Last working day…

When I started planning for our trip, the day I was going to be leaving LMH, was nearly still 3 years away.

And today, it’s THE DAY!

It was an emotional drive into work. For a total of 13 years I was commuting in to Oxford either in the car or on the bike, pedalled up thousands of kilometres just on the daily commute. It was great to be able to do this!

So, the commute in the car this morning was filled by some sadness, trepidation and excitement.

Sadness…

After 8 years of working at LMH I got to know the good, the bad, and the ugly. But staying with one employer for that period of time can really only mean one thing. It must have been good! And it was!

Therefore, leaving the LMH community, the trusted suppliers and other work associates behind, is not that easy and fills me with some sadness.

But more than anything else, my amazing team of 19 people from 11 different countries have been in the center of my day to day work. What an exciting mix of people that was to work with! All those different personalities, skill sets, ambitions, views of life - I always enjoyed being in this type of work environment!

We got to know each other well, shared the good and successful times, helped each other during times when we were busy and short staffed and also looked after each other when people needed help on a more personal basis. We were always able to debate things, look at different view points and find the common ground to go forward - all in the interest of our customers and our own development.

And now I am sitting here, thinking about all this and writing about it and...for some reason I grab a tissue...

Trepidation...

In 5 days, Rebecca and I will be setting off from Hooky.

We will be locking the door of the house we are living in for the last time with the keys left inside - no way to go back now!

We had a couple of two week bike trekking holidays in France and some long weekends in this country which were our practice rides in the lead up to what is just about to happen!

Will Rebecca and I be working as well together in the long run as we did during our short holidays? Are the last minute bike adjustments going to work and help Rebecca to get less back pain? Have we settled on the right equipment for the long journey? Do we have the correct spare parts with us? It's only just end of February, will the weather be kind to us? How will it feel when Rebecca and I are going our separate ways in Istanbul and I'll be entering Narnia?

These are some of the questions at the back of my mind and do create some trepidation in me...

Excitement...

And then, there is the excitement! It is an incredible feeling to feel free and to look forward to a real adventure with so many unknown experiences to be had.

One person - hello Mark from Witney - said to me that I must have my mid-life crisis. My answer was, if this would be the case, I would have bought a Porsche...

Doing something I loved doing for a long time but taking it to a different level, the interesting 3-year long leadup to the trip, the commitment one has to make during this planning phase, getting mind and body ready to immerse yourself into the unknown, accepting the currently unknown challenges we will face on route - all those things have nothing to do with a mid-life crisis!

Looking forward to meeting different people, immersing ourselves into different cultures, exploring countries and landscapes as we cycle through them and eating & cooking lots of foods which will be new to us. This makes it all very exciting!

This temporary change of lifestyle, will shape me into something different than I am right now - hopefully it will have a real positive impact on my personality rather than just coming back with a bushy beard!