Travelling TailsTravelling TailsDocumenting the travels of the Family Smudge who are leaving their life of domestic bliss in the UK for a new and unknown destiny. Initially travelling for 6 months in a Dandy folding camper, they hope to rent in France for winter 2008.
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Articles
Easter, Athens on a Budget & Letting the Journey Begin
2008-05-05 21:35:00 I’m sat in the Smudge Family Wagon as I type this with my chauffer husband guiding us through some beautiful Dorset countryside, or is that the new man in my life ‘Tom Tom’, the very useful navigation system Scott’s colleagues bought him as a goodbye present (thank you indeed as now I can freely write whilst travelling instead of struggling with a map). Our last stop in the UK has been and gone, we’re full of a good ole English brunch courtesy of my brother and lemon tart, courtesy of my sister-in-law and we are on route to our hotel before we get on the Eurotunnel at 5.40am tomorrow. Let the journey begin!This past week has been manic beyond belief; from running around for computer leads, plastic dinner sets, organising last minute paperwork all interspersed with last-minute family visits, we are finally beginning our travelling dream that to this point feels like it has been forever in the making. The only sense of security we have is each other and the home we have t... More About: Journey , Easter , The Journey , Athens , Budget
Emotional Farewells and the Road to Greece
2008-04-15 10:10:00 Well time is ticking along faster than we might like. In one way it’s good, in another it’s quite difficult. The thing is, we are extremely excited about heading off on that open road, but we are aware that the loved ones we are leaving behind are experiencing the loss of us in their everyday life and that means that although people are happy for us, they still can’t help but show their sadness that we’re leaving. The last couple of weeks have been filled with goodbye meals, goodbye weekend breaks and holidays with close friends and family; on the one hand great and on the other, quite difficult emotionally. It’s easy to stay focused on what we’re doing because we have the support of each other and the dedication to what we’re trying to achieve and to be honest, we have not once thought about the scenario that we might not actually come back to the UK to live because we are just focused on the travelling aspect. However, now people are saying ‘it’s sad just be... More About: Greece , Road , The Road , Emotional
MMMM - chocolate egg
2008-04-07 17:58:00 MMMM - chocolate egg Originally uploaded by Travelling TailsIsabella took to chocolate like a duck to water over the Easter break!!! More About: Chocolate
One Way Ticket to ...
2008-04-03 10:17:00 In a little over 2 weeks we head off to Greece, which leaves just one week back in the UK after that. We see this as the start of our travels because this is the point that Scott gives up the security of his job and we put our faith in there being a destiny awaiting our arrival elsewhere in the world. We booked our Eurotunnel ticket the other day and our hearts were jumping when the computer asked for an outgoing date and then the return ... we hit the ‘one-way’ option. It was a big moment and I think it was the first time we have both felt truly excited about what we are doing. We leave at 5.40am on the 6th May and managed to get a cheap hotel (who accept dogs) and the crossing for the same price as just the crossing had we gone on the Saturday, which was our original plan. We decided to have the luxury of a hotel this time because we wanted to get an early crossing and the last time we drove to France through the night we were knackered and had to stop on the side of the ... More About: Ticket
Easter Break
2008-03-27 14:58:00 I’m sure I once heard that an Easter Holiday should mean a relaxing 4-day break. Alas, for the Smudgers, this year it was not to be. Instead the start of Easter meant a late night drive 200 miles North up the motorway, which at that particular time was suffering at the hands of strong winds as well as the usual stream of truck drivers thinking they were ‘King of the Road’. Now, both these things can be a pain when heading off on a long drive, but picture little old Dolly in the slow lane only getting to 50 when shielded from the wind and on a downhill stretch, with a panicked driver (moi) gripping the wheel with all my strength to ensure that I, and little car, weren’t blown off the road. Couple that with one husband travelling dutifully behind who on the first stop said “well, I can’t feel the wind and I can’t see your car moving, you’ll be alright” and who by the second stop, with slightly more concern in his voice, had moved on to “I think we should find a... More About: Break
First topless day this year in the Dolly!
