Where are we starting?

My first blog so I hope I get into it quickly and make it interesting.

We have finally made it to 2008 - THE YEAR. The lead up to this point in time has been gradual and well thought out - well, we think so anyway. Steve, with his financial and political head on foresaw the imminent economical crisis and that persuaded us to sell our house in Deepcut just over a year ago. At least we don't have the stress and pressure of trying to sell it now in a market that is rapidly downturning. Since we sold it we have been in rented accommodation that has suited us well. Since Christmas we have talked at length about our "to do" list and priorities in that respect.

This year will be SO much better than last for me. I have been off work since June 2007 with work related stress - the result of the government squeeze on local authorities forcing them to downsize in terms of staffing and concentrate on targets and budgets instead of caring (in my opinion of course). They squeezed the final drop of blood out of me and the result has been a rough ride. That was last year though and the way ahead is a lot more positive and exciting and at least I am at home now and able to do a lot of the organising and preparation work - with Steve speaking in my ear the whole time I am on my own of course.

I have started to obtain quotes from removal companies - we also need them to store our belongings for us until we have completed our European adventure and arrived in Cyprus to receive them at home. Steve and I have always been "on hands" movers before, packing our own boxes etc but this time it has to be different. Our possessions are not insured for breakages or loss unless the company packs and moves themselves so we are literally in their hands. We are waiting for more quotes before we make a decision on who to use.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch we have some difficult decisions to make about what to take and what to leave behind. As we have a fully furnished and equipped home in Peyia in Cyprus there are many things we don't actually need to take but may be hard to part with. Some things I will sell on ebay and some will be given away. That takes some time we have found. Steve even has a bike at his place of work in Wandsworth so that needs to be brought back home and put on ebay for instance.

It is important to us to keep in touch with people during our 3 to 4 month trip through Europe so we have bought a laptop, I have set us up with gmail accounts and of course I have started this blog. What a wonderful way to create an account of our new life and an easy way for everyone to know what we are up to and where we are. I am busy downloading more music to play on the laptop and we will also have a good library of films to watch. There are so many things to learn and one will be to try to find some good TV to watch over the internet. That is assuming we are in a good reception area for the wi fi of course. I have already found out that Macdonalds and Starbucks usually have a wi fi hotspot to use and they are in most towns so that is when we can catch up on things.

Another important thing to do is arrange the finances. Thankfully Nationwide have accounts to use throughout Europe that do not charge for use of cash withdrawals or debit card transactions so we have opened an account with them - that will be great for us.

Our journey through Europe is going to be a real adventure for us and that needs to be planned to avoid as many hold ups and problems as possible. That doesn't mean that we can't change our minds along the way of course. We hope to meet many people on our travels who will no doubt share their experiences with us and may cause us to detour to take in something else. We have the freedom and time to do it. Stress free is our new motto in life. Our route planning is another of my main duties at home and so it will start with the cross channel ferry trip. Then each country needs searching for places to visit, roads to take and camp sites to check in to. The mileage between each place is important as we don't want to travel too far each day - it is intended to be a pleasure trip after all. The bikes are going with us, as are the fishing rods so that gives you an idea of our intentions. We also want to buy local food and drink along the way - gorgeous cheeses, meats, veggies, fruit, bread and wine to enjoy each day - seated outside the caravan in the sunshine hopefully. Sounds like bliss doesn't it?

As you can see there is lots to do and I have only just skimmed the surface in this blog to give an idea. So the journey begins.......