So, What's the Plan?

OK, well you might ask: what are these guys doing, anyhow? Where are they headed? Well, both of us have resolved to post some blog material about our excellent adventures in our final summer in UK. (I say UK because we’ve made it to various bits of England, Wales, and Scotland since June, and perhaps Northern Ireland and Ireland are in the immediate future as well.)

With many more country paths left to take, we are planning to leave our home in Lane End by the end of October. Every day brings a new twinge of regret for friends we may not see again and church spires we won’t climb. But life is short, and we’re moving on. Two things have molded our future: First, my employment requires that I be back in the US by the first of the year. Second, our weeks in Andalusia last winter led us to again long for a Mediterranean sun instead of English gloom in the short days of winter.


We have bought a European (left drive) car, christened “Bluebell,” in honor of the flowers that herald English summer. We are finalizing the insurance for driving it to Italy, and are selling our trusty British (right drive) Corsa.

We’ll spend the next 4-5 weeks winding up business here, we’ll pack up the car, and drive down to Dover together in the third week of October. I’ll see Ellie off on the ferry, likely explore the wartime tunnels in the cliffs, and catch a train back to Lane End. (I have business that will keep me here through at least the 26th.)

Ellie’s daughter Sophie leaves for Germany in a week or two, travelling with friends to see sights and learn some about European farming. The plan is that she will meet up with Ellie in France in roughly five weeks – more specific plans will unfold.

Ellie and Sophie will make their way to Italy, with Ellie hoping to finalize plans to stay with some friends, or to find cheap flops. I will finalize affairs and vacate the cottage here the the end of October , and fly somewhere to meet them. Cheap one-way flights make Venice seem attractive, perhaps for a few days.

One way or another we’ll all end up in Puglia at our rental near Ostuni (in Puglia, south-eastern Italy), in early November, and will make a nest at Casa di Nonna.


Hopefully we entertain guests and explore for 2 months. We have English, German, Polish, and Greek friends we hope will visit during that time – not to mention family members, and a tentative invitation for Christmas in Naples.

I will fly from Rome to NYC on 4-January, and will likely lay my head in northern Alabama for a few months, working at the “home office.” That seems more friendly than doing a lot of irritating whining about winter, which you’d hear if I came back to Vermont. Ellie will stay on in Italy studying Italian language and culture, and entertaining friends.

Ellie packs up everything in Italy and sells Bluebell by the end of March and flies home. Our home in Cabot will be available to us in April, and we’ll settle back in.

Perhaps. We’ll see. . . . .