One Sleep...

One sleep to go and we'll be on our travels. It's been an amazing six weeks as we've prepared to leave home. More emotional than I'd thought as I sifted through my son's childhood possessions and sorted them for keeping or passing them on to a needy child; flicking through photo albums and remembering special times at home, and other travels we'd been on.

I shed tears for the closed chapters of my life, but it was also a time to share with my son where we'd been in the past nineteen years and where our dreams and hopes may lead us in the future. Those six weeks were filled with bonding experiences that we will never forget.

While we embark on our new adventure, our son, Dan is embarking on his own with full-time employment and a possible opportunity to live and work in America within twelve months. So it's not change just for us but for Dan, too. And that's the exciting thing about life. We never know where it's going to take us. The tears and reminiscing are part of the journey and it's important to take the time to live these special moments. God always said to me that Dan was mine only for the first twenty years of his life, and now that the reality of him reaching for his independence is here, it's quite a challenge to accept the finality of him becoming independent as he continues to live at home with friends.

However, with us leaving home, the transition has been that much easier. I have much to look forward to with the travelling and release of African Hearts. It's left me wondering how others who don't have a travelling adventure to look forward to cope with this change. I'd be interested to hear how others have lived through this part of their journey. Please leave a comment.

The past few weeks have also seen the final proofing for African Hearts being completed and ready for printing. Much work goes into this phase of the book's production that I'd never thought about until now. These learning experiences inspire me to lift the bar higher for my next work which is already well under way. Being on the road will refill my creative well and enrich my writing in new and extraordinary ways.

I'm thankful for this opportunity to travel and write. Another great thing about our travels is being able to connect with my husband on a deeper level. The years of child rearing and earning a living can strain a marriage in many ways, and being able to re-connect and form new bonds and reminisce about the past will bring a deeper intimacy to our relationship that I'm really looking forward to.

I'm looking forward to sharing our Writing All Over Australia journey with you every few days, so make sure you stop by to see what we're up to.

Leaving Home

Usually, it's young people who leave home to take on the world when school is finished.

For me, I decided it was my husband and I who were going to leave home, not our son who was looking toward to leaving. When he came to me and said, "Mum, I'm leaving home in the new year to live with friends", it came as a shock to learn my one and only child had grown up much quicker than I'd thought possible. He was ready to leave home, but was I ready for his leaving home?

No! I wasn't ready for him to leave the nest. I panicked and tried to come up with every excuse why he shouldn't be leaving home even though he's nineteen. Didn't I bring him up to be independent and with a positive outlook that anything he set his mind to could be his if he applied himself? Well, there was my answer. Yes, I've equipped him with everything I know and now he was ready to put all that he's learned to the test, so I gave my blessing while he started looking for a place to live with his friends.

Two weeks later, I woke up and thought what if Frank and I left home? I'd always thought I would leave home when Dan left home, so Frank and I decided we would leave home, and rent our home to Dan and his friends. Once the initial shock of this idea was over, it started to make sense. I'd always wanted to let my adventurous spirit loose, and now that Dan was ready to leave the nest, there was nothing holding me back.

So, much to Dan's delight, he accepted his crazy mother's idea of leaving home and he's counting the sleeps until we go. As a result, Frank and I have bought our caravan, are in the process of selling our furniture and preparing to leave on the greatest adventure of our lives.

I'll write novels while we're travelling. It's my hearts desire to meet all my readers wherever we go at book launches, signings, library visits, workshops, and speaking engagements at your church or service group. The title of my website has been changed to Writing All Over Australia. So keep posted to this blog to find out when I'm in your town. Come and chat, while I sign your copy of African Hearts.

As I write this post, my house is covered with boxes of all sizes, and furniture is being taken away as people buy it. During the next few weeks, I'll keep you posted on where we're at with packing our belongings. Perhaps the last few days before we leave we'll be living in the van.

How was it for you when your children left home, or what are you expecting when this life-changing event becomes reality for you; or maybe you haven't thought about that yet?