Sowing the Seeds of Love
Trip Start
Sep 09, 2004
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Trip End
Ongoing
Queenstown,
New Zealand
Monday, October 30, 2006
In less than a week I'll be leaving this amazing country. I'll be turning my back on its overwhelming natural beauty, its wonderfully laid-back culture and lifestyle, and after saying my farewells to friends on Friday I'll be donning my modest belongings and jumping back on the very path I set out on back in '04. It's time to move on. 'On' meaning forward.
My folks sold the family home just over six months ago and moved over to Spain to enjoy their well-earned retirement. They figured Spain's southern coast would be an idyllic place to flitter away my inheritance. I know this has been a huge move for them, not so much physically, but emotionally too. Doing something like this is big for most people at the best of times. I remember some of the horrified remarks from friends back in England when I sold my house and belongings to go and travel. It was clear to me then how people can become so enclosed and clingy to a small enveloped world of safe and simple familiarity. Doing what I was doing baffled and unnerved many, and that was only 'the idea' of doing it. But many of these people were my age, people who I'd grown up with and who I'd gone to school with. People who were in good health, who could take any number of risks and still make it back on their feet if only they'd consider following their dreams - even expanding their horizons - a possibility. So for two old people who've lived the same clockwork life for so long, who time and time again have strengthened the restrictive walls of their own comfort zone with the repeat performance of routine, who've just turned the corner in to their seventh decade - leaving behind everything that is so familiar and safe to better their world is, in my book, a commendable achievement.
It's been almost two years since I've seen them and while the communication has been regular and the news of their well-being has always been positive, I want to see it for myself. I want to see them revelling in the delights of their brand new life. I want to see two beaming smiles on two faces that deserve them. I want to see the places they love to go to the most, to meet the new friends they've made and to see if Dad really has improved his swing.
So I took the necessary steps to make it happen. Tomorrow is my last night at work. Greg (my boss) has been a diamond. Chicken's moving in to my room when I leave. Friday night is the leaving bash and will see plenty of activity, including a parting performance in the Pig & Whistle from yours truly: 'Magnet & Steel'.
As is to be expected, I'm currently dealing with a whole cocktail of emotion, but this is all good. This is what makes us more of who we are and defines where we're going.
I leave Saturday morning and fly north. Although my ultimate destination is Spain, I'll be going the long way. Why do things simple? The next few entries will detail the route as it unfolds, so I'll be updating 'da logue' as and when I can. I won't be posting any entries until after the BIG SURPRISE for obvious reasons. They have absolutely no idea, especially as I've just told them that I've taken on a lease with Jez on the house, which will mean committing my time here in Queenstown to a minimum of three months, and that I'll be training a new guy up at work in Decemeber so that he can take over my job in the new year when I get ready to hit Australia. They whole-heartedly believe that they won't be seeing me until next year sometime, either in Goa or Australia. Perfect.
I'll be posting this and the following entries in a couple of weeks once I've knocked on their Spanish door out of the blue one day. I'm planning to film the event too if I can and upload it on here to keep the memory a safe one. For now, I've got a shit load to sort out. If my life's been condensed to the size of a backpack, how have I accumulated all this stuff?
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