Is it time for the next chapter?

My beautiful, inspirational Gran

Gran's funeral is over. I've said my final goodbye. I delivered my eulogy, not without shedding quite a few tears, but I've been reliably informed that I was coherent, and for me that was enough - I don't mind that my emotion showed through, as long as they could hear me at the back. I've hugged my family, chatted with old friends, and taken a final walk around Gran's little house, which still feels like she's there. We drove back down the motorway, analysing what happened, allowing anger and sadness to pour from our aching souls as the words tumbled from our mouths and the wheels whizzed over the tarmac, putting the miles between us and the heartache, and somehow the combination of these actions soothes a little.

My Gran has filled my thoughts for the last few weeks, rightly so. But now it's time to move on. I'm painfully aware that this travel blog hasn't really been that for my last few posts. But I also think that one of the best things about our current lifestyle choice is the flexibility that we have given ourselves - the ability to change plans as and when required, which gave me the opportunity to be in the UK when I needed and wanted to be, so ultimately that has become part of our journey.

Now we're back at my parent's house. We've unpacked the bags and put an exhausted Littlest Hobo into bed, we've taken a little time to decompress, staring wordlessly at the television and computer screens. Now it's time to find some accommodation in Spain, start thinking about the route we might take when we drive back up through France, look at the weather forecasts and decide which clothes we need to take. And I think I can feel just a little bit, just the very tiniest bit, excited. What a relief; I was beginning to think I had lost my wanderlust, but no, it's there, it's just been hanging out under a heap of family baggage for a little while. Watch this space... the planning is underway.