Our life has been in purgatory for months now — that middle ground between heaven and hell. A difficult and exhausting place to be.
Though I’ve always been somewhat of a skeptic when it comes to fate, this time, it was intimidatingly close — right in my face, screaming with a rawness I simply couldn’t ignore. After several breakdowns, a tonne of bad timing, and a moderate increase in alcohol intake, I now consider myself the poster child for “everything will work out in the end.”
Phrases like “When one door closes, another opens,” “This too shall pass,” “Everything happens for a reason,” and “Every ending is a new beginning in disguise” have a way of calming us during hard times. They shift our perspective, help us redirect our thoughts, and nudge us toward those ever-so-needed silver linings.
It’s strange — once you come through it all, you really can appreciate the significance of these sayings. What once felt like empty platitudes suddenly feel deeply, undeniably true.
So, where does this leave us?
After 22 months of an enduring process — and tackling red tape so thick you’d need a machete to cut through it — he has finally received a date to head off to Officer Training School for the Air Force.
With an inept ability to adhere to conventional norms, stick around and tackle single parenting like I’m super mum, I am choosing a different path. For the next 6 months, this mother-daughter duo will be exploring the world through workaway, hikes and cafes.
Our (Loose) Plan
Step one: ensure Méabh gets an Irish accent. Naturally, that means Ireland is our first stop — and with Éanna’s family eagerly waiting to see granddaughter and niece, it’s an easy win all around.
Next up? We’re diving into our very first Workaway in Norway — aka, swapping skills for free food and a place to sleep. (Basically, volunteering with a backpack and better coffee.) We’ve lined up three to four of these little adventures across Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden, and plan to zig-zag our way through Europe with as much flexibility as a toddler and train timetables will allow.
Sprinkled among the volunteering: the Redhead Festival in Tilburg (yes, it’s real, I’ve been before and we’re going again), plus catch-ups with friends in England and Wales.
I expect nothing short of chaos, the occasional panic and an abundance of overpriced babycinos.
To spice things up – I’m officially gamifying this holiday with a few wild-card challenges.
The Challenge List
- Let ChatGPT plan an entire week — I’ll keep you posted on how that goes…
- Rock up to the airport and book a mystery weekend away (YOLO, right?)
- Ask the audience – wherever you suggest, we might just go
- Let Méabh plan the day. Yes, it may involve back-to-back episodes of Paw Patrol, a lunch made entirely of crackers, and a mission to find the world’s best playground (likely very easy in Scandinavia) — but hey, she’s the boss for 24 hours.
- Plus more I will think of on the way.