It was about time

Storyline: 50 years later

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While we were working, our traveling was limited to two or three weeks at a time. The focus then was on visiting Diana’s parents with a few days in a stop-over city before the flight home. This is the first year when we can say we are both retired. At least for now… because one never knows where the rusty rails will lead.

Planning our travels is one thing, but executing them is completely different. Diana has multiple itineraries in the pipeline. Some more ambitious than others. Yet it often boils down to health and obtaining travel medical insurance for a reasonable price. We can find a decent quote for Alex when he has at least three months of stability. For more on travel medical insurance and what stability means, we intend to post in “Got rhythm” later.  Thus our travels, although well planned, are of necessity a bit spontaneous or unpredictable. Since everything can change quickly, our horizon is about three months ahead for longer trips. This time period more or less coincides with finding the cheapest flights to cross the ocean.

When an opportunity arose in early January this year, we booked a flight to London and a return from Sofia.  It was about time. This October will be fifty years since Alex’s parents brought him to Canada from England. He had never been back. Nor had he had any desire to until recently.

Alex:

So what changed? Well, age for a start. I suppose that many people have a certain amount of nostalgia for their formative environments. Then there is this silly thing we call social media. I’ve watched many videos of landscape photographers in the UK taking their viewers through some of the most picturesque sights of the Lake District, Northumberland and Scotland. These videos have acted like a magnet to me.

The memories of those fells, shores and glens have been buried deep, only to be brought to flower with the fertilizer of YouTube (can’t believe I wrote that!). And Facebook (ugh!) has opened up communications with relatives and family friends scattered around the world: some of these people I’d not been in touch with since moving to Canada. So much as I abhor a lot of what social media sites have come to represent, I’m also in their debt for the good things they can provide.

Needless to say, the highlight of our nearly three months of travel so far this year (two in Europe and one in Canada) was our visit to Alex’s cousins in Cumbria. We can’t be thankful enough for their generosity and good cheer and the terrific time they gave us. What a great group of close-knit brothers and sister they are! We wish we had reconnected with them earlier and we wish we lived much closer. Although the wet climate and cool would not suit Diana’s achy bones for long, Alex would love the opportunity to spend time hiking the fells in the rain and howling winds.

More on this trip to come.