Feeling all the feels
On 5th March 2024 I woke up in Tinca feeling so many different emotions; leaving behind my life in Romania for a temporary period, having to say goodbye to everyone I love in Tinca like Rachel, Zai and our amazing staff to the Roma who inspire me everyday with their smiles and determination in the midst of the many prejudices and abuses they have had to face. I knew this would be hard, even if I was also excited and anticipating sabbatical. I had been preparing a lot for this sabbatical; I really wanted to leave things well in Romania; being well aware of the extra work Rachel and staff would have to carry to allow me to have the gift of this time. I also wanted my sabbatical to be 'successful', so I had made a big list/document with all the goals I had for the time. I wanted to make the most of time with friends and family while taking the opportunity to study and have time to journal/pray. I made a long list of places I wanted to visit in England that I had been wanting to see and don't usually get the chance to do. And if you know me well you won't be surprised that a lot of things on the list were steam train lines I wanted to go and ride on! I also had some ideas and things I believe God is calling me to that are related to the strong burden I feel for mental health awareness, I care so deeply about people's wellbeing having struggled for a lot of my life with my mental health. I also hope to learn more about mental health to help with these ideas, and I hope what I learn might be helpful for our work with the Roma too. I will be sharing a lot about these thoughts and visions on here as they develop. So with all that planning and identifying my goals, I had a clear idea of how I hoped sabbatical would look.
It is something I have discovered over the past 15 years, with feeling more and more like I have 2 homes between Romania and the UK; just how much it is possible to feel so many different emotions simultaneously. To feel the raw feelings of leaving day to day life for a season, while being so excited to see Ireland, my friends and family, and to have time to rest, study and learn. It felt like I was feeling everything all in one as I got ready to leave Tinca!
The journey begins
So with my car packed (my trusty right hand drive Honda registered in Romania that always gets comments from everyone I meet in Europe!), I set off at 9am from Tinca, on my way to Vienna, Austria which was an 8 hour drive. I then drove the next day to Metz, France which was another 7 hours driving. On the 7th March I drove a final 8 hours to Cherbourg Port in France having driven almost 1500 miles. When I arrived in Vienna, I was physically and emotionally done and pretty much just went straight to bed. But the next evening I felt enough energy when I arrived to take a walk around Metz, and it turned out to be a beautiful city with a nice river leading to the cathedral. I had mostly picked Metz for the location with it allowing me to split the journey to the port into 3 days of driving, but I'm so glad I got to see it!
Visiting Metz, of course with a croissant & pain au chocolat by the river!
Voyage across the Atlantic
There were more bittersweet emotions arriving at the port, and seeing the boat that would take me out of mainland Europe for a few months, and onto the next part of my journey in Ireland. The ferry was bigger than I had expected, and my cabin nicer than I had thought it would be, ready for an 18 hour voyage from Cherbourg to Rosslare! Eating a curry that evening in the ferry restaurant (one of my favourite foods!) while football was on in the background (it was Liverpool and not Man United but you can't have everything!), and watching the sea go by was so relaxing.
Travelling in style to Rosslare port in Ireland!
My favourite part of the voyage was waking up early at 5.30am, making a coffee and sitting out on the very windy (& slippery!) deck, feeling the Atlantic spray on my face while I woke up and watched the sea, I could have sat there for way more than the 2 hours that I did!
I guess I must not suffer from seasickness, because it was a windy morning with turbulent seas (so rough that an announcement was made and barriers put across some doors leading to the decks) and at breakfast time I saw there was no one else there but me! I ate a good big breakfast that I wasn't sure if I was allowed to call a Full Irish yet, but I was definitely full after it!
Spent a lot of time praying, journalling and being still watching the sea throughout the trip.
Land ahoy
At noon on 8th March, I was so excited to see the views turn from endless sea with nothing on the horizon, to the Irish coast as we got nearer to Rosslare port. The coast was green with black cliffs and at first no buildings...which suddenly turned into buildings in areas that looked so remote that I couldn't imagine anyone could ever live there. The ferry slowly pulled into Rosslare Port, and I made my way down to my car on the lower decks.
As I was walking down to the vehicle decks, I was carrying all my bags and luggage (did I mention I tend to overpack??), and a member of staff offered to help me carry them to my car. As we were talking, he saw Romanian number plates on my car and it turned out he was Romanian! We had a great chat in Romanian, it felt good to speak the language again so soon after leaving Tinca. I got in my car, started it up and drove off the ferry as the stream of trucks and cars started to move and I was now in Ireland! I drove straight to see Wexford and started seeing the sights and exploring. As I got into my bed in Kilkenny, having woken up that morning on a ferry somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, I couldn't help thinking what a day it had been!
Read More about my sabbatical road trips in March 2024:
Use the buttons below to read about how I first started planning this road trip/sabbatical, and about my incredible trip touring through Ireland:
