Like so many other people our lives are currently not being lived exactly as we planned. With national lockdown regulations restricting travel and housesitting we have had to adapt by renting various places since mid-December.
Blogging on …..
As previously mentioned we have thought long and hard about continuing with our blog as our life in England has changed so much but decided that we wanted to record what we were doing and where we were. Perhaps more so for our own memories and as a diary but also to keep all of our loyal followers updated.
Unfortunately there has been a bit of gap since our last blog post, I’ll tell you about the reason another time, but we’re back now for better or worse.
Moving on from Herne Bay
Our last few days in the little apartment in Herne Bay passed with long walks, arts and crafts, a bit of TV, and unfortunately some pretty tragic weather.
It was a perfect little place for us to safely hang out for a couple of weeks with a comfy living room, reasonably-sized kitchen, and decent bedroom. And with the coastal path and town centre within ten minutes walk it was a real home from home.
Back and Forth to the Stone
Mid-January is one of the most important dates for us as it’s our youngest sons Ryan’s birthday and as he’s in our ‘support bubble‘and we are allowed to spend time with him we headed back to Maidstone. Staying in our go-to dependable Premier Inn we managed to spend the day together and spoil him as much as possible. Not the usual birthday celebration but what is ‘normal‘ these days?
Still living out of our backpacks and carrying all of our worldy goods with us and managing to book places currently as the UK law stipulates that if rented accommodation is your main residence then it can be used. It is so we do!
Birchington-on-Sea
So on to our next ‘home’, and Yes we do think of everywhere we stay as ‘home’. Maybe not the Travelodges and Premier Inns but every housesit, Airbnb, homestay etc. Wherever we lay our hats is always our home (thanks Paul Young, always loved that song but never realised just how relevant it would become when we first heard it back in the 80s).
An easy train journey down to the east coast of Kent and the lovely little town of Birchington-on-Sea. We’d booked a lovely Airbnb apartment for 4 weeks so were really looking forward to unpacking properly and having our own place for a longer period of time. More about Birchington next time but it looked a nice little town full of independent stores, coffee shops, and bars (although the majority are closed at the moment).
The North Kent coastline never seems to get the praise it deserves. It may not be wild and rocky like some other places in England but it has long sandy beaches and beautiful bays for miles and miles. But the thing it has that beats most other coastline is the coastal path that runs around the whole county. This enables you to walk forever alongside the sea which is fabulous.
We’re looking forward to many miles foot-slogging along this wonderful coastline and exploring the beaches and bays of North Kent.
17/01 – 05/02/2021
JWalking 
Good to learn that you are fine and have found somewhere else nice to live.
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Just happy to have somewhere to call home and hang out. Tough times for everyone.
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Sounds like you’ve found another nice place to call home, Jonno. I think the blogs have become diaries for many of us. It’s certainly a very different interval in time. Happy walking 🙂 🙂
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We’re doing ok but it’s a completely different way of life to what we expected. Hopefully things will ease in the coming months but we’ll never return to the way it was I think.
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No, I can’t see that it will, Jonno, and certainly not in a hurry. Hard on your pocket! 😦
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Seriously tough on the bank balance Jo but don’t have much choice.
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Glad to see you popping back up and to know that all is ok.
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All good but finding it tricky to plan and organise our lives currently as you can imagine. All part of the adventure I guess.
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Good to know all is well and you’ve found another place to stay well and safe, with plenty of opportunities to explore.
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We’re living in such a different world to that we expected aren’t we? Just finding places to live temporarily is quite difficult and horrendously expensive but needs must. Just trying to enjoy our new ‘homes’ and make the most of the area.
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Always positive!
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Wow, looks stunning. Enjoy the fresh air xx
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It’s not bad, so lucky to be able to walk along the beach and coast every day.
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Hang in there guys, we’ll get this thing beaten sooner or later.
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We’re doing ok, hopefully our restrictions will start to ease in a month or so.
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I wondered whether full time pet sitters faced the situation when they have no home. I get the answer. It’s hard …
You need to be optimistic for sure But winter is not finished; months must seem long.
Hopefully England manages to vaccinate its citizens quickly. You might feel safe and sound quicker than us in France…
Brexit would have helped your country ?
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It’s a different way of life for sure but we are safe and well and happy where we are. No idea if Brexit helped but we are doing an incredible job vaccinating people. Over 12 million so far which is amazing.
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Glad you’re doing ok … yes, it is not an easy time (especially planning-wise), but somehow we need to survive and conquer these challenges.
Really glad you’ve got a nice space where you can take walks – and what better place as next to this beautiful coastline 🌊👣🌊👣
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In a lovely apartment in a nice place with so many great places to walk so all good currently.
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Nice to see you’re not giving up your blog ..I think after all the hard work you’ve put into it would be very sad
Glad to see you’ve got a home for the next four weeks
It’s a great area, looking forward to your future posts 😎
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Thanks Alison, we’ve been lucky to find somewhere so nice to live for a while. And the blog will continue.
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Having it in law that you can use rented accommodation must be a godsend for you. At least you can get some permanence and reduce the stress and worry of where to stay next. Although Paul Young made it famous it was Marvin Gaye that wrote and recorded it originally but I prefer the Young version.
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Much better version I reckon.
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I note the upgrade to the Maidstone Premier Inn. I’m sure it was the infamous looking travel lodge in the past!
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