It feels like ages since I wrote anything here; Portugal represents an opt-out of many things I normally do, like drive or write or think too much. We got back late last night so my house is now resplendent with laundry that won't dry because it's cold and rainy outside. Oh you British weather - why must you be so grey?! I am developing (have developed?) a major preoccupation with the weather, after spending 10 days in the hottest sun. The heat in Portugal is dry and arid and smells like liquorice. In Florida it was humid and heavy and smelled like blossom. Still working out which I prefer, but any heat at all is a luxury. Sun baked...
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Holidays make us all remember that we like each other still, after all. We listen to music and mooch and share funny stories and it's all so good that actually, at times, it makes my heart ache. We have been away to the same place so many times and to return is the most comfortable feeling of surety. It is what makes us...us.
I have been thinking a lot about choices and family and how you end up with what you end up with. My sister in law lives in Dubai and now my other sister in law is moving there too with her husband and their small children. This is all good for them; it's the right choice and of course we will visit like we have before. It has made me reflect on the choices we made when our children were younger, how we stayed put for the greater good and because, in short, I was not brave enough to leave. I have reconciled that now and see that our family life is so established and so strong, we choose to invest in it here. But at the same time, I suspect we left adventure at the door. We had an inkling but we didn't know for sure.
Isn't that what family life is so often about? Sometimes I hear friends lament the loss of freedom they experience when they have kids, or I myself write here of feeling frustrated or bored. Adventure (especially in the form of travel) doesn't heavily feature. However, we did make that choice and I think this summer we have realised that our time is coming again. Our children are absolutely the right age for adventure and travel, albeit in short bursts of holidays away. So that is the new plan. Travelling with them as often as we can.
Where to go?!
