In:sites – Wednesday 23rd July

Today was the end of a period in our life and the beginning of another. We are facing a change: something that family, friends and strangers have described as amazing or mad - sometimes both words being used in the same sentence.

In an attempt to leave the rat race and spend more quality family time together we have made three big changes:

1. We’ve given up our jobs
2. We’ve sold our house
3. We’ve taken Amy and Ella out of school

Why? Well, we've done this to spend a year travelling around the UK, living in our Xplore caravan, schooling the girls and exploring the country that we live in.

Amazing? Mad?

Our change is a big one but not everyone has to make such a leap in order to bring about a re-booting of their lives (their values, priorities ... what one whats to get out of life) – a step or even a shuffle will suffice.

The word or even idea of change evokes a mixture of opposing emotions; on the one hand it can be exciting and liberating whereas on the other hand it can daunting and paralyzing. It is all too easy to make excuses for stepping out into the unknown; excuses such as lack of money, lack of time, lack of energy can all be overcome. If you’re in the rut of living to work and want to shift the balance more towards working to live then you might need to consider a change.

Face the fears and take a couple of tentative steps.

Tops tips:

• Mindset – be more positive. Don’t let the worries or fears daunt or paralyse you. Try to say ‘yes’ to more opportunities. The more you do, the more opportunities arise.

• Time – make time to do what you want to do. Often the balance is weighted towards work and everything else takes second place. It might involve a bit of effort but making time will mean you can fit in quality, fulfilling activities.

• Weigh up and the pros and cons – make a list if it helps. Which side is longer. Ref. point one!

• Break something down into smaller chunks. You can’t eat an elephant in one go but you can eat small portions!