2008-03-14 18:27:00 DSCF5087 Originally uploaded by Travelling TailsThis is before we got stuck on hill! More About: Dolly , Year
Up the Hill without a push …
2008-03-14 17:31:00 So this week a non-camper-related, but we think randomly amusing story for you.This morning it was a beautiful day so we decided to make it the first ‘topless’ day of the year for the old Doll. For those of you wondering what I’m talking about that would be my beloved Citroen 2CV. Yes, the roof was back and we all piled in to go and pick up a hot chocolate and head off for a wander around the local woods. Lately we’ve been making the most of the cheap-to-run Dolly by using her to get around on short journeys. Anyway, we picked up our hot chocolates and donuts and headed towards the woods … at the top of a rather steep hill. Hmmm, unfortunately for us I didn’t consider the fact that just maybe Dolly would not be able to make it with all of us in her until halfway up said hill and sure enough she started coughing and a’ spluttering. No amount of encouraging words ‘come on, you can do it old girl’ from Scott (to the car, not me, clearly. Ha ha) helped and she pr... More About: Hill , Push
Dandy Living - It's a hard life
2008-03-08 13:35:00 IMG_2378 Originally uploaded by Travelling TailsAs you can see, Milla has taken to Dandy living like a duck to water! More About: Life , Living , Hard
Birthday celebrations and day-to-day living
2008-03-08 13:15:00 Well, it has been some time since I have been able to write. Now that I am limited to once a week or so down at the library or internet café it makes it more difficult. I hope you will be understanding and not get fed up with not getting a new post for a while! The other thing is trying to write about the whole week in a way that I hope does not rattle on or get boring … anyway, I’m rattling on now so I’ll just start.Yesterday we celebrated Isabella’s First Birthday and it was brilliant. We can’t believe she has now been in our life a whole year. We threw her a party at Nanny’s house as not really enough room in the Dandy and all went well. Jelly and ice-cream was the order of the day along with some yummy teddy cake made by the lovely Lee-Anne as not really any baking facilities in my bijou kitchen! Children’s songs were played and although at first I was shouted down for suggesting pass the parcel for babies (what, I don’t get to keep the present? What, I have to ... More About: Living , Celebrations
Mary Poppins in the Land of Oz?
2008-02-28 12:37:00 We had our first official visitor on Sunday and I think she was pleasantly surprised at how roomy our Dandy is. Well, when you consider that it was previously a trailer in our garage it is quite surprising, although we are aware that it really is still very small in comparison to a house! I like to describe it as Mary Poppin’s bag because for a trailer that you tow around to then fold out into a space where you can have everything you need to live is really quite spectacular. Staying on the subject of children’s films, last night I thought we might quite easily have ended up in the Land of Oz. The wind was howling and I woke at 12ish with a jolt thinking that we were about to take off. Luckily the Dandy stood her ground and we live to tell the tail; I just hope a freak typhoon doesn’t hit the area because then we would surely be plucked from the earth and flung to who knows where … I suppose it could possibly be a free and quick route to the continent though.The funniest... More About: Mary Poppins
Getting used to Dandy Living
2008-02-25 12:53:00 It’s Saturday night and as I type we are preparing to spend the 4th night in our Dandy folding camper. I can hear the wind whistling outside and I can see the pub lights twinkling across the green. I have a glass of wine in my hand, our daughter is sleeping soundly and after a few evening discussions about ‘what the hell are we doing!?’ we have come to the conclusion that life in a Dandy is, so far, rather Dandy. Admittedly we have had a few teething problems, such as trying to amend our heating, cooking and breathing habits which, in a plastic house, cause a great deal of condensation. This led to us having to air everything this morning after discovering trapped moisture. Hmmmmm. However, we now have condensation catchers, insulation under our beds and we’re getting into the routine of keeping on top of things that you take for granted in a house. Other than that I would say the difficult things are learning to move around each other without knocking ourselves and o... More About: Living
Fine & Dandy!
