Little things.

Since we hit the road in the bus I have made a concerted effort to keep a kind of scrapbook about all our adventures, I don’t want to forget the little moments that happen in the midst of the big ones and are quite often just as magic. While we were moving constantly I was doing it religiously but since Wayne has been working I had slacked a bit so this week my mission was to catch up. Oliver and I had great fun reading through some of the weeks we had at the beginning of our journey. It made me realise how quickly things slip to the back of your mind because there were already moments I needed reminding of.

It also made me think about how natural it feels for us living this way in a small space. You wonder when you embark on something like this how you will cope without all the space and the walls that a roomy three bedroom house affords you. Will you drive each other mad? Will you miss your privacy? Will we have to spend our evenings whispering to each other so we don’t wake Oliver? For us none of these things have been an issue. I actually think we get along so much better now than we did before and are probably all a lot more tolerant of each other, I don’t really have an explanation why. Perhaps it’s because we were conscious of the possible downfalls of this way of living so have been careful that every now and then Wayne and I take a little bit of time out from the little unit to go do something by ourselves. Perhaps it’s just because our life in general holds a lot less stress than it did before so we are calmer on the whole. As for privacy I honestly don’t miss it as much as I thought I would. And Oliver falls to sleep in a matter of moments most evenings and sleeps soundly with the sound of us doing pretty much whatever at close range. Cooking dinner, watching tv, talking at normal volume, I actually think he likes hearing the noises as he sleeps and knowing that we are just right there.

Just to test how livable our small space really is my Mum came to visit us for a week. I truly count myself as blessed to have a Mum who will come and sleep on my couch for a week just to spend some time with us and the four of us coped really well with living so close together. I suppose we had a bit of practise in the time we spent living together while the bus was being renovated. It was so great to share our new life with someone who is so important to us and catch up on some of the time we have missed with each other over the last six months. It’s always affirming to share things you are doing with someone you love, to see the knowledge that this is truly working reflected back at you by them. And though it’s mildly heartbreaking to watch Oliver say goodbye again to someone he adore’s I know he made the most of the time he had with her, soaking up every opportunity and sneaking in as many cuddles as he could. In it’s own way I think this is good for him, he is learning not to take the people he loves for granted and to enjoy the time he does have with them. So now we have had a little dose of home to keep us going for a while, Wayne’s work here in Blenheim is coming to an end and the next adventure feels like it is knocking on our door….