Home Sweet Home

I’ve finally returned home after my extensive vacation and am now trying to catch up on everything and reintegrate myself back into “real life”.  It’s amazing how we get into this strange bubble on holiday and how the outside world seems to just disappear into oblivion, especially since I never looked at a newspaper, watched tv, or rarely logged on to a computer while away.  Now that I’ve returned, I’m trying to get back into my natural rhythms and routine, which I so longed for while away as the constant moving around definitely took its toll on my body.  It’s good to be back though.  I always gain a greater appreciation for my home while away.  I certainly do have many gifts here to be grateful for.

My time away was fantastic and I’m so pleased I took this chunk of time off to explore.  While I did feel a bit rushed in some of the places I visited, I did cover a lot of ground and got to see some very beautiful and quite spectacular locations. I travelled through a variety of landscapes from rolling hills and emerald country-sides, rugged highlands and rocky plains, towering cliffs that dropped far below to sandy shores, and barren lands of bogs and marsh.  I visited vibrant and bustling cities, charming historical towns, and quaint little villages, and enjoyed a medley of sights and sounds.  The weather, on the other hand, was a bit dreary with lots and lots of rain and wind and chill, and we even got snow in the highlands of Scotland.  And while this was an exciting and welcome sight for the bunch of Aussies that were on my tour with me who had never seen snow, it really wasn’t the kind of spring I was hoping for.  What was really strange to me, was that in many areas, the weather would change literally every 15 to 30 minutes, sun for a few minutes, then rain, then back to sun, then hail and more rain, so you needed to be prepared for all sorts of weather each day.  So bizarre.  You didn’t even have time to be disappointed or elated at the climate because, before you knew it, it had already changed to some other kind of weather pattern.  It was a wonderful experience overall and I’m so glad I finally got to visit the British Isles as I had longed to do so for quite some time.

I’m extra glad I ended my holiday in sunny and hot Madrid though, as my aching bones and sinuses were desperate for some heat and sunshine.  It was also wonderful to just plop down in one location for a week and take my time enjoying the city rather than bouncing from location to location every night or two as I had done all over the UK and Ireland.  The slower pace really helped me to relax and it felt more like a vacation than the go-go-go experience I had prior to arriving in Madrid.

As for my writing challenge, I am happy to say that I was successful in writing daily, as I had intended.  I kept a travel journal and wrote every night, and when I wasn’t exhausted from an extremely long day, I even found inspiration to write some poetry.  I’m sure that once I go through my collection of the over 3000 photographs I took, my memories will help me to find the inspiration to write even more poetry as I had wished to do while away.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I am so grateful that I had the time to get away and enjoy this little adventure.  Now, my challenge will be to share more of my journey with you all, the highlights of my trip, a few interesting stories, and some of the photographs I took as well.  I hope this will allow you all to enjoy the journey as much as I did and it will also be a pleasure for me to relive my holiday with you all once more.  Until then, I wish you all a wonderful personal journey and leave you with my favourite Irish blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.