TIME JUST SEEMS TO FLY BY. DO YOU SOMETIMES WONDER WHERE THE TIME GOES?

Well what a year that was...2022    I started last year with the dream of writing a book and having it published. 

 It was wonderful when @vertebratepublishing said that they wanted to go ahead and publish my book. Fast forward ward a year and here I am at the age of 63, with my book RETIREMENT REBEL getting rave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. It has also gone to reprint to keep up with demand. I am thrilled to be able to show women that you are never too old and it is never too late, to fulfil your dreams and to have adventures. Hopefully it will also help younger women not to fear getting old.

I have lost track of time and as a consequence I have not written a blog about my adventures for several months. It is impossible to mention everything that has happened since my last blog. Suffice to say that  life has been wonderful.

Excitingly since the book launch last October, I have been invited to speak at several festivals,

 including the Kendal Mountain Festival and The Wild Writers Festival in Peebles, up in the Beautiful Scottish Borders.

 I loved the experience of talking at both of them. It is heartwarming to see how much my story about hitting the road nearly four years ago, as a solo female traveller, in my van, resonated with the audience. A highlight for me is chatting to the women after the talks. Especially when they tell me that they have been inspired to have their own van life adventures, or take a different path in their life, to get the most out of ageing because of my example. 

The intimate talks in bookshops are wonderful to do.  Seeing women gathering alongside my book on display on the shelf, eager to hear my story, fills my heart with so much joy.  I respond with enthusiasm to the questions about how safe I feel, or how do I decide where to go, or stay, in my motorhome because I want to paint a picture for them that they too will want to emulate as they go on to retire and age as positively as they can.

Recently I was talking on the Leisure Vehicle Advice stage at the Camping, Caravan and motorhome show at the NEC in Birmingham, the biggest show of it's kind in the UK, alongside some fabulous women, including Hollie from these_girlsvan .

She is in her early thirties and doing so much to encourage women with children to venture out in their vans. She organises meet ups and I loved her spirit. We connected straight away despite our age differences. I loved that. So often society pigeon holes you depending on how old you are. Here we were finding common ground, "van life".  Age was totally irrelevant, which is what I have been shouting from the rooftops for so long. Regardless of age we should be doing what makes us happy and live our best lives and hanging out with people who make us feel good about ourselves, young and old. 

The highlight of doing talks about my book RETIREMENT REBEL is being able to help others find their happy place too. Since doing my talks and meeting people in person, or when they reach out to me via social media, I know that I was far from alone feeling that I wanted to repurpose my life in my fifties and sixties. It was just knowing how to do that. I took drastic steps downsizing from a home to a motorhome and that worked for me. I have not let "what if " thoughts 'self limit' what I do. That makes some people scared. I say to them, I was scared but I found ways and means of overcoming many of those fears and now I feel like I can take on so much more in life. That is a great place to be. 

I wrote an article recently for the ipaper, about how I left my job, home, family and friends at 60 and it transformed my life. I reflected in that article that since covid more women of all ages are taking to van life and creating communities like these girls van.com to support one another. I think that is fabulous. They are finding their tribe

I also penned an article for the Coast magazine, entitled, WANDERING WARRIOR, in that I show how the sea seems to be my happy place throughout this journey of self discovery. It has enabled me to find my confidence and Warrior spirit. That in turn makes me feel so more at peace with my surroundings. For years I felt fearful of life and especially of anyone more senior than me. I allowed it to chip away at my confidence and self belief. Through my motorhome adventures in my 60s I have rediscovered myself and become the woman that I always felt that I should have been. 

It is not all work and no play, I went back to the farm in Dorset where I volunteer in return for being able to stay and plug into the electric. I relished in collecting horse pooh from the fields and sweeping out the stable yard. It makes me feel alive and happy. It is that feeling of freedom and being mistress of my own destiny that empowers me to go with the flow and to have no plan. Saying that it is nice to have a haven like the farm to retreat to when life gets busy and I feely that I want to regroup. Jan is always so welcoming. She also hosts a mean Reggae night in her barn, so I get chance to have a good old dance which is good for the soul.

Since Covid I have been very active on Social Media getting to know tribes of like minded women. One group, Magical Midlife Membership, founded by an amazing woman called Honour, who lives in the South of France,

decided to organise a lunch in London so that some of us, who had been messaging for years without actually meeting up, could meet face to face. I signed up straight away. I was so excited to get dressed up and head off into London. I had a fabulous time. They were even nicer than I hoped they would be. I really clicked with a few of them and we had some great belly laughs. 

On the train back to get my motorhome ,Dora the Explora, I reflected on the gathering and it made me realise that one thing that I do miss being on the road and my nomadic lifestyle, is my group of girlfriends that I would meet up with in my previous life and hang out with at weekends. We went thought the good and bad times together. Yes I am still in touch with them and pop to see them when I am nearby, but just being able to pop and see them or help them is something that I miss. It pulled at my heart strings.

Pretty soon though it was off to give another talk about my book RETIREMENT REBEL and my motorhome adventures. I headed off to talk at yet another big Warner's motorhome and Campervan show. This time it was in Harrogate. Being a Yorkshire lass I was very excited about that. Some of my family came to listen to me talk which was lovely.

Sometimes I say yes to things without looking at the logistics of getting from A to B. This was one of those occasions.  When I finished in Harrogate I was due to house and petsit in the other end of the country, in Folkestone. I got up at the crack of dawn and headed off down the A1. Six hours later and very tired I arrived at a beautiful big house. Being greeted by two adorable dogs and an affectionate cat made the journey worthwhile. We had plenty of walks beside the sea, which as you may know is my happy place.

One of the benefits of house sitting is that it is a great way to see the country and I get to stay in some fabulous places, in great locations.