Apologies for the temporary abandonment, the last few weeks have been eventful. I actually wrote this post about a week and a half ago, but I’ve not had a chance to post it, the irony of which will become clear as you read on.

So, for those of you that don’t know, I am an Aunt!!! My wonderful sister gave birth to my gorgeous niece Adelaide on 25th July. Adelaide arrived early and not without drama and given the risk associated with her arrival I felt I needed to be at home to offer comfort and support, so my cycling adventure took a bit of a back seat whilst I focused on the most important thing in my world, my family.

The three weeks that I was home were an absolute whirlwind, Adelaide and Willow were both in hospital for a few days so I made a number of trips to see them and then once they were home I was a regular visitor at their home, trying to get as many cuddles in as possible and to keep an eye on Willow as she entered the daunting world of parenthood.

In between seeing the new addition, I squeezed in lots of visits with loved ones. My days were packed with people, which was absolutely wonderful and a complete contrast to some of the previous weeks I’d spent on my adventure which at moments had felt very lonely. There was lots going on back at home and leaving once again to continue on my adventure was very emotional, it felt like the wrong time to be leaving but I knew I just had to do it.

Within hours of returning to Croatia, I had once again settled back into the slow and relaxing Balkan pace of life, how different it felt to the three previous weeks at home. Since being back on my adventure I realised that at home I have a tendency to over commit myself, trying to squeeze too many things into a day. Which means I can’t fully enjoy or relax into the things I’m doing as there’s always somewhere else to be and something else to be done. In the time that I was home I felt that I didn’t have time to think properly, constantly buzzing from one place to another, rational and logical thought processes out of the window whilst I tried to make sense of the jumble of plans I had made.

I know my adventure is very different as I don’t have the everyday jobs and chores to do, but I do still have a day full of activities and objectives, but somehow I seem to have so much more time to think. To think about my plan for the day, things I need for my bike, accommodation for the next day, plans for my future, my loved ones. Having time to think is a wonderful thing, I have enough time to consider different options, I have time to be logical and rational and somehow all this time thinking seems to make the hours and days pass slower. I don’t want my life to flash by in a whirlwind of jumbled up plans, I want my life to be relaxed and enjoyed with all time being quality time with the people I love.

We talk about the London rat race but I believe this inherent fast pace of life is one of the negative cultural aspects of life in Britain generally, and if I can do one thing differently when I get home, I would like it to take a leaf out of the Balkan’s book and change my pace of life, to just take more time to enjoy the moment and to look back when I’m old and say “Wow, what a long and wonderful life”.