Life is not measured ....

We're on the move again

You may have noticed a certain lack of activity on our journal over the past couple of months, partly that’s because I’ve got some catching up to do on the writing front (there are some updates which have now appeared earlier in the blog) but mainly it’s because we have been consumed by our decision to stay in NZ or return to the UK.

Most of you know the outcome so it’s not really news anymore but it has taken us this long to be feel able to put it down on “paper”. It’s all very well having the ideal of keeping the blog real but our raw thoughts a couple of weeks ago might not have been the most sensitive, never mind the chopping and changing and prevaricating we have done ever since (David, you got it spot on in your recent email)!!

So, after a fantastic year in NZ we are coming back to the UK.

This weekend, reality hit and we have finally started getting organised … the house looks like a bombsite with clothes and paperwork everywhere but we’ve done it once so the return journey should be a breeze in comparison (that’s the theory anyway!). Ben’s last day at work and the kids last day at school will be 1st June. We are then going to spend a few weeks travelling around the north island, before heading back to the UK via Bangkok and Vietnam (Saigon).

We arrive back in England on 4th July and we’ll spend the first few days with Ben’s mum and Paul (granny and grandpa). The plan all looks a bit hazy after that point – we hope to return to Oxfordshire but much will depend on Ben’s job hunt. Assuming we can find somewhere to stay, Louise and Daniel will go back to Longcot and Fernham School for the last couple of weeks of the summer term. I am starting back at RM in September, I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be doing but Gillian has been very positive about having me back.

I definitely have mixed feelings about returning to work (sorry to shatter any illusions out there!!). Before I left the UK I found it very difficult to get excited by the corporate rat race and 18 months on that has only strengthened feelings, but if I have to work anywhere, then I’m pleased it will be with RM. That’s not to say that I’m not committed to doing a great job, I am and I’m sure that I’ll get back into it all fairly quickly (she says quickly back tracking after potentially career limiting statements!) but I have enjoyed not juggling three things at once, spending time with the kids, having time to walk the hills and dabbling with a bit of writing and a photography.

At this point, Ben jokes (I hope) of now spending a year of leisure but actually he has loved his job at Insite Technology. It’s a small company so he’s had a really wide ranging role as Hardware Manager, getting involved in bid work for new contracts, technical strategy, being the IS manager (friends at RM might appreciate the irony in that one) and has surprised even himself about how much he has enjoyed not just managing a team but motivating a team and driving improvements through the business. Giving this up and stepping into the unknown will be a bit scary but also opens up new opportunities. Jan, the general manager at Insite, is disappointed and probably feeling a bit let down that Ben is leaving. Jan really stuck her neck out to offer Ben the job in the first place and subsequently has done everything within her power to help us to stay. It was a very close call.

We are very settled here and there is no doubt that living by the sea, financial security and the opportunity to try new things with our life have been very difficult to turn our backs on. It has certainly tested what we believe in and for someone used to being a decision maker, the parameters in this one have been at times, agonising. We have had more than one u-turn in the process. But just like we were proud that we had the courage to uproot our lives and come here in the first place, we are equally pleased to say that we can stand by our conviction that family is important too and is ultimately what brings us home. We have made some very special friends here and we will miss them hugely, the reality of travelling is that inevitably you end up with friends all over the world. Louise and Daniel have had some fantastic “firsts” since we have been here – settling in to a new school, learning Maori, flying over mountains, walking on icebergs, surfing, rock climbing … equally they’ll love going on holiday with granny and grandpa in their caravan, spending time with grandma and grandad in Edinburgh and just spending time at home playing Star Wars or horses. Life is very simple.

We look forward to the next part of our adventure, travelling on our way back and then spending the summer in the UK

posted by Sharon, Ben, Louise and Daniel @ 10:53 pm