What a Difference a Decade Makes

So 2020 rolls around and I start to think about what we were doing when we saw in 2010. As it happens we were on a holiday in New Zealand, having the best holiday ever and not even thinking about emigrating. We finished our holiday in January and went home to winter, work and life as before....but it didn't take long to realise a seed had been sown.
We constantly get asked by our customers why did we move here. There is a quick superficial answer that is along the lines of better climate and better politics. The reality is that if you are going to move to another country a very long way from your birth country, it has to feel like an improvement on what you leave behind. The overwhelming reason is that NZ felt like home and although we were sad to leave NZ, we thought it was the end-of-a-holiday-of-a-lifetime feeling. It became apparent it was much more than that and thankfully we both felt the same way. A decade later we still feel extremely grateful that we were able to make the move and live here. Yes it has it's down sides, such as the cost of living, being far from family ( especially when major family news, good and bad is relayed), missing nephew and nieces grow up, friends moving on with life and we get a summary and the same with us and them. A decade on from our holiday, I remember my mum crying on the phone knowing we were a long way away when I called to wish her a happy Christmas, it was to be a decade I would say good bye to her for good. It is likely this next decade will bring about significant changes in our families again.
A decade ago we didn't own a business together, we had set holidays ( I did) and I had a salary, the internet was a different place and we knew nothing about owning a website and all that goes with that aspect of work. It also feels like a decade of getting used to being asleep when lots of sport goes ahead. Think Tour de France, Olympics, Football World Cup, Wimbeldon and so on. So getting used to highlights or just a news report is not ideal and that feeling extends to many things. Knowing a funeral or big occasion is happening brings home the scale of the world, in a way as a European you don't have to think about.
 It's been the most amazing decade with the most amount of learning I have ever absorbed both personally and professionally and not without happy and and sad times
I wonder what I will blog about when the next decade rolls around?

Lots of lovely roads we have enjoyed exploring

One of the many photos taken for the websites

Bonnie on Mum's chair,(brought all the way from 'Flatfield', then Portstewart)
She finds the best sunny spot in winter - always