I do not get much time to think these days but thought about who I was and where I am in life the other day. I do not realize how old I am (47) because I have so much to do and such a young family; our son is 5 and daughter 2. I miss going to Bali (openly) and Thailand; the former I have resigned myself holds too much risk for me now and I have come to hate the state of Indonesia so much now that it is hard for me to separate Bali from that blight / equation; I live in the hope one day Bali will be free of the oppression and suppression of present day Jakarta. Thailand I was really disappointed at the coup in September (I think, was it, can't remember) but am starting to come around to believing things are starting to become good again. I truly miss Thailand, our friends there and the food especially (yes, food is the thing I miss the most - sad huh!?). My wife and I spend many a night recounting past experiences and talking about "when".

We live in Portugal and have just taken on a house in Spain; we have to make decisions now about whether we keep both or just one and buy a winter home somewhere warmer! We had thought about Malaysia (because you can own houses / land there and get residential type visas fairly easily) but recent human rights issues by that country make that less likely; I am a political person these days for sure. We may end up buying somewhere like in North Africa and we hope to travel around the EU when our children are a little older. We have some plans to visit SE Asia in the not too distant future but unfortunately I must keep quiet about such things based on experience, except to say Bangkok is definitely on the schedule (food and shopping).

I do not work per say any more as we are gifted enough to have sufficient reserves to live a good life. Although I had the chance to work a project that would have likely made me a lot of money, there comes a time when you have to ask yourself if just having more money is what it takes in life. I am in the process of writing the first of two books I have had in my mind for some time; I had my first book ever published 10 years ago (no, it did really badly - but at least I can say I managed to have my first book ever published, which very few people achieve, and no it was not via a "vanity publisher" - one I paid for). I go hunting and fishing when I can, plus I am growing grapes organically (without the use of sulphates even) to produce my own wine; this is one hell of a challenge.

We chose to live where we do because of almost zero crime rates, cost of living, full provision of EU law (the Portuguese Constitution requires all EU and International human rights law to be incorporated into its own legal code), four seasons, hot summers, clean air, stunning views and lack of "expat" culture (as an expat, I have nothing against expats per say but I hate the little hoards that build into groups and attack anything outside their pack). When I go back to England it makes me so glad we made the move here.

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There are two categories of travellers, those that experience a country and those that take their home with them wherever they go.

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