Notes from suburbia

During our first visit to Ile La Graciosa – the 'graceful isle' – three and a half years ago, we fell in love with the place.   This lesser known Canary Island, stole a place in our hearts and we knew that one day we would return.   Wide open, largely uninhabited spaces   Clear turquoise fish-filled seas.   Nothing but warmth from the locals and the weather.   During the October school half-term holiday we made our way back there and I captured our journey back there. Journeying The alarm sounds at 1.30 am, three hours after it was set and approximately two hours and thirty minutes from when my body gave in to sleep. The lost half an hour between falling gratefully into bed and actually drifting into unconciousness was given over to nervous anticipation about the adventure ahead – not least, the knowing we would need to wake up one kid and one teen at 2am. As the tune chiming from my phone increases in intensity I swipe blindly at the screen and sear...

Way back when, at the beginning of this year, we (as in me and my Beloved) recognised that despite all we have and are grateful for in our lives, we were not feeling particularly content.  We had (once again) created exceptionally busy day-to-day lives for ourselves.  Too busy.  We were not allowing enough time and space to embrace the slow living adventures we enjoy with the people we love.  We made the following decisions:- We would make some changes to redress our work-life balance. We would use any spare cash and time we have on adventures - family holidays, mini-breaks, daytrips, creating experiences at home and beyond. We would become increasingly engaged in the activities we enjoy individually and together as a family. We would prioritise spending more time with the people we love. We would reconnect with each other and stop blaming each other for all that felt wrong with our worlds. We saw that we  needed more time simply 'being' and less time '...