One sleep to go and we'll be on our travels. It's been an amazing six weeks as we've prepared to leave home. More emotional than I'd thought as I sifted through my son's childhood possessions and sorted them for keeping or passing them on to a needy child; flicking through photo albums and remembering special times at home, and other travels we'd been on.
I shed tears for the closed chapters of my life, but it was also a time to share with my son where we'd been in the past nineteen years and where our dreams and hopes may lead us in the future. Those six weeks were filled with bonding experiences that we will never forget.
While we embark on our new adventure, our son, Dan is embarking on his own with full-time employment and a possible opportunity to live and work in America within twelve months. So it's not change just for us but for Dan, too. And that's the exciting thing about life. We never know where it's going to take us. The tears and reminiscing are part of the journey and it's important to take the time to live these special moments. God always said to me that Dan was mine only for the first twenty years of his life, and now that the reality of him reaching for his independence is here, it's quite a challenge to accept the finality of him becoming independent as he continues to live at home with friends.
However, with us leaving home, the transition has been that much easier. I have much to look forward to with the travelling and release of African Hearts. It's left me wondering how others who don't have a travelling adventure to look forward to cope with this change. I'd be interested to hear how others have lived through this part of their journey. Please leave a comment.
The past few weeks have also seen the final proofing for African Hearts being completed and ready for printing. Much work goes into this phase of the book's production that I'd never thought about until now. These learning experiences inspire me to lift the bar higher for my next work which is already well under way. Being on the road will refill my creative well and enrich my writing in new and extraordinary ways.
I'm thankful for this opportunity to travel and write. Another great thing about our travels is being able to connect with my husband on a deeper level. The years of child rearing and earning a living can strain a marriage in many ways, and being able to re-connect and form new bonds and reminisce about the past will bring a deeper intimacy to our relationship that I'm really looking forward to.
I'm looking forward to sharing our Writing All Over Australia journey with you every few days, so make sure you stop by to see what we're up to.