2017, Chapter 4

Finally, the month which brought travel came. And, oh so quickly, it went. For every single moment of the break, it was worth it. A change of pace, space and place is all a person needs to centre themselves.

Of course, I would be lying if I said that that was it. Fixed.

Not to say that there is any broken, just a little skewed.

Before I got to go on my little mini break the Mr had a stag do to attend. For four long days he was in Benidorm and I was stuck in Britain. Whilst Benidorm might not be the most exotic location it is still "away" which made me two things: 1. Grumpy and 2....no, just one thing after all.

Normally I don't do great being alone. I get quite antsy and bored without a partner in crime around but this time having four days home alone didn't feel quite as terrible as it could have. Which is phenomenal progress for me.

The sun shone for the weekend I was home alone so I spent most of it in the garden, one of my favourite quiet spaces.

When the Mr got home it was a short count down to the Easter weekend and our trip away. On Good Friday morning we rose at 6am and jumped in the car bound for Bournemouth. It felt so good to travel. The motion of a journey is possibly one of my favourite feelings in the world.

Bournemouth feels like a home away from home. With family connections to place it was one of the places in the world that Mr M was excited to take me to when we first got together. It is such a magical feeling to feel at home in so many places, it's nice to feel as though there are different places you can run away to when you need to step away from your normal life, and feel at home in.

For just 48 little hours we took time to step back a breathe.

In the time we were there we walked along 3 different beaches, stared at the sea and talked about nothing and everything all at once. One of the hot topics was of work. Work work and other work. In the last few days of March I had been contacted by a head hunter looking to fill a role. I won't go into it now, mainly because I want to dedicate as much attention to it now as it did to me at the time, but it was the kind of role that throws your entire life into a whirlwind in the shortest amount of time.

The opportunity was one of education, as it turns out, in that I learnt that I am in a place to have options, positive and hard-to-choose-between options. It also taught me to know my worth and understand when someone is trying to manipulate you into a disguised situation. A lesson I had to learn the hard way, but not so hard for it to hurt.

Another thing we talked about was travel. The older I get the more I value travelling more, it's a funny thing. Travelling on your own terms is a fantastic privilege. The thought of adventure and discovery, and the prospect of falling in love with a new place, a new experience is an addictive one. It made us ready for our big trip of the year and for the smaller one to a place we recently discovered was a new home for us late last year.

Which makes me realise my neglect of this blog. I have so many things that I haven't written about, so many experiences to share, but not one of them has made it to type. Life has definitely been too work focused, and while I have no doubt that will continue - at least for a little while longer - there is definitely an air of change about the place. I'm finally learning to see the wood for the trees, and I'm hiring in some lumberjacks to help with the heavy I can't clear out myself.

As an added bonus this month we got new carpet in the living room. It is super plush and is keeping the room so cosy and warm (which is something a Victorian house needs help with). Our lounge almost feels grown up. So there's that.

April has been a turning point. I will do everything in my power to make sure 2017 keeps going in the right direction.

If April were a month it would be peach orange.