It's a big one!

The moho is packed, parked outside on the pavement half obstructing the cul-de-sac. The estate where we live was built in the mid 1980s; the planners seem to have assumed that in the future people would scoot about in Smart car sized vehicles not bulbous SUVs or 7m. motorhomes. 

Thankfully our neighbours don't complain, they know we only ever park our small monster truck outside our house half a dozen days of the year, before we head-off or overnight when we return. I'm excited, Dover to Dunkirk next Tuesday, Brindisi to Corfu early next month, it's a big one!

Circumstances have conspired to curtail our autumn wanderings over the past three years. In 2019 we took a five week break in Languedoc and the Costa Brava; we had a great trip with our daughter Sarah and partner Rob. They carried on, catching the ferry from Barcelona to Civitavecchia, we headed home as we had major building work scheduled to start in mid-October. In the event it was delayed for nine months after our builder suffered a fall working on another job.

The following year we headed to Elba and southern Tuscany. After months of lockdown foreign travel felt liberating but fraught, the paperwork confusing and nagging doubts remained - are we being foolhardy? Our offspring definitely thought so and were forthright about telling us. In retrospect perhaps they were right but our urge to travel proved stronger than an instinct for self preservation. Last year we repeated the trip to Costa Brava, now vaccinated it didn't seem quite so risky, but mask wearing and rules about social distancing meant it felt far from normal, new or otherwise.

I can't quite believe it is seven years since we were last in Greece, the bright October days we spent wandering along the unfrequented roads of Arkadia and Argolis were the most beautiful we have travelled. It's sad to think we will never be able to experience such freedom again, we simply mooched about Greece, Sicily and Italy from September to the the following May, flying back home for a month at Christmas and a couple of weeks over Easter. Schengen visa rules preclude a repeat attempt.

We have 70 days left of our 90 because we took an impromptu trip the Normandy and the Loire last month. In order to 'wipe the slate' for next winter's trip to Spain starting late in January 23 we need to be back from Greece by the end of October 22. Consequently we have to leave for Greece in late August, two weeks earlier than usual. This has its downsides, mid 30s temperatures south of the Alps and high season prices in camp sites - a pain, but unavoidable.

Nevertheless it's an exciting prospect, even more so after a health scare a fortnight ago threw the whole trip into doubt. Anyone who has read our first few blog posts will know it was a health issue back in 2013 that resulted in us buying a motorhome in the first place as a kind of consolation prize. My sky high blood pressure and pending cardiac appointment put the kibosh on a carefully planned road trip road trip from Las Vegas to Vancouver taking in the highlights of the US West Coast.

Finally, after a two year hiatus, the more routine functions of the NHS have re-started. I was called in for a long overdue health check, which followed the exact same script as the one back in 2013 - the result of the blood test was fine, my cholesterol had reduced a bit, as had my weight - all good, until the practice auxiliary took my blood pressure, it was almost off the scale; she went into blind panic mode, checked that I was not seeing flashing lights, suffering chest pain or feelings of numbness in my extremities. After consulting with the practise nurse who had a conversation with her boss, it was decided that a doctor would ring me later on. A doctor speaking to me straightaway - a rare honour these days.

He prescribed a secondary medication, normally that would involve having a blood test after three weeks or so and would mean postponing our departure. We agreed on a compromise, I would have another go with a low dose of  Amlodipine. I have taken these pills previously but asked to swap to another med. due to unpleasant side effects. However the previous dose had not caused kidney failure, so restarting it would not require a blood test. I figured I would simply put up with the dodgy gastric consequences if it meant we could head south as planned.

The trip still hung in the balance until a couple days ago . As per doc's instructions I checked my blood pressure twice daily for three days and took the average - 144/87, not ideal but definitely on a downward trajectory. Another conversation with the doc - repeat the tests in a fortnight - if the numbers get close to the target for a sixty-something (135/85) stick with the 5g dose, if not double the daily dose. Greece here we come - a blood pressure monitor and a big bag of pills joining my other travelling essentials such as a snorkel, a Panama hat and a copy of Emily Wilson's new translation of the Odyssey.

 I am not saying my recent tribulations were actually the work of Nemesis, but I do appreciate at some level I have had a deserved cumuppance. From time to time I've written some snarky stuff about the tendency of older travellers to dwell at length and in graphic detail on their various ailments. Sadly it seems I have joined them. From my late 50s to mid 60s I actually felt I had become younger.  Freed from the pressures of a demanding job and able to roam around as I wished I felt more energetic, healthier and positive than I had been in decades. Sadly you are not going to be able to out-fox time forever. It's tricky to untangle the deleterious effects of lockdown and Covid from signs and symptoms of ageing, but for whatever reason I am not so perky as I was this time last year. It's true, 'lifestyle changes' can keep you healthier, but in truth nothing can prevent you getting older, so the imperative becomes to do stuff now because later might be too late.

We locked up, ran through our mental checklist of things we might have forgotten, Gill snapped a goodbye photo of the neighborhood as I drove off, I did remember to stop so she could hop aboard! 

Dover docks now, via Canterbury's New Dover Road Park and Ride ..

... then tomorrow across France, non-stop though Switzerland, south of the Alps - a long drive down the length of Italy's Adriatic coastline. Twelve days and 1600 miles later we should be on a ferry from Brindisi to Corfu, the Ionian coasts of Italy and Greece beckon, all new territory - Heels for Dust!