As this trip winds down and we begin contemplating work and all things about life back at home, I feel fairly confident that I won’t go on to make a living as a travel blogger and photographer.

I started off with a good bit of gusto and was knocking out a blog every couple of days but as the trip wore on and I started to get into life on the road, the frequency began to dwindle and I’m currently knocking them out on a weekly basis.  But I’ve written nearly fifteen thousand which is a goodly amount of writing.

I have to confess that nearly all of my photos from the last month have been taken on my phone.  In the end I just got sick of lugging a heavy camera bag everywhere with me, I trudged miles with that stuff slung over my sweaty shoulders during some brutally hot days. And I noticed that I was using more and more phone shots anyway, so why not save the hassle?  We won’t even mention the drone because I only launched it half a dozen times at best and it’s spent much of the trip tucked away under the bed.

But I have enjoyed putting these blogs together and I want to thank all my 31 subscribers particularly, while making an honourable mention of anyone that followed the link from my social media.  Quite often when you create something it’s very hard to gauge whether anyone actually enjoyed it, or even saw what I’d put together, so for those people that commented and clicked a like button I want to let you know how much I appreciated the interaction.  For anyone that lurks, just give a bit of feedback, it really can lift someone’s spirits.

Another thing that lifts the spirits is sunshine and we are getting more of that now than when we first came back to England. We drifted through Dorset and spent a little time on the Jurassic Coast before meandering into Devon.  The area around the River Dart is somewhere we have gone before on a holiday many years ago with another special Greyhound and it still is a beautiful as ever.  They haven’t widened any of the country lanes in that time and most of our journeys were terrifying affairs as the hedgerows brushed along the van.  Single lane tracks only work if drivers going opposite ways are considerate and I’d reckon the Italians would fail at this miserably.

This morning, we crossed into Cornwall via the Tamar River ferry.  I love living in the Lake District but I could happily give it all up and move down to Cornwall.  The roads are barely better than in Devon but there’s something so special about the quality of the light and the colour of the sea.  We’ve done this entire trip with little to no forward planning but for the first time we have actually prebooked a campsite.  We desperately wanted to stop in Padstow and we didn’t want to miss the chance to spend another couple of days in the little harbour town where we have so many happy memories.  Of course, Rick Stein is going to get some more of our money but only for the fish and chips this time. I’m keeping an eye on the weather hoping the sun shines as I sit on the harbour edge drinking a pint of Proper Job.

Now that the weather is cooler Chloe has taken to sleeping back on the bed with us.  We have only found three ticks on her this entire trip and we are delighted none ever found their way from her, into our bed and then buried themselves into our skin.  She was always an aloof dog but we have built a real bond on the road.  She sure does love going nuts on the beaches but I’m certain she will adore returning home to her comfy couch.

And finally, I have to comment on a rather freakish thing happened the other night when a Queen bee decided to make our reversing camera her new home and we had dozens of bees attempting to join her in the van as we tried to sleep.  I’d like to report that I was brave and manly as I removed her but I was not.  However, I can confirm that no bees were hurt as I shooed her off to some other home that wasn’t ours. Do I have enough time to squeeze out another instalment before this trip is over?  I’ll promise to try.