The question gets asked regularly. “how/when/why did you decide on this trip” “Why 18 months?” “Are you retiring?” “Will you go back to work?” “How do you pay for this?” etc, etc. Good questions, no real rational answers, except that we could, we wanted to, and covid gave the excuse to extend the trip from 12 to 18 months. Planning this trip has been a long-time fermenting, countless French lessons, and a large white board with things to add & subtract. Insurances to cover and cancel, visa’s to be organised, subscriptions to be halted/cancelled, and ridiculously too many streaming services to be terminated…since when did these take over our lives? Camera gear to be upgraded, both bought and sold, plus a shiny new MacBook Air2. Money to be saved, then spent on flights, accommodation, car hires, etc. A house to pack up and store for 18 months, excess thrown out, donated or gifted. Farewells to be made, God so many people to be missed! Saying goodbye to family and friends, dear friends, that we won’t …