Flat bed

• Posted in Blog
• On December 13, 2019
• 1 Comment.

It’s 5.45am and I can’t sleep. The bed is totally flat, we finally got aircon working so it’s cool, I don’t have to be up for anything so I’m left a little perplexed as to why i am awake… perhaps it’s just too comfortable after being in a moving bed for the last 2 weeks!

So I am left with my reflections at this unearthly hour. How different our lives are now. I think of all our friends and families back home, waking in the dark and cold to brave whatever the weather has in store to get to your places of school or work. It is raining here, but it’s warm rain and later the sun will come out and we’ll shelter on the boat to escape the heat. I’m not trying to rub it in, just highlighting how different it is. We have no work or school to rouse us, no clock watching which is part of what I really wanted to get out of this trip, to truly live in the moment.

There are still worries though: what if I’m letting the kids down by not doing enough school; what if we make the next trip and the boat breaks; what if we get so into holiday mode that we won’t be able to get out of it! There are those niggles but I invariably push them to one side to allow the experience to really filter in, and those worries seem to get less and less everyday.

One of the best things about living this boat life is the pace, at home sometimes I felt like I was hurtling at a million miles an hour just to keep up with life, especially at this time of year: always some Christmas production to see, presents to buy, parties to attend, still with the basic pressures of school, work and family life, thinking back on it is exhausting! Now we have adopted a minimalist approach to the festive season. The girls will have one or two token presents under the tree, Santa is sure to come too, although I think his sack will be much lighter this year. There aren’t the hoards of extended family to buy for, so the pressure’s off there (sorry guys!). The most hectic it gets here is deciding what we will do for Christmas dinner, a massive palava at home which invariably costs the earth. We’re erring on the side of a beach bbq but may just grab a burger from a lunch stop- why make life difficult!?!

There are things I miss hugely: strictly- of course, open fires, the smell of a real Christmas tree, a warm pub, friends and family and my beloved cat, but I do not miss mountains of presents, piles of food and pasty sun deprived skin. Oh I don’t miss that.

Ok it’s light now so I guess I’ll put the kettle on and welcome the day. On the agenda today? A little home school, a farewell to the friends we have met on the ARC and an overnight sail up island to Guadeloupe. I hope whatever trip you have in store today is life enhancing too, even if it’s just warming yourself with a fire at the end of it!

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