About

Hello again! And welcome 🙂

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I’m not the first and I certainly won’t be the last person to try to reinvent myself. You might remember me as Restlessjo. A lady who walks a lot, and eats cake. That’s a younger model of me you’re looking at, above. Taken in Monet’s Garden at Giverny, on our 25th Wedding Anniversary, in August 2014. A happy occasion, enhanced by a little rain. I loved that shirt! Spotted in a charity shop just before we went to Paris, it made me feel a million dollars. I wear favourite clothes till they fall off my back but, sadly, I lost this one whilst out walking. I wonder who’s wearing it now?

So much has changed since then. We sold our home in the north east of England and made the move to our holiday home in Portugal’s sunny Algarve. Living the dream, the saying goes. Not perhaps the happy ever after I envisaged because in 2020 a pandemic changed our world, driving a wedge between us and our UK family. I’m happy to say that things are slowly returning to normal, but the doubts have been sewn and I no longer move through my days with the same assurance.

Do I still have a story to tell? I hope so.

41 thoughts on “About”

  3. As someone who was born moving, it never gets easy when you have to leave someone. Maybe that’s why we keep it moving, because as kids we weren’t really given a choice, and this is our way of reclaiming our choices, and the only life we’ve ever known. I wonder how that changes (if it changes at all) if you’ve had roots and started moving around as an adult.

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    • Hi, there! You must think me so rude! I’ve only just found this comment when I came to my About page to check the contents when someone asked me about my background. My north east of England family didn’t have the means (nor the desire, in some cases) to travel outside of the UK. I always had restless feet, from as far back as I can remember. My son has inherited the tendency, my daughter, not so much. Sorry for the huge delay in responding.

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      • Oh no worries. In a twist of coincidence I haven’t been on here much. Glad we established contact and looking forward to reading more. I was obsessed with the north as a kid, but it was really Wigan that did it for me. 😀 Went there as an adult and people were so lovely. A good friend of mine while studying in Norwich was from York. How lovely that your son inherited your restless feet. If you’re ever in Finland or Poland do let me know. Would love to show you around. X

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      • That’s funny because I’m going to a wedding in Poland next weekend. 😀

        Where about in Poland, if it’s not too private? I’m mainly in Warsaw these days, but the relatives are up north and there might be some still around Kraków.

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  6. We loved Monet’s garden. Expat life is an interesting experience. I’ve lived it in Argentina and in Mexico. My wife and I are actually legal residents in Mexico so maybe we’ll live there again at some point.

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  7. Looking forward to reading more of your new story! Covid certainly changed the world…and here in the US politics did too. It’s been enlightening and not always pleasant to find out how our friends and neighbors and even family feel about things. But…as a sheltie rescue founder always says…. “onward!”

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    • That’s a subject we sometimes have to skate around, even with friends and family, Dawn. Our 2 youngsters see the world rather differently, post Brexit, and I’m sorry for the added stress and financial pressure in their world. Many thanks for your company 🤗💗

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  11. Hah! RJo, my old friend, is now SRJo. Congrats and more for this new adventure. I’ve been wordpress lazy for this past year (and a half.) I look forward to catching up with you. Wishing you all the best. – Susan (still at onesmallwalk, but nothing new there!)

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    • Not as exciting as it sounds, Mari. I was in the habit of draping a shirt over my shoulder bag if I got too warm, and it simply slipped off without my noticing. We retraced our steps but it had gone. I always thought it would turn up one day 🙄💕

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