2008-02-21 13:45:00 Just a quick post as I know some of you are waiting to find out whether we are all alive and well after our first night in the Dandy ... it's true what all the info says; it might be cold outside but inside was toasty. We have a funky little oil heater that keeps the place cosy and we didn't even need the sleeping bags we bought to have under the quilt! Isabella slept from 7 to 7 without stirring once, until she woke us up standing in her cot singing! So far so good and camper living gets a thumbs up. Over and out for now. More About: Fine
Dandy Interior
2008-02-19 08:16:00 Dandy new interior Originally uploaded by Travelling TailsI will post more pictures when everything is in place but so far so good - not looking bad me thinks!!!!! More About: Interior
Moving is underway
2008-02-19 08:00:00 Well, it has been a hectic week or two but now the dream is becoming a reality. As I type this from our house I am surrounded by, well, not much at all really! At the weekend we moved most of our belongings into storage so now all that we own is tightly packed (it took a lot of thought!) into 50 square ft of storage space. Amazing really. Scott's dad (who kindly helped us) said that it was strange really that if you could basically get your house (we had to lose a couple of larger items mind) into 50 sq ft then what was the point of having a big house? At the moment I think yeah, what is the point and it's going to be quite refreshing to not have all this 'stuff' with us, but then in a few months we might well be missing our 'stuff' because although you don't need most of the stuff that we all tend to accumulate to actually live day-to-day, there is comfort in having it all around us. I guess living in the Dandy, if anything, is going to be a really good experiment to s... More About: Moving
Our new home
2008-02-19 07:59:00 Our new home Originally uploaded by Travelling TailsSo this is where we will be living for the next two months ... we think the dandy blends in rather well! More About: Home
Living with less
2008-02-06 10:59:00 Well, the panic has lifted. In light of our soon-to-be homeless situation due to there being no room at the Inn, Scott's Mum and Step-Father, ma belle-mère et beau-père (can you tell what we're currently covering in French?!), have kindly offered to let us turn their garden into a campsite by allowing us to put our Dandy up at the side of their house. This way we can a) get the much-needed experience we need of living in a small space, working out what we will need on our travels, work out the pitfalls, and try to fix them before we leave etc etc and b) we all get to stay together in one place! Our gratitude cannot be expressed especially as it was our choice to sell our house and do this crazy travelling thang so really you can't expect people to bail you out when things don't quite go to plan. However, the kindness of all our family and friends in offering us places to stay in our hour of need leaves us feeling extremely humbled. So, in approximately 2 weeks we will be ... More About: Living
On our way!
2008-01-30 11:17:00 Sorry it's been a while since I've posted, but no point in writing if there is nothing of interest to write about ... and now there is! We finally exchanged contracts and we are on to move out of our house mid-February. Of course, nothing in life comes without its challenges and we were unexpectedly told that currently there is no space for us at the campsite we had earmarked for our last two months in the UK. So, now we have a choice of putting the Dandy up on a family driveway or flitting between accommodating family and friends for a couple of months. I am of course ever optimistic that a pitch will become available at the eleventh hour, but in the meantime it's quite amusing deciding whether to pitch on a drive or some other random location. I suppose most people who embark on crazy plans would have seen sense by now and opted to stay in the warmth and comfort of a nice safe and secure house and life, but not us, for what is life if there is no challenge?! I would like ...
Careful Consumers
2008-01-14 15:01:00 As I type this I can already feel our life changing. Over lunch today we discussed how much more interested we are becoming in living a simpler life and all that it means. Our goal is to travel, enjoy and experience life and hopefully let destiny find us somewhere to settle where we can afford to have a little land around us, have minimal outgoings and therefore less stress and a better quality of life for us, our daughter and our dog. Although, admittedly, we could make many more changes to our life here; nothing can change the fact that we have to work far too much in order to pay a ridiculous mortgage for a postage stamp plot in a busy, sprawling and consumer-driven environment that tempts us at all times, not to mention that we don't want our daughter's grounding to be within such an environment. However, living a simpler life takes some big changes in the way that we think and do things. We live in a world where we buy things that we think we need only to realise we don... More About: Careful , Consumers
Inspiration
2008-01-07 13:59:00 For the past few days I have been looking for blogs that inspire; people who have moved their life to France, people who have had a change of lifestyle and people who have chosen to opt out of certain elements of modern life. It is just brilliant to realise how many are out there doing things that, when hemmed in to everyday normal life in a material-driven environment, seem wacky and nothing more than a pipe-dream, and it's really helping me to stay focused on what we are aiming towards in life. Sometimes I think I'm crazy for imagining the picture of me standing in our country kitchen looking out at Scott chopping wood for the fire, laughing at Isabella and Milla running around freely and making homemade produce with items grown in our garden, but after reading a few blogs that I have found, I know that although living a more rural and simple life is something that many believe could never become reality, there are plenty of people out there who are living it. Although I know... More About: Inspiration
New Look!
