In 1982, the Scottish national football team released a song in the build-up to the football World Cup in Spain.
"We Have a Dream (...and dreams come true)" was the title.
The dream was to win the World Cup.
The dream died pretty early on at the hands of the brilliant Brazilian team of Zico and Socrates.
In 1999, a 21 year-old Israeli girl called Shoshi Mizrahi was on her gap year in India and had a dream that one day she would travel the world with her future family.
In 2018, the dream came true.
Shoshi's dream, Shoshi's drive to make it happen.
Me and the kids are the fortunate ones, on this trip and in life in general.
The last 10 months have been the most amazing experience of our lives.
We've seen and done more than we could ever have imagined.
Been to places we could only have dreamed about.
Places we didn't even know existed.
Visited 9 countries.
20 flights.
Slept in 111 different hotels, guesthouses, apartments, homes, caravans, planes, tents, trains, buses, airports and even a Filipino Korean restaurant.
Been to the highest of mountains.
The whitest of beaches.
The bluest of lakes.
Sunsets in the Maldives.
Sunrises in the Himalayas.
The tranquillity of New Zealand.
The madness of India.
Snow, sun, monsoon.
Sprawling cities.
Remote villages.
Desert islands.
We've been vegans, carnivores but mostly vegetarians.
Brought in New Year 2019 and been to places which seemed more like 1919.
We've learnt so much about other cultures and a little more about each other.
We've laughed, cried, shouted, annoyed each other...all the things we usually do, just in more exotic places.
In all honesty, we're still pretty much the same people we were when we left. We just have much better stories to tell our grandchildren.
This has been more a journey of geographical, rather than emotional, discovery. That's not to say it hasn't been hugely emotional, just that we haven't really discovered a 'new' us. We knew who we were before we left, we knew we wanted adventure, excitement, a different way of life. This journey has only reinforced that belief. Our challenge now is how we change our lives long-term for the better. Less of the day-to-day routine and stresses, more of the freedom, relaxation and enjoyment that this year has brought.
We'd love to continue travelling but for now, we're going back home.
Next week, it'll be all over.
The thought of going back to Israel is terrifying.
The thought of the kids going back to school is somewhat more appealing.
Roll on the 1st September.
"We Have a Dream (...and dreams come true)" was the title.
The dream was to win the World Cup.
The dream died pretty early on at the hands of the brilliant Brazilian team of Zico and Socrates.
In 1999, a 21 year-old Israeli girl called Shoshi Mizrahi was on her gap year in India and had a dream that one day she would travel the world with her future family.
In 2018, the dream came true.
Shoshi's dream, Shoshi's drive to make it happen.
Me and the kids are the fortunate ones, on this trip and in life in general.
The last 10 months have been the most amazing experience of our lives.
We've seen and done more than we could ever have imagined.
Been to places we could only have dreamed about.
Places we didn't even know existed.
Visited 9 countries.
20 flights.
Slept in 111 different hotels, guesthouses, apartments, homes, caravans, planes, tents, trains, buses, airports and even a Filipino Korean restaurant.
Been to the highest of mountains.
The whitest of beaches.
The bluest of lakes.
Sunsets in the Maldives.
Sunrises in the Himalayas.
The tranquillity of New Zealand.
The madness of India.
Snow, sun, monsoon.
Sprawling cities.
Remote villages.
Desert islands.
We've been vegans, carnivores but mostly vegetarians.
Brought in New Year 2019 and been to places which seemed more like 1919.
We've learnt so much about other cultures and a little more about each other.
We've laughed, cried, shouted, annoyed each other...all the things we usually do, just in more exotic places.
In all honesty, we're still pretty much the same people we were when we left. We just have much better stories to tell our grandchildren.
This has been more a journey of geographical, rather than emotional, discovery. That's not to say it hasn't been hugely emotional, just that we haven't really discovered a 'new' us. We knew who we were before we left, we knew we wanted adventure, excitement, a different way of life. This journey has only reinforced that belief. Our challenge now is how we change our lives long-term for the better. Less of the day-to-day routine and stresses, more of the freedom, relaxation and enjoyment that this year has brought.
We'd love to continue travelling but for now, we're going back home.
Next week, it'll be all over.
The thought of going back to Israel is terrifying.
The thought of the kids going back to school is somewhat more appealing.
Roll on the 1st September.
Fantastically written!
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