Things are changing pretty quick around here, and I wanted to get this in before things get hectic – like new country hectic. We’ve been in England for about a year and half now, spending time with my family and showing Connor the UK/Europe, but now it’s time to follow our plans and head back to NZ – Permanently. It always was the plan, but the fact that I now have my visa through, and our flights are booked – it all seems very real now. For Connor he’s returning home, but for me, I’m leaving mine, and that feels a little weird.

It’s funny really, what memories you maintain, no matter how small or insignificant. We were just driving past blurred fields in Rory’s new car, and he was playing the imagine dragons night visions album, the exact album I listened to on repeat during my commute to work back in 2015 because my radio had stopped working, and I felt quite nostalgic thinking back to then, comparing them to how things are now. God a lot has changed.

Looking back we’ve achieved a lot. It’s been tough, and we haven’t travelled half as much as I would have liked to, but collectively we paid off just under £14,000 worth of debt, which is insane. The feeling of having no debt hanging over us is just unimaginable, unexplainable. The fact that we have still managed to see a few places whilst we’ve been here is pretty crazy too, so I thought I’d look at a map and work out where we have actually been.

I was pretty chuffed to make it as far down to Cornwall, and as high up as Scotland, something I didn’t think was going to happen, but one of the highlights was definitely mountain biking in Wales.

Then there was Scotland. Argyll & Bute but also Isle of mull – what. a. place.

& In case you missed it, here’s our travel video of Scotland, featuring my crazy family:

We managed to fit in a few trips here and there, Milton Keynes (has a humungous shopping center that pretty much goes on for miles, but also has far too many roundabouts). We played tourist in London, seeing all the iconic sites (which despite us being against London for so long, we loved it), a week away in East Sussex seeking independent coffee shops (shoutout to bakeout which had a delicious range of delicacies, good coffee, and a hygge atmosphere – something you don’t find in costa). We also made it down to Plymouth with a trip to Cornwall, obviously having a local Cornish pasty, and exploring the city.

And then there was Europe. Let’s be honest, it’s impossible to see the entirety of Europe, but we managed to fit in Holland, Germany & Poland, which I would fully recommend visiting all three of them, for various reasons. Holland has a special place in my heart as it was the first place I ever flew to (on my own too!) and we have really good friends over there, me and my friend Valerie take turns visiting each other. Dutch food is just 👌 and the passion for good food is strong too. Same goes for Germany, famous for the bratwurst (sausage) Germany loves its meats and pastries, all things foody, but their Christmas markets are something else 😍 if you ever get a chance, I really recommend Bremen Christmas markets, traditional and underrated, not over touristy either.

Poland was far better than I expected. Honestly I didn’t really know what to expect, it came up as a suggestion on my luckytrips app (recommend) as a cheap, interesting place to go, so we went with a few friends, and thoroughly enjoyed it, capturing a few clips on the go pro along the way:

I guess looking back on what we have done, the places we have been to but also the places we haven’t, it makes me sad to think it won’t be on my doorstep any longer – you can’t just pop to France from New Zealand. On the other hand, I can not wait to have the mountains and sea on my doorstep, every activity I love just moments away, and the kiwi lifestyle.

There’s good and bad to every outcome & every situation, but you have to just make the most of what you have, try harder, do better and dream bigger. I’m going to miss my friends old and new, and having my family around, but at least it makes you appreciate the moments you have with them more. Change is never a bad thing and I cant wait for our next adventure.

..now I just need to make sure i’ve done everything before we go. 😳

Don’t forget to follow along to get updates of the big move. I promise i’ll be posting regularly on here and all the socials, which you can check out below.

Ciao for now ✌️

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