Background

7th August 1999

		As you can see, we are 50-something and decided to follow the modern fashion and have a gap year.   Usually people do this between college and work, but we  decided to do it between work and retirement.
This is Kate	This is David

We had been running small businesses for twenty-five years and have had some good times and a lot of fun. Now, however, we have a window of opportunity between our children growing up and the hoped for arrival of grandchildren in which we can be a bit irresponsible. We have disposed of our business and have rented our house to a super couple and are taking a series of tours in the UK and further afield.

We have swapped this house	and these wonderful neighbours	for this tiny - but very mobile - home

28th May 2000

We are updating this page as we come to the end of the tenth month of our odyssey.   Originally we planned to tour for a couple of years but have now decided to return by the end of the first year for a refit and, to be frank, a bit of a break from touring.

Among the influences that lead to our trip was an inebriated evening entertained by a Catalan folk group acting out a story about a man that wanted to travel with the minstrels but could not because of his house and his medicines.    We were determined that we would not be so constrained but after ten months of self indulgence we have decided to return and it is worth recording some of this background.    If we had to, we could continue with this way of life indefinitely but it is becoming harder to continue with it voluntarily.   House and medicines are a part of the problem.   Not so much the house itself, as we have super tenants, but domestic matters like insurance, tax, banking, agents and so forth have become a bit of a pain. 

In one sense, we are a little too early.   In a few years the internet will almost certainly resolve much of our difficulty.   Most of these minor irritations can be easily resolved provided one has communications.   Despite the hype of the last twelve months, we have been surprised how many organisations, public and private, are resisting dealing with issues by e-mail.   This means that those matters that need to be dealt with in writing take ages and, in some cases, cannot be resolved within the timeframe that we are allowed.   In a number of cases, matters have gone by default against our best interest.   The internet itself is a bit of a pain.   In an ideal world we would connect through our mobile telephone, but the present costs of doing this are prohibitive.   One of the subjects that we shall write on at a later point is the amazing lack of integration in the EU, despite the many years of its existence in its various forms.   While the GSM standard has meant that our mobile phone can be used everywhere we have been, the costs and difficulties of roaming have obliged us to re-chip the phone in each country and the data facilities vary enough to make it impractical even if we were willing to pay the high costs of connecting to the internet.  

Finding Internet Cafes at first was a bit of a challenge, but as the months have passed it can now be a bit of a drag.   On occasions, one feels a little like the Pony Express rider of the Music Halls, arriving shot through with arrows and in his dying gasp telling the fort 'There is no mail today'.   In our case, on more than one occasion we have spent hours finding Internet access - sometimes finding it closed or broken and having to return - and then finding there is no mail.   If all the people and organisations we need to deal with were e-ready, the chore of finding access to the Internet would be worth it.   In truth, the majority of problems are still not e-soluble.   Thus, as we started to write this, we were waiting for our post to catch up with us to see if we had any more bush fires to put out.   In fact, being becalmed in Tuscany, looking out over the beautiful, rolling hills, was not as bad as it might have been.  

If Internet access were perfect, one would still have the problem of an ever less citizen- and less customer-friendly society which makes no provision for extended absences, even though we are supposedly moving into an era of greater leisure.    Legally, we should return to the UK to have our car MOT tested.    It is a bit like Mary and Joseph having to return to their place of birth to pay their taxes.  So much for a single market.

The car and the caravan are also domestic matters that  have cost us dearly and that we need to be back in the UK to properly sort out.   While it is the case that our car is the most refined we have ever had, it has turned out to be almost the least reliable.   Without mentioning its maker again, we might mention that its faults in the last 20,000 miles include:  alternator, battery, air conditioning, CV joint, starter motor, differential and recently we had a series of minor electronic faults including erroneous fault indications and the failure of sun roof and window controls - which could have been a disaster had it occurred in some of the torrential downpours we have had.  

The caravan has also had its share of minor problems, most recently flooding the van when yet another bit of old plastic broke.  We are conscious of the fact that its brake linings will not last for ever and we are not completely confident of finding proper spares outside the UK.

Under the medicines heading, we have not done so badly.   Once again, we are disappointed that the single market does not extend to medicines and vitamins and that perfectly normal and common items in the UK are simply not available in much of the rest of the EU.   Our teeth, though generally good, are of an age where preventative treatment is regularly needed and we are reluctant to educate a new dentist to our particular needs.  We also feel that, were we to see another dentist, and the results were less than satisfactory, our regular dentist might be less than sympathetic.    We should say, however, that, apart from being laid low by the 'flu in January, we have had no health problems and, without doubt, are fitter and healthier now than we have been for years.

Domestic and medical problems have not surprised us, but the gradual erosion of our wander lust by tour fatigue has.   When we are no longer motivated to queue for four hours to get into the Uffizi and to endure the scrum around Michelangelo's David, we realise that we are getting a bit blasé.   After seeing the almost totally preserved Bastides in France and some of the mediaeval towns like Sarlat and Caceres, Florence has not had the impact upon us that perhaps it would have had we just flown out from the UK.   The Cathedrals of Pisa and Florence are indeed magnificent, but the crowds and clutter prevent them from making the same impact as the Mosque at Casablanca, which was almost deserted and stood in splendid isolation.

Finally, we should add that we do miss home, family and friends.   This has been the longest period of 'idleness' that we have undertaken.   After many years of the continuous low level stress of bringing up children and running a small business, we have welcomed and benefited from this break.   Now, however, we are beginning to look forward to getting back to work in one form or another.

Last updated: 18/03/01