One

Tuesday 11th September 2012

One (re-type)

A blog. Well seeing as I've tried to start a diary to document this rather monumental u-turn in our lives and failed, I thought I'd try a blog and see if I can do any better. The diary lasted a couple of weeks, I am a seasoned diary keeper (or was). My Husband despairs of all the little scribbled-in books I drag from one home to the next. They make me laugh when I read about who hated who at school. I wanted to write some of this down for my girls when they get bigger. They might want to know more about this recent chain of events..

Here's something I wrote a couple of months ago. I didn't finish it and I just found it.

So, we decided to go for it. On 6^th September - Husband, the kids and I are moving to Koh Samui, a little island in the gulf of Thailand.

To cut a (very) long story only slightly shorter....

Husband and I have been together since 2000. We have known each other since our teens and have been married for four years. We have two daughters, number 1 was born in 2004 and number 2 in 2007. We live in a beautiful house in a lovely villagey part of South East London called Honor Oak Park. Husband works in marketing and I have a great part time job as a Creative Adviser for a Post Production talent agency. The girls go to a wonderful primary school on our road which has outstanding Ofsted rating. In short we have the perfect life…Why are we upping sticks and leaving?

My feet are itchy.

Husband’s feet are itchy.

I grew up in a travelling theatre company, that’s another story. I moved back to the UK with my family when I was 12 but had already caught the bug. I’ve been right round the world 3 times and love nothing more than exercising my one discernible talent (resourcefulness).

Husband never wanted to travel, had no interest what-so-ever. His main aspiration was to own an apartment like the one in BIG. When he started working in Market research his job took him abroad. A lot. And trip by trip his love for globetrotting grew.

In 2003 we took off together for a pre-baby jaunt (I was 3 months pregnant with number 1). I wasn’t working, Husband secured an unpaid sabbatical and we spent all my savings on plane tickets. A friend moved into our flat and paid the mortgage and off we went. We flew straight to Bangkok where we took a smaller plane down to Koh Samui – I had been a couple of times before on my way to Koh Phangnan. After 3 weeks on a beach in Koh Phangan we travelled through Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Easter Island, Chili (where I ended up in hospital and was sent home (we went to New York instead))New York and home.

Since then Husband has racked up 50 odd countries with his work and we have spent any money we’ve managed to save on aeroplane tickets.

Our children are now quite well travelled. They adapt very quickly to new environments.

I guess that’s an outward facing explanation of our love for travel, adventure and changing habitat. We are very comfortable with the whole process of travel and adapting fast to any environment. It’s what makes us tick.

Husband is an academic at heart although he never studied to degree level, he has proved to himself and surprised himself in doing so, that it’s where his talents lie (he’s also lucky enough to be able to draw extremely well too). He is taking this time to start an OU degree.

We have talked for years about a big adventure, buying a tumble down house in Spain? France? moving to Sydney? New York? Husband jokes that whenever we go on holiday anywhere we start making plans to move there! With two children these plans don’t come so easily.

We have a small window in their education…………………………

On the 14th August 2012 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.