A beginning and an end

“you can’t cross the Ocean unless you have courage to leave the shore“

So after a few nervous weeks wondering where our 2020 home will be we finally received the phone call with the news. We are overjoyed and so lucky that the site we have been given was one of our top 3 that we submitted as our preferred options. We will be going to Rookesbury Park in Hampshire at the beginning of March for 8 months.

Now that we had a definite contract, hours and pay all confirmed and a start date to be on site, the time had come to start closing the chapter on our current lives and moving on to our new adventure.

We have both been in our current jobs for 14 and 15 years, we are well respected, well paid and they are probably jobs that others would give a right arm for. We really had no need or desire to ever leave – until the option of chasing our dream came along. Since that dream started to seem possible our days have been spent longing to be somewhere else, doing something else, being together, but it was still with apprehension and mixed feelings we wrote out our resignation letters 2 weeks ago. Were we really going to be able to give up this comfortable life? were we being brave? perhaps we were being foolish? So many unanswerable questions but we believed it was a road worth travelling, an adventure we had to have, an exciting journey we just had to take.

Both of our employers had been tipped off a few months ago of our intentions to change our lives so were not surprised when the letters were eventually handed in, but both still couldn’t quite believe that it wasn’t just a pipe dream, that us chasing a new lifestyle was finally becoming a reality, that we would be leaving the life we currently had to pursue the life we wanted.

We have decided that 31st January is our last day of work as we currently know it and the process of recruitment to fill our roles has begun. Phone calls from colleagues around the business are flooding in as the news is reaching all departments and the story telling of our journey to this point, our plans for the future, and trying to answer questions that we hadn’t even thought about happens on a daily basis – several times a day. Apologies to my work family who have to hear it over and over as I enthusiastically tell our story to anyone willing to listen!

The feeling of excitement is very contagious and the news is received with amazement and awe, aswell as slight disbelief at what we are doing. Everyone is very eager to hear the why, how and when, particularly the why. As we explain the reasons behind the move and regale our hopes and dreams for the future, the overwhelming feedback is one of congratulations, envy and the question – “can I come with you?!”

So as we head into the Christmas break and then the last 4 weeks in our conventional jobs in the New Year, we are just a little bit smug that the rat race is coming to an end, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and our greatest adventure is what lies ahead.

Will it be easy? – nope

Will it be worth it? – absolutely