RONNIE & Michelle
Careering OffAfter over 30 years working, Ronnie & Michelle have decided to take the gap year (or two!) that we missed out on at the usual time. We have had stressful careers in Technology and Finance until now including start-ups and self-employment.
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The kids – Cameron & Daniel – have fled the nest to pursue their own adventures in life, leaving only the cats Tiger and Lexey to tie us down.
Following a health shock and seeing what has happened to many people we know around our age, we decided not to wait until we are in our 60’s and retired before resuming our love of travel and seeing the world. We are in the fortunate position of being able to pause working for a while.
It’s now time to career-off.
THE BLOG
Alexandria
After landing in Cairo, we joined our first tour to Alexandria. On the way to Alexandria, we stopped at Wadi Natrun monastery where we had a private tour led by the monk "Mercury". This is a Coptic Christian monastery and is said to be the origin monastery upon which...
Egypt & Jordan
We decided to restart our "proper" adventure travels with a G Adventures small group tour to Egypt and Jordan. The Giza pyramids were definitely up there near the top of the bucket list, but there was also so much more to see. Since we didn't know if we'd be back to...
Stonehaven Fireballs
One item on the bucket list was to visit Stonehaven for the Fireballs festival. Stonehaven has a sheltered harbour and was a very important port for the herring trade. The town has a number of claims to fame... The inventor of the pneumatic tyre, R.W. Thomson lived in...
Netherlands
We drove from The Ardennes directly across Belgium to get to The Netherlands, and our first stop for two nights in Breda. Breda is a pretty little town, built on canals (no surprise there!). We cycled in from our campsite. When we arrived, the church bells were...
Ardennes et al
So from Burgundy, we had to decide how best to get to Hook of Holland and make best use of our remaining time. We decided that we wanted to have a good few days in one place before catching the ferry. A lovely Dutch couple, Bas & Laureen, who we met on the...
Auvergne & Burgundy
On route to Burgundy, we stopped in Tauves in the Auvergne region. The region is heavily forested and very mountainous with volcanoes and thermal spas. We headed out in the car for a day trip and stumbled upon the village of Chastreix where we had coffee (made from...
Dordogne
We reached a campsite in Saint Cybranet which would be our home for the next 4 nights. On Colin & Julia's strong recommendation, we visited the gorgeous riverside village of La Roque-Gageac. The Dordogne is peppered with stunning chateaux, charming stone houses,...
South to Lot-et-Garonne
There was lots of news from the UK re. post-Brexit/post-pandemic ferry and Eurotunnel chaos, so we decided that we should really book our return ferry. That would also help to direct our route. The best option was Hook of Holland to Harwich. That was cheap and also...
Escaping the UK
We decided to take the caravan to France for 4-5 weeks. As soon as Michelle finished working at the Royal Highland Show, we were free to go. On the way, we went to the Kubix music festival at Herrington Country Park near Sunderland. We went in a convoy of three...
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