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Homeward bound

August 1st, 2014 (by Steve)

Walked barefoot in the Black Forest? Tick. Eaten its namesake gateau? Tick. Ticks? Nope (thank goodness)! Now how do you match that? Well, our plan was to see some of the stunning Pfälzer Wald; a low mountain region with great walks through beautiful woodland, rocky outcrops and lakes. What did we end up seeing? Well, something along the lines of this:

rain

As the torrential rain laid siege to Bertha we re-evaluated. We could hang around and hope that the rain would clear, or we could move on. But then we would miss out on seeing something beautiful. It’s a situation we’ve been in so many times on this trip; with a limited number of days and a limited amount of money, we’ve had to miss out some “must-see” places. We’re also getting to the point where we’re so used to seeing new places and having new experiences, that our understanding of “normal” is probably skewed with unnaturally high expectations. Maybe a kind of cultural indigestion (thanks to Uncle Richard for coining that phrase). This is also coupled with a sense of guilt that we’re not making the most of the privilege of travelling. So, to soothe the inner battle, we did as we’ve done many times before and promised ourselves that we’ll just have to come back at some other time, when we can fully appreciate it.

Luxembourg beckoned as our final unique country of this trip. We crossed the border from a cloudy Germany and immediately entered a long tunnel, before emerging into sunny Luxembourg. Now I didn’t think that weather respected borders… but I’m willing to be proven wrong! In fact, the sun remained for the whole of our time in Luxembourg (apart from at night obviously). Our first stop was quite urban, in the town of Dudelange where the motorhome parking was situated between a skate park and a boule court (pitch? green? piste?) – an interesting clash of cultures! The second was in Redange after a gorgeous drive winding through woodland and along tree-lined arrow-straight Roman roads.

luxembourg

It was here, in Redange that thoughts turned to the UK. To home. Well, actually, we’ve been thinking about this for a while (our ferry tickets back to the UK are already booked), but as I filled in my first job application it suddenly felt real. We’re on our way home. In our home. It’s all a bit twisted… what does “home” actually mean? Bertha’s our home. Wherever Kiri and I are together, that’s home. But also the UK is our home. St. Mark’s Kennington (the church we worshipped at in London) is our home. Before we left for the trip, several people warned us that we might find a place that we like so much that we’d end up settling there, but it’s family that draws us back to the UK. They’re home too. There’s no single place or group of people that can represent the concept in its entirety.

After a couple of nights in Luxembourg, we removed a cricket which had taken up residence in one of our roof vents (we’re willing to open our home to others, but not if you’re going to chirrup throughout the night!) and took advantage of the cheap petrol on the border.

And look at that – we’re back in Belgium! We might be homeward bound, but we’re still going to appreciate the view on the journey.


All posts about Germany,luxembourg

Homeward bound

Barefoot in the Black Forest

Ups and downs in Bavaria

Melting in Munich

Fußball und Achterbahnen

Just another brick in the wall

Speeding in the sunshine

Little people in Hamburg

Currywurst with a side of pondering

5 Responses

Well, you are homeward bound and I have only posted one comment! So I just need to say how much I have enjoyed your writing and photos and wish you well for the next phase whatever that might be………
love Jean

Thank you 🙂 Hopefully we’ll squeeze in a couple more blog posts before we touch English soil again

We too have much enjoyed hearing about all your experiences and wish you both well as you travel home and come back to earth, Hopefully not with a bump! We know Catherine, Michael and Jessica really loved seeing you, you certainly packed a lot into your visit to them. All the very best for whatever lies in store for you both

Hey… it’s been lovely reading of your travels, thank you. I appreciate that sense that no one place can encapsulate the entirety of ‘home’ I feel the same and have felt it for years… since 1993 I haven’t lived in one house for longer than three years. It’s been quite a journey for me. After a while you get a need to settle down some where and stop traveling in the sure knowledge that you can return to it at any time. Love the fact it took Kiri so long to get the revelation that living out of a van is a bit weird… It’s so typical of artists that what we think is entirely natural and normal is for others really quite odd or weird. Hope she enjoyed the distinctive feel of the revelation! lots of love to you both, Kate.

Thank you 🙂 It’s been really lovely sharing this adventure with family and friends. Not quite sure how coming back to earth / England will feel, but I guess we’ll soon find out. Thanks, Kate, for the insight into Kiri’s revelation; it makes more sense when you see it through an artist’s eyes like that.

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