31 more sleeps..

31 more sleeps until we leave South Africa to start our family adventure, my stomach has just done a huge flip!

I’m not really thinking in more than 24 hour chunks at the moment. We hand over the keys to our house for the tenant in a week’s time (another stomach flip moment) so there is a lot on the go. The number hadn’t actually computed in my head until I saw the date on the countdown clock on our website this morning. I’ve been so focused on packing up our stuff animal logistics and the mayhem of the school year end with prize giving’s and Christmas concerts etc. that the 9th of January feels like an eon away!

The 9th of January 2018 is still a while away and we have a lovely 3 weeks of downtime at our favourite place in the world, Arniston before we leave. It seems odd to be wanting a holiday just before we leave for what is essentially a 12-month holiday but I think we all need it before hitting the road. It’s been an insanely busy year for StJohn who has spent goodness knows how many weeks away from home for work and racked up who knows how many air miles! A few weeks of some ‘vitamin-sea’ will do wonders to take those bags under his eyes away and unlock those shoulders. Charlotte has had a tricky couple of months coping with some anxiety as the reality of the trip dawned upon her and her world as she knows it got closer to being turned upside down. Some time doing her favourite things, swimming and playing with her dad in the waves will do wonders for her and of course some rest after a busy school year. Me, well I’m just looking forward to the family time, time with friends and not rushing around and seeing another box to pack!

Once the business of next week is over and we are in Arniston we’ll have time to refocus on the trip and start planning our time in our first stop, Buenos Aires and hopefully get the map of our planned route up and working on the website.