As I have mentioned, we left Thailand recently. We have been visiting friends and family in the UK. Working freelance is great because we can be flexible with our hours and make time to see people.
We have been staying with my parents in the South West of England. They live in a wonderful little country town surrounded by fields and farms. As we have been out of the UK for about 2 years Agi and I have been experiencing the English countryside with fresh eyes. Everything is so green and fresh.
Unlike Thailand, it's possible to go for a walk here without sweating profusely. We have been taking advantage of this fact by going for walks in the afternoons. It's been a while since I went walking in the English countryside and I'd forgotten that cows like to chase you. I went walking one afternoon, happily listening to a podcast. I couldn't hear anything, but something made me turn around to see bout 20 cows running across the field towards me. I picked up the pace and jumped over the stile. I took a photo of the crowd that gathered. I think a zombie infestation wouldn't be dissimilar.
We mentioned our walks to our parents' 80 year old neighbour and he invited us on one of his walks. Just a short, 6 mile one; not like his "real walks". He does 10 miles every Sunday!
Being freelancers we could take the morning off so we went out with my dad and our neighbour. It was a fantastic walk. The area is truly beautiful. One place in particular struck me as something out of an Enid Blyton book. There was a small valley carpeted with buttercups. A small river snaked across the meadow with a beautiful wooden footbridge across it. I didn't take a photo because I'm an idiot. Agi made a friend though:
One of the reasons we have come back to Europe is because both of us want to be closer to our parents. Yesterday they wanted to go for a walk at the coast with me. Again, freelancing to the rescue! I could easily put my work on hold and go for a walk with the folks. We went to a nearby beach and had a walk with the dog followed by coffee and cake at a cafe on the cliffs. You can see a photo at the top of this article. Lovely!
All of this flexibility is enabled by freelancing. Get in touch if you'd like to know how to make your transition to freelancing.