I’m back in the North of England sitting in the van while the drizzle softly shrouds the outside world.  In twenty-four hours we’ll be home and can go back to living in an actual house and not a house on wheels.  The North of England can’t deliver on the weather but I can’t complain because we have had some special days down in Cornwall and Devon.

I have to say that when the sun shines on the British Isles, it really is the most delightful place.  The last leg of our journey has clung to some of the most magnificent coastlines, filled with the quaintest fishing villages and harbour towns.  Padstow, Megavissey, Fowey, Clovelly and Bude feature in the latest images and we both felt that we could have spent another month just in the South West corner of England.

But in a nasty turn of events, the schools have broken up for the summer, the crowds are here and the campsites are lot louder as the kids enjoy their freedom too. We’ve always tried to avoid travel during the busiest times and it seems fitting we’re on the way home.

I feel like I could travel forever but I’m also looking forward to getting home too.  I won’t need to shuffle everything around just to get something out and I can sit on the couch and pass away the days watching cricket on the telly.  Unfortunately, work will get in the way of many of the things I’d like to do.  I’m also interested in seeing how Chloe will handle to the return home, the changes in her have been profound and over the duration of this trip she’s changed from a dog that used to simply tolerate us to a dog that now considers us her pack members.  She hasn’t always loved life in the cities but she’s found moments of magic on sandy beaches and snow-covered mountains. I expect she’ll be delighted with the opportunity for some quality couch time too.

The budget has struggled during the British leg of our trip.  Walking might cost nothing but cream teas, wine tastings, pub dinners, fish and chips, pasties and pints all cost money.  In a controversial take on the cream tea debate I confess that I prefer the Devon style which is cream first on the scone and then jam on top.

With less distance to cover we’ve had a chance to wind down from all the months of travel and when we did finally break away from the coast, we still kept the decision making quite arbitrary in regard to destinations.  In the last two days we have stopped in Wells in Somerset, simply because Hot Fuzz was filmed there and Bakewell, in the Peak District, because it’s the home of Thornbridge Brewery, who happen to make some very fine beers.

I can now hear the rain pattering on the roof which means it’s not drizzling anymore, its time to get moving again.  We might stop by town for a Bakewell Tart before hitting the road on this penultimate day.

One more sleep and then everything returns to normal.