2008-01-03 16:15:00 So with the New Year we thought a new look was needed for our blog and considering that the name Travelling 'Tails' is really based on our dog, we thought it would be nice to make the header more interesting with a picture of Milla!As well as a layout change, there are a few other things that have been added to the sidebars, really with the intention of making our blog a little bit more interesting. I hope you enjoy!
New Look!
2008-01-03 16:15:00 So with the New Year we thought a new look was needed for our blog and considering that the name Travelling 'Tails' is really based on our dog, we thought it would be nice to make the header more interesting with a picture of Milla!As well as a layout change, there are a few other things that have been added to the sidebars, really with the intention of making our blog a little bit more interesting. I hope you enjoy!
Keep the Faith
2007-12-31 09:27:00 Well Merry Christmas and nearly a Happy New Year ... 2008 is going to bring about huge change for us but our list of things to achieve all sit neatly under the umbrella of getting out of this house, which can at times make things a little tense. We were supposed to sign the Friday before Christmas but it was delayed ... again ... due to Christmas wind down. In one way it's good because the longer we get to stay here, the less time we have to spend living in the Dandy in the colder English weather, but with the constant talk of money and mortgages dominating the news, the sooner we are signed and out - the better. However, being positive is key and as per the title of this post - we continue to do so in our Estate Agent ... or is that an oxymoron?As time draws closer to our plans starting to realistically take shape there are moments when inside it is as if we are consumed with a big GULP. We contemplate what are we doing for a moment, have a brief re-cap of why we are doing it ... More About: Faith , The Faith
Keep the Faith
2007-12-31 09:27:00 Well Merry Christmas and nearly a Happy New Year ... 2008 is going to bring about huge change for us but our list of things to achieve all sit neatly under the umbrella of getting out of this house, which can at times make things a little tense. We were supposed to sign the Friday before Christmas but it was delayed ... again ... due to Christmas wind down. In one way it's good because the longer we get to stay here, the less time we have to spend living in the Dandy in the colder English weather, but with the constant talk of money and mortgages dominating the news, the sooner we are signed and out - the better. However, being positive is key and as per the title of this post - we continue to do so in our Estate Agent ... or is that an oxymoron?As time draws closer to our plans starting to realistically take shape there are moments when inside it is as if we are consumed with a big GULP. We contemplate what are we doing for a moment, have a brief re-cap of why we are doing it ... More About: Faith , The Faith
Living in a Box ... or 9
2007-12-09 20:59:00 Christmas is looming and after a discussion with our estate agent the other day it looks like we are going to be out on our ear not long after the holidays, so this weekend we decided it was time to get organised! Our worldly possessions now sit in 2 neat - and rather tall - piles of boxes; one for storage and one for travels. When faced with the task of narrowing down what we want to take with us on our travels we are amazed at how much stuff we have, but don't actually need, and our new life now sits in 4 large plastic boxes and 5 small. We have a box of books and dvds each, a box of kitchen stuff, a bath box (which may actually double up as a bath if necessary - ha ha) a sewing box so that I can continue to make my handbags, toy box and my mobile office. Clothes are going to be a TOTAL luxury! Looking at our belongings now I can't quite believe that this is going to be our life for the foreseeable future, but in a funny way we are really excited about the prospect of not h... More About: Living
Living in a Box ... or 9
2007-12-09 20:59:00 Christmas is looming and after a discussion with our estate agent the other day it looks like we are going to be out on our ear not long after the holidays, so this weekend we decided it was time to get organised! Our worldly possessions now sit in 2 neat - and rather tall - piles of boxes; one for storage and one for travels. When faced with the task of narrowing down what we want to take with us on our travels we are amazed at how much stuff we have, but don't actually need, and our new life now sits in 4 large plastic boxes and 5 small. We have a box of books and dvds each, a box of kitchen stuff, a bath box (which may actually double up as a bath if necessary - ha ha) a sewing box so that I can continue to make my handbags, toy box and my mobile office. Clothes are going to be a TOTAL luxury! Looking at our belongings now I can't quite believe that this is going to be our life for the foreseeable future, but in a funny way we are really excited about the prospect of not h... More About: Living
Welcome to our New Home!
