Thursday Special : Choices…

I’ve been thinking about this challenge since Thursday. Now it is Tuesday. This is not an easy challenge, life is full of choices, but how to depict them in images.

Then today I suddenly realised my direction in life has been determined by my choice of vehicles.

All my life I have had the urge to travel. I believe it is in my inner soul, maybe my genetic make-up, you are either a gypsy or a home maker. I always wanted to see what was over the hill and round the next bend. In 1998, when Jack brought me to live in Australia, the land of his birth, it opened up a vast continent that I yearned to explore. I dipped my toe in the excitement of discovery when I made the choice to travel for 4 months, on my own, around the perimeter of this country on Greyhound buses. A fantastic adventure.

This only fuelled my desire to see more and travel with Jack.

It had to be achieved on a strict budget, we are pensioners. After months of discussion the choice was made to travel in a small pop-top camper van, and Matilda came into our lives.

Waving goodbye as we left home for the wide open spaces of Australia.

For the next 4 years we meandered around Australia. It was a dream come true.

Gradually our travelling changed. We started house sitting. Leaving Matilda at home base we would fly to the various house sitting venues and use the home owners vehicles. So the choice was made to sell Matilda. It was not an easy choice she had been our transport, accommodation and constant companion, almost part of the family. How come I became so attached to an inanimate object? So it was with a lump in my throat that I watched her being driven away by her new owners.

Between house sits we came back home for short periods. But we made the choice not to buy another vehicle. The Gold Coast has a reasonably good public transport system that we made use of.

Recently completed and efficient light rail system

Of course we also had our bikes. As we live very close to the beach and a major shopping centre and it is all flat using our bikes was an obvious choice.

So life moved on for another 2 years. We house sat from Hobart in the southern part of Tasmania, to Malander in Northern Queensland. Geraldton in Western Australia to a farm near Sydney and many others in between.

But times are changing again and a new phase is emerging. We are ready to explore nearer home and another choice has been made.

So meet our new wheels.

I did say “I will still use the bike most of the time” BUT… it is so much more comfortable in an air-conditioned vehicle in this oppressive summer heat. So slowly the car is taking over most of the time when I need to go anywhere.

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This week Paula is joined by Klara Bach as her guest and she has challenged us with the thought provoking theme of “choice”. Klara is a talented and versatile photo enthusiast. In her guest post and through her thoughtfully captured travel photos Klara has shown us a few life-changing choices. There are some amazing choices been made by other bloggers go here to see more of them