DAY 906 - home time & finally we meet Julie and Jason

Its a strange feeling and it still doesn't feel real.  I write this as I sit and wait for my flight to depart Heathrow to Kuala Lumper on my beloved Malaysia Airlines.  Paulie waits in England egarly anticipating a sale on wher'dmadaygo before he can join me back in Australia for the next journey in our life.

As you read from our previous posting we where quite enjoying ourselves, the sun, the sand, the fishing & along with our little community on the coast of Portugal.  Our next move was to head east towards Granada and then spend the rest of the summer exploring the Med coast of Spain to finish off in Barcelona....ahh it was a tough life.

Salamanca, Spain

There's nothing like being snapped back into reality with a job opportunity, especially with a start date in 10 days time.  So after a quick de-camp (aka pack up) we had to say good bye to "the community" (tears and hugs galore) and hit the road.  North, North and more North......our journey took us "up the guts" of Spain where we had the opportunity to spent the night to rest in amazing UNESCO World Heritage Listed city of Salamanca.  Like most of this trip, we didn't do any research on Salamanca but we knew it was famous.  The city is just wonderful and certainly warrants a stop if your in this part of the world.  When you've traveled full time for nearly 3 years you get a little concerned that you might not get that wow factor anymore.  Salamanca was a delight and had us WOWing quite a few times.  Its nice to know we haven't taken this travelling thing for granted and when we find a great place that takes your breath away it's rewarding and gives you a fresh boost of energy to keep exploring.

Salamanca, Spain

Jason, Julie & Charlie

We finally got word that we could take a little longer as my new start date for the position will be 1 OCT in Darwin.  That was great news as it meant we could catch our breath again, take a few extra days to get through France and finally the opportunity to catch up with fellow travelers Julie and Jason from OurTour.  

Julie and Jason, like us, have been touring Europe in their motorhome Dave with Charlie (the pooch) in tow.  It's ironic really, they left UK end of Sept 2011 and we left mid Sept 2011 yet we've only just manged to catch up on the leg home.  Meeting Julie and Jason has been a blast….actually it a HIGHLIGHT.  These guys are amazing.  They have done so much, traveled as far east as Ukraine, written a book and blogged daily.  Gosh I really do feel rather "lazy bones" considering I’ve struggled to keep ours updated every 6 weeks or so.  Paul and I had often said to each other how cool it would have been if we could meet up, but it just didn't seem like it was even a possibility.  Over the past 12 months we've been following each others adventures, giving each other pointers, secret camping spots, ahhh the list goes on.

wher'dmadaygo & Dave

We first got onto their site around end of 2011, they where in Portugal and just about to head over to Morocco.  We had just left Morocco and where heading up through Spain towards the French Alps for our first ski season in Europe.   After having a break from the road for the ski season I then forgot about their site until mid 2012 when I finally made contact to introduce ourselves.  I almost felt like a "site stalker" when they finally got to southern Italy, Sicily and then over to Greece.  This area is our favorite so far, so every night when their blog came through I was hanging on every word to see what they'd been up too and what they thought of the place.

St Malo

Jay multi-tasking

These guys are so good at what they do, real PRO-FO.  Julie as been a regular guest speaker on BBC doing the segments live right from Dave's dinning table, Jay was head hunted for his movie making skills and flown back to UK (from Rome) for an advertising assignment.  All this whilst writing, editing and publishing their own book about Morocco A Monkey ate my Breakfast .....I feel tired & lazy.  There is no limit to their capabilities and I really admire what they have been able to achieve whilst living & STILL travelling these past 2 years in a motorhome.  Hop on and check out their site.… you’ll see what I mean…They are true Professional Travelers.

I'm not going to bore you with my own blog rantings of what we did when we met them...they are much better writers than me, so with their consent I'm plagiarizing their work and have links and stories of our time with them below.

Click on the links for each entry.

meeting-rose-and-paul-fabulous-aussies-in-coulon-france

beware-men-with-spearguns-cap-derquy-france

sightseeing-st-malo-walled-pirate-port-of-brittany

another-chilled-out-day-in-rotheneuf-france

mist-to-sun-skirting-mont-saint-michel-into-avranches

seven-years-later-we-visit-honfleur-and-a-film-festival

Mont St Michel

north-normandy-etretat-fecamp-and-veules-les-roses

visitors-as-the-end-draws-near-criel-sur-mer-france

clinging-to-the-emotional-rollercoaster-dovers-in-sight-folks

St Malo

It was so great to meet them, hear about their experiences, compare stories and the rest.  We hit if off immediately and it was like we'd been friends for years.  They are easy going, supportive, enthusiastic, glass half full type of people & travel junkies like us.  It was great to spend that critical week together.  We KNOW exactly how they feel, they KNOW how we feel....all four of us are feeling the same.  We didn't even have to say it, but we did chat lots and lots about the emotions, the feelings which only one can understand if you've done a journey like this.  The unspoken knowledge and realization that it can't last forever.  I can't wait till you all in Australia meet them when they come and visit us.  This is a promise we all made as we said goodbye, through our hugs and tears.  To say that we will miss them doesn't do justice.....but it is not goodbye, it is "see you later".

beautiful Ju, enjoying our last sunset together

the moment of truth, the sad goodbye...not a dry eye around after this pic was taken

It’s not easy to pack in your good job, say goodbye to your friends & loved ones then embark on a trip to everywhere and nowhere and no longer have the pleasure of an income.  I'm pretty sure though had we all met each other earlier, like in Greece, we probably would have tried to work out a way, how we could sustain a life on the road or atleast away from UK weather and never go back to reality .

So now the tans are well hidden once again and life on the road is becoming a distant memory.  If there is anything that we've learnt from this its that we can do anything.  Take a leap of faith and believe in yourself that it will all work out in the end.  Mind over matter, confront your fears and enjoy life, be happy....its just too short not too.

I'm now in Kuala Lumper airport, finishing the last of this blog entry as I await my connecting flight to Adelaide.  The next thing I am looking forward too is welcoming home my Paulie.....I miss him dearly already.