Summer Blog: Long distance treks, house sales and new van update

Wow - it has been a while since I last put up a blog! It has been quite a summer so far. Since we got back from our Spanish road trip we have been busy sorting out house sales, Richard has done 2 long distance treks and we have a new van update.

Spain and Portugal Road trip

I plan to document the 7-week road trip in a separate blog because it was an incredible journey, exploring places we are eager to revisit. Portugal was a new addition to our European travels, made even more special by my Mum and my sister's family joining us for a couple of weeks in the Douro Valley.

House Sale update

If you've been keeping up with the channel and blogs over the past few years, you're likely aware of the ongoing challenges we've faced in selling Richard's mum's house. Over the past two years, we've been addressing house repairs due to subsidence issues. The insurance company has been quite helpful, but the process has been lengthy and slow. Finally, at the end of April, the work was finished, allowing us to clean and tidy up the house and put it on the market.

We are pleased to announce that we have accepted an offer, and the sale is hopefully close to completion. This presents its own challenges, as we still have a lot of clearing out to do in both the house and the garage, which is still packed with all of Richard's dad's carpentry tools and wood!

I think a large car boot sale might be coming up, but it feels so surreal to be clearing out and selling a house while his Mum is still alive and residing in a care home.

Family time looking after mum

For the past few weeks, I've been in Cheshire staying with my Mum, who recently underwent a full knee replacement. Although I intended to look after her, she's been quite remarkable and independent from the moment she returned home. I'm amazed at how quickly they get patients up and moving after such a major operation! She was climbing the stairs to bed just 24 hours after the surgery!

It's been wonderful to spend time with my mum and both of our children who live nearby, as well as to reconnect with some extended family members I haven't seen in a while.

Richards long distance treks

While I've been in Cheshire taking care of my mum, Richard has been enjoying his passion for hiking in the Dales. Over the past two weeks, he completed two long-distance treks and is now recuperating at home, feeling quite exhausted!

Despite the challenges, he enjoyed both hikes. Storm Floris, however, made the last few days on the Dales Highway route particularly difficult. I'm sure he'll write a blog about his trekking experiences once he's recovered.

I have included a link to our latest Yorkshire Dales Herriot Way vlog which showcases some of the stunning scenery from an area that we are lucky to now call home.

New van update

We were thrilled to visit Lowdhams in Nottingham a couple of weeks ago to get an update on our new van. They had a model in the showroom that closely matched the specifications of our order, so it was great to thoroughly explore the van.

If everything goes as planned, our van is expected to leave the production line at the end of August and should be with us by late September or early October. We have one final French road trip planned in Nelson before we pass him on to our children for them to experience vanlife.

Robbie Roams - No fuss travel guides

Our collaboration with No Fuss Travels and Robbie Roams over the past few months has been truly enjoyable, and we are eagerly anticipating the release of his new French Roadtrip book, expected in the next few days.

After watching his initial videos, I've already planned some wonderful stops, including several picturesque waterfalls and hikes when we hit the French Alps later this month.

We have extensively used a couple of his guidebooks, particularly the Wales and Outer Hebrides editions, and would highly recommend them. If you use the code 'WANDERLUST' and add both the book and the map to your basket, you will receive the map and postage free using the link below:

https://nofusstravelguides.com

A very poorly bicycle

While Richard has been away on his long-distance treks, I intended to take my road bike out on the beautiful, flat Cheshire roads. Unfortunately, during my first ride, when I shifted gears, the chain clunked and jammed. Luckily, I only had one foot clipped in, so I didn't injure myself, but the bike isn't in good shape!

Being over 4 km from my Mom's house and with no one around to give me a ride, I had to walk the 4 km back home. I tossed the bike behind a hedge in frustration as I walked back,however, I was quite relieved it was still there when I drove back to retrieve it.

I hope it can be repaired and won't be too costly, as we plan to take the bikes back to France with us in a couple of weeks!

Why is time at home so expensive!

We have been back for only 3 weeks but seemingly all we have done is spend lots of money! Car insurance, eye tests and new glasses, haircuts and a flat tyre soon added up and our very old hoover has decided to give up the ghost this week so another expense coming up! I am sure it is cheaper to live on the road when all we spend is food, petrol and campsite fees.

Motorhome Magazine fame

Despite being a hesitant writer during his school years, Richard takes great pride in the regular articles he has published in various magazines. This summer, he has consecutively published articles in the esteemed MMM Motorhome magazine, and I couldn't be more proud of him.

I will take all the credit for the excellent photography that went with the articles! There is one photo from our recent trip to the outer Hebrides of the famous gate on Vatersay that I must get printed to hang up at home. My photo of a highland cow at Huisinis Beach was on the back cover of the magazine envelope!

3 years of YouTube

Over the past few months we have hit several YouTube milestones and we are astounded at how the channel continues to grow!

What started off as a small project 3 years ago this week to keep Richard occupied during our early days of retirement is now quite a substantial project. It has almost come to the point where we have to ask the question - do we still call ourselves retired?

By the end of the week, we will have surpassed 30,000 subscribers and reached approximately 3 million views on the channel. This is a huge thank you to everyone who has followed and supported us over the past three years.

We have several exciting new projects and collaborations in the works, with many more skills to be learned!

That's it for now, just a quick update on our progress. Keep an eye out for the blog about our road trip through Spain and Portugal, which I hope to upload by Sunday.

Have a great week,

Jackie and Richard