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Tuesday 1 September 2015

The end- of- summer blues ...


We've got a bad case of the end-of-summer blues out here in sunny Sant Feliu de Guíxols. It's all about to end tomorrow when we return to London for the start of the new school term. And none of us is looking forward to the transition. Emi's back at school again on Thursday. The weather forecast for London is less than stellar, so we'll be back to living indoors again, and to all our old routines within a matter of hours of arriving.

As the journey home beckons I can't help but think about another family ... .



Down on the beach there's a sailing school run by an inspirational couple. They've got a young family but that hasn't stopped them living the dream. During the European summer they're here, earning a living doing something they love. But, come the end of September, they pack everything away - all the little one-man dinghies, kayaks, windsurfers. Then they jump on their yacht and sail south to a little corner of the Caribbean where they open another sailing school for the winter.

Their children, who are home-schooled, are fluent in Catalan, Spanish and English and seem to be up to speed with everything else too. Moreover, having spent their lives around lots of other people who've come from the four corners of the Earth for sailing lessons with their mum and dad, they've got loads of social confidence.

I'm a rubbish sailor, and I'm sure I'd die of sea-sickness on the journey, but there's a part of me that envies them their lifestyles and admires their courage in choosing the path they've chosen. I think it was no less of a thinker than Confucius who said: do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life. And this couple appear to be the living embodiment of that philosophy.


So on those cold, grey winter days that lie ahead I'll think of them following the sunshine and doing what they really want to do, and I'll try to draw inspiration from their example.

All the best for now,

Bonny x

3 comments:

  1. Gorgeous photos from your exquisite summer holidays, Bonny. :) I started having these end-of-summer blues once out of school. I never got them as a young kid/lady. Who knows why... I bet Emi is looking forward to seeing all his classmates. :) And I think I remember school kids in the UK have lots of brakes during the school year, right? :) So you might organize another wee getaways in sunny Costa Brava. In Italy the school year will start in a few days, but there won't be breaks apart from Christmas and Easter. Such a pity!
    Happy September, Bonny. Might it be sunny... fingers crossed!

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  2. I wouldn't mind going for a sail now and then but living the lifestyle, not for me. - Lovely photos.

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  3. NICE photos Bonny. That sure takes lots of courage. I admire people who do what they like regardless of what people around them might think. I hope their kids get to spend quality time with other kids.

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