plus side,
– I can see past our current situation and feel positive we will be in a position to start saving soon.
– I am much more confident with regards education on the road as Ella is on par, if not, a little ahead of her peers after 8 months of homeschooling.
– Our lovely friend Clare offered to store some boxes for us so the new awning is mostly clutter free and ready for it’s Christmas transformation.
– And we are more determined than ever to persevere.
Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air -John Quincy Adams
Our Travelling Family 
You write with such passion and enthusiasm in spite of the hardships. The humour shines through. Really interesting reading… Can’t wait for the next instalment
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