Already 9 months have passed since our return to ‘normal life’ in Montpellier – we were so looking forward to coming Back Home. The problem, of course, being that somehow travelling and tasting and seeing has made lots of the world seem like home and at the same time seemed to have alienated us from what we perceived at home.  So the long-awaited homecoming – was less a homecoming than I expected. It has been more like discovering a place for the first time, integrating anew and in many ways just an extension of our tour du monde!

Our 14 months away were so rich in drawing us closer as a family, so full of new experiences and interactions with others that we are left looking outwards. Samuel’s illness, the adversity we had to deal with was also somehow infused with countless blessings. In the end, so much good stuff came out of such an awful time. The 5 months we spent in the UK were graced with deepening bonds with the extended family, a deeper reality of God’s presence for me, a beautiful school experience for the boys, new friends, and a new neighbourhood to call ‘Our Own’. And then on top of all of that, we went travelling!

We didn’t set out to cover much ground and this added a dimension of depth to our travel experience.  The world is terribly big and beautiful and we have loved seeing new landscapes and meeting new people. However, our unanimously favourite times and fondest memories are certainly where we have spent time with family and friends or where we made new friends in a place we were visiting, forever making that place remarkable. We are left with a thirst for more and something out of the ordinary. We look forward to exploring where we live now and the best way is of course slowly and lazily, in a sort of human train on wheels.

It would seem we are not done with those bicycles just yet.