My youngest child, Caitlin and her paramour, Brendan have been saving and planning for years now to drive around Australia.
Equipment has been bought.
The ute has been weighed.
The set up has been adjusted to get a safe weight.
Resignations have been tendered.
The big trip, a planned eight months long, is now just a week and a bit away.
Brendan had planned a visit home to Vanuatu before the trip and while he was there, five family members died.
Caitlin had some torrid times at work.
I have been trying to navigate my way through some serious medical issues with my parents.
Through all of that, Caitlin has been solidly by my side: listening, cooking, driving, shopping, doing laundry, etc etc
I'm going to miss her because I won't have that solid support and I will mostly miss her because she is a fabulous human being.
She might be back briefly in October when she becomes an aunty. I rather hope so.
If you are at all interested, they have invited friends and friends of friends to follow along. The insta and facebook handle for the trip is cbpostcards
I hope the big lap exceeds all of their dreams!
I am echoing your hope for their travels - and hope that the difficult times for you all will recede. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteThank you EC. All things are passing
DeleteI know you will miss her support, but maybe things will ease up for you. How did five relatives of Brendan happen to die all at once? I will check them out on the travels on fb. Is that the vehicle they will be driing?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how 5 relatives managed to die in 6 weeks! It's a big family so there's just more people to die?
DeleteThis photo is the vehicle, they have now added a trailer to solve the weight problem
They are a handsome couple. I will follow them but I just wish it was a blog rather than Insta, which I struggle with.
ReplyDeleteI hear you, Andrew. Their generation don't really use blogs unfortunately
DeleteBless'em - trip of a lifetime, I hope they have serious fun.
ReplyDeleteYou will miss her, but think of the tales she will tell you when she returns.
Sx
I hope to hear many stories, ms scarlet!
DeleteWishing them well with their journey.
ReplyDeleteWill keep you in my thoughts as you deal with your parents. I've been there and it can be very difficult at times.
Thank you, Anne. It is hard but I've been fortunate ti have them close by and independent for a very long time
DeleteI hope they have a great trip. And I hope you sort out your parents' medical issues.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nick. Mum and dad are not really going to get much better at this point but mum is now out of hospital and they're much happier together
DeleteI would love to go on a really long roadtrip. We once considered taking the bike all the way to China. I hope they have a fantastic time....gonna follow them. Take care Kylie
ReplyDeleteChina is a long way! You still have time to do a long road trip
DeleteIt's Gary, right?
DeleteWhat a wonderful thing they are doing Kylie and they will never, ever regret it. Fulfilling dreams, even in spite of challenges, grief and worry says a lot about their characters. they will succeed.
ReplyDeleteSad for you and your parents and the loss of your girlie for a while. Not easy. I love Daughter and Grandgirl being where I can touch them as they are like your Caitlin. Stalwart, loving and helpful. Always. We are gifted Kylie.
XO
WWW
Life is short and it's all too easy to put dreams on the back burner so yes, I take my hat off to them.
DeleteI think the word ute is probably short for utility vehicle, and I’m pretty sure the cb in cbpostcards stands for Caitlin and Brendan (I will check them out on Facebook), but paramour must mean something different in Australia. (check the dictionary!)
ReplyDeleteRobert, I did google and came up with paramour being a person one is in a relationship with but not married to.
DeleteMaybe that has unsavoury connotations, I can see how that would be the case.
You are right about cb and utes :)
kylie, when I entered “paramour def” (meaning definition) on my Apple iPhone it told me a paramour is “a lover, especially a lover of someone who is married to someone else” and that is the point I was trying to get across,
ReplyDeleteOh!
Deleteone day Caitlin will be Brendan's first wife so we're all good on that front.