“One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” Andre Gide, French Novelist 1869 – 1951

Hello!?  If there is anyone still out there still interested in my random movements then ‘thank you’!! I am still out here and am back on the road travelling with Tilly after a surprise hiatus in China.

Much has occured since I last wrote on this site … And equally I sometimes feel that nothing has changed! I am still me .. but without the daily touchstones of UK friends and life I cannot be fully sure what is left of the person who left the UK 2 and a half years ago!!  Equally I sometimes worry about how much life has changed for said friends and for how long they will wish to remain a part, albeit distant, sporadic and random, of my life.

“Everytime I read about your adventures and dancing I get a little lump in my throat about how proud I am of you, and a little proud of my self for encouraging you. We rock!”

I realised very early on and have consistency felt it as I cycled from England to here … Kyrgystan (for the second time) that in spite to mostly travelling alone I know and feel that I have a lot of of people with me.  I was fortunate to have lovely people around me in the UK who encouraged this venture and have met great people whilst on the road, many of whom are now mentally travelling with me.  When I am out of internet reception, which often happens, I have been able to have conversations in my head with different people which has been strangely essential for my sanity!!!!

Since the last post in Turkey back in 2015 (eek!!) I have traversed Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea by container ship, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan again, Kyrgyzstan and then China … where I unexpectedly spent an amazing, stressful, challenging and personality provoking year.  I will attempt to add these places in at different times but for now there will be a selection of photos to at least partially document my time in these places.

So why the change in blog title and layout!! Well, a change is good to invigorate the little grey cells, encourage me to actually start writing on it again and I have been feeling very out of sorts with the previous blog title, especially since I no longer have a boat/home and am even more location independent now than when I did!!  I spend a lot of my time in wide eyed amazement at the world around me and am painfully aware of my inability to keep my thoughts and views to myself (a reflection of my egotism I’m afraid) … and so the new title … ta dah!!!!

I had hoped to make the recent posts more up to date, relevant and therefore shorter in a bid to do the other 2 but am slowly coming to terms that I am just not a snappy writer, no matter how much I wish I was! Equally I am not a funny or politically savy or lyrically descriptive writer … this is all ok!! It has to be!!  What you get here is the best account I can manage of days (some times with the benefit of more hindsight then others!!) that are filled with my thoughts, feelings, emotions, the physical process of cycling and the personal jumble of me that this lot all makes.

Comments are welcomed! Those of you who have been exhorting me to write morE, thank you for your patience! Please comment … your ideas and thoughts are so nice to hear! News from wherever you are in the world would help me put my life into some sort of context and perspective!!

And finally sorry (not sorry!) to those who have just found their inboxes jammed up with backdated posts … well you did ask for it!!!

Sending you all lots of love,

Rae xx