As many of you know, three years ago we began planning and organising to begin a life on the road. There was tonnes of stuff we had to do ... buy and import a fifth wheel, find and purchase a suitable towing vehicle, save heaps, get the house ready i.e. store or sell furniture and find a tenant. We did all that and 6 months ago we waved goodbye to Nelson to begin this exciting new gypsy lifestyle.
We loved everything about living on the road. Exploring new places, meeting new people, walking tracks we'd read about, taking loads of photos, I loved the lack of housework and we adored our new found sense of freedom.
The rig and truck didn't miss a beat. Bernie had set everything up to make life a breeze. The washing machine in the shed on the truck meant we could do washing whenever and wherever we wanted. The extra tanks on the truck gave us ample water and when it was time to refill or dump we didn't have to move the rig as well. We could pump the water from the rig's tanks into the truck's tank and just use the truck. Life was sweet!
But then Paddy became unwell again. Really unwell. And out of the blue, our long-term tenant emailed to say she'd bought a house and would be moving out. Throw in a couple of personal circumstances that had sprung up at the same time and it seemed everything was indicating that we head back home.
We'd chatted about traveling back to Nelson over winter to find work (while still living in the rig). We had tickets to go to Warbirds over Wanaka at the end of March which we were really looking forward to so we thought we'd make our way to Nelson in April after Warbirds in Wanaka.
However, sometimes things don't go to plan - and by early February we found ourselves back in Nelson. So it was with mixed emotions that we moved back into our house. Although we were thrilled to be back with our family, there were other feelings in the mix ... we felt deflated, disappointed and quite unsettled. But time rolled on (as it does) and after several weeks, we were both working and life ticked along as before.
Meanwhile Paddy's health had deteriorated, which made us grateful to be back home near our local vet providing his treatment. Being in one place and on our own property made managing an unwell pet that little bit easier.
Although we're both really keen to get back on the road again, it looks like it might be a couple of years away. We've had many discussions regarding the rig and although we love it, we've come to the realisation (ever so reluctantly) that it's not viable to have it sitting unused for a few years.
So last weekend we listed it on Trademe.
Now some lucky person/couple will become the owner/s of an amazing unit that's had all its teething problems sorted and is basically only a few months old.
It deserves to be out there exploring, traveling and being lived in!
