….Going out of your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
J R R Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
The first time we felt we were properly on the road and being swept along was our journey along the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland, and the trip to get there.
I had my leaving drinks on a Friday and then had my last 3 days at work. By Wednesday there was nothing left for me to do, so I did some training, handed in my phone and laptop and that was it. I felt low on Thursday. I loved my job and really liked the people I worked with. I was the only Insurance Officer, and really the only person with general insurance knowledge in the organisation, so the job really had been mine to grow and develop. I reported to people who were very supportive and had no one reporting to me. My idea of the perfect job. Neil wanted me to finish work when he did, in June, but I insisted on staying until the insurance year end and making sure all the renewals were complete. There were many sunny days when I regretted this, but I know I would have struggled to leave things unfinished. So,on the first Thursday I was “free” from work I felt strangely low. It was a combination of missing a part of who I was, and the worry of not earning any money.
I know some people think it’s sad if you even partly identify yourself by your work, but personally I think it is just realistic. We spend so many hours at work, and invest so much of ourselves into it, it is going to be part of us. Also, I knew I would have to work again at some time in the future so, after working in quite a few jobs that made me miserable, leaving a job I enjoyed seemed counterintuitive. Also, van-life was turning out to be more expensive than we thought, so losing my salary was scary. I wrote in my journal “hopefully now we are on our 3-month trip to Ireland and proper travelling it (expenses) will even out. No more meals out, together or with friends, sensible park ups and healthy eating”. This has turned out to be the case. We burn through money when we are with family and friends, because we want to see everyone and have fun with them. When we are travelling, we are self-sufficient, so we go out less, spend less and spend more time sightseeing, walking, and exploring. Both are great fun: a perfect life balance.
So, I finished work, we had a long weekend with the in-laws in Derbyshire, and then we headed for the ferry to Ireland. Our first stop over was Penaenmaur, Wales. It felt so good to be beside the sea, with beautiful views. I didn’t go in – always a mistake and one I have since rectified many times.
After a peaceful night, our next stop was Penrhyn Castle on Anglesey. It’s a beautiful grand family home, run by the National Trust, and well worth a visit. The castle is very opulent, with stained glass windows and incredible ceilings. The grounds were so green, and we enjoyed the mapped out walk, with blue, cloudy skies. It’s such a cliché to say the clouds were like cotton wool, but they really were. We were in Wales though, so our investment in expensive walking boots and waterproof coats was justified on the first of many occasions.
It was interesting that it was built using profits from the sugar trade, and the use of slaves. It’s easy to forget that although the UK is not remembered for its slaves, the wealth of many was built on slavery. It really shocked me, when reading the information, that when slavery was abolished, the slave owners were paid compensation – making the rich richer goes back a long way.
Before catching the ferry, we stopped at Cemlyn Beach, walked over the boggy ground, and scrambled over rocks, before sitting staring out to sea. I remembered a friend commenting that we never just sit and do nothing anymore. We are always on our phones, or talking to others. So, me and Neil just sat, we watched the sea, watched the birds, and enjoyed the peace and quiet. I promised myself that I would do a lot of this while we were travelling and enjoy a quiet and peaceful mind occasionally.
After a quiet night in Dublin, we drove to Ballinstoe Woods, one of the places that has been on my to do list forever. If it’s not on yours, it needs to be, especially if you are a Lord of the Rings fan. It is a stunning place to visit. When we parked up, it was very windy, and the van was moving a lot. Neil changed parking places a few times, until we felt happy that we were not going to get back from the walk and find the van on its side. The van blowing over has been a worry on quite a few occasions. I doubt it would, but when you feel it sway in the wind, it’s very easy to imagine it turning over.
Not far from the parking place, there was a boardwalk up through the trees and as soon as we stepped into the woods, from the road, it was like the light had been turned off. The trees crowded over us, immediately giving the walk a mystical atmosphere.
“I thought all the trees were whispering to each other, passing news and plots along in an unintelligible language; and the branches swayed and groped without any wind. They do say the trees do actually move, and can surround strangers and hem them in.”
J R R Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
You feel like the trees are hemming you in, and can imagine that the wind passing through them, is the trees whispering to each other, plotting as you pass. Tolkein would have loved the idea of the Wood Wide Web (Wood wide web: Trees’ social networks are mapped – BBC News) and the fact that trees actually do talk to each other.
As you get further up the hill, the trees thin out, and the sunlight shines through the canopy and eventually, you find yourself in more open areas, with bright green moss, where gaps in the wood have allowed it to grow. All that was needed to complete the feeling we had stumbled into a scene from LOTR’s was an elf, a dwarf and a few hobbits. The atmosphere was so magical, I don’t think we would have been at all surprised to see them.
When we reached the top and the memorial stone for J B Malone, the views were incredible. The hills were brown, the skies grey, there were dark green conifers and lighter green grass, and slate grey rocks, along the side of sandy gravel paths. So many colours, so much space. It was also very windy that high up, but we could see the van, and it was still upright!
So, the first boardwalk we found in Ireland was magical, and inspired us to listen to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings on audible as we continued our journey.