2007-11-26 15:45:00 After much research into the array of folding campers that are out there, we finally settled on a Dandy. Instead of canvas it has PVC roof/sides and it is what they call 'winterised', meaning that the PVC roof/sides are also insulated and apparently, even in the depths of winter these homes on wheels can be pretty snug. That's a good thing because we have made the decision that once we are out of the house (awaiting a completion date but it's looking like just after Christmas) we are going to spend the period between then and when we leave early May on a local campsite! Yes, near to us there is a delightful campsite that is open all year. It is small but set within lots of land and there is a gorgeous stone farmhouse and sheep running around freely between the caravans ... Milla is going to have the time of her life. Ha ha. They have just built a new shower block and we will even have a 'wet room' ... we don't get that here so it will surely be luxury!? At the moment we... More About: Home
Welcome to our New Home!
2007-11-26 15:45:00 After much research into the array of folding campers that are out there, we finally settled on a Dandy. Instead of canvas it has PVC roof/sides and it is what they call 'winterised', meaning that the PVC roof/sides are also insulated and apparently, even in the depths of winter these homes on wheels can be pretty snug. That's a good thing because we have made the decision that once we are out of the house (awaiting a completion date but it's looking like just after Christmas) we are going to spend the period between then and when we leave early May on a local campsite! Yes, near to us there is a delightful campsite that is open all year. It is small but set within lots of land and there is a gorgeous stone farmhouse and sheep running around freely between the caravans ... Milla is going to have the time of her life. Ha ha. They have just built a new shower block and we will even have a 'wet room' ... we don't get that here so it will surely be luxury!? At the moment we... More About: Home
Beautiful Bergen
2007-11-25 14:17:00 Last weekend The Family Smudge were lucky enough to head off to Norway and experience the life of my brother, who has recently settled in Berg en with his Norwegian girlfriend. I tend to think that a city is a city the world over, although some have a distinct style and feel, which make them much more interesting. My personal opinion is that Bergen falls into the latter category. Viewed from the top of Mount Floyen (reached by the rather flashy vertical Funicular train) it's fairly sprawling, yet when you walk through the town in all its German-inspired prettiness, it feels small. I can certainly see why my brother loves it; you have all that you could expect from a city, but set within some spectacular mountains and right by the sea. It has a sort of 'easily-accessed freedom', ideal for us free-spirit types!We spent the weekend drinking coffee and eating open sandwiches, which consist of ONE slice of bread with a generous amount of topping, experiencing the Funicular and the... More About: Beautiful
Beautiful Bergen
2007-11-25 14:17:00 Last weekend The Family Smudge were lucky enough to head off to Norway and experience the life of my brother, who has recently settled in Berg en with his Norwegian girlfriend. I tend to think that a city is a city the world over, although some have a distinct style and feel, which make them much more interesting. My personal opinion is that Bergen falls into the latter category. Viewed from the top of Mount Floyen (reached by the rather flashy vertical Funicular train) it's fairly sprawling, yet when you walk through the town in all its German-inspired prettiness, it feels small. I can certainly see why my brother loves it; you have all that you could expect from a city, but set within some spectacular mountains and right by the sea. It has a sort of 'easily-accessed freedom', ideal for us free-spirit types!We spent the weekend drinking coffee and eating open sandwiches, which consist of ONE slice of bread with a generous amount of topping, experiencing the Funicular and the... More About: Beautiful
English? Bahhh!
More articles from this author:2007-11-08 10:32:00 Yesterday we had our first French lesson and it was tres magnifique! As we think that we will be renting in France by this time next year … and possibly house-hunting if we decide we like it there, we figured we really should knuckle down to learning the language. We have been busy listening to CDs, singing children’s songs and learning vocabulary, but aside from being able to sing ‘Leon the Chameleon’ in perfect French (that’s for another post!) our skills are somewhat limited. So with night-school being a no-no due to Scott working shifts we have the delightful and gregarious Marie-Francois visiting us at home every two weeks. The lesson was entertaining; in fact so entertaining that we went 10 minutes over our time without even realising. I don’t know how learning l’alphabet has managed to become fun since I last did it 17 years ago, but it has. Probably something to do with being an adult and ‘wanting’ to learn, instead of defying any kind of authority a... More About: English 1, 2 |
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