Morning both. So yesterday’s adventures had an 18-armed giant ( and I mean huge ) Buddha statue with each arm holding something different and presumably meaningful but couldn’t work them all out….one object really looked like a pizza cutter though…….hmm……hungry Buddha…?! I’m not religious as you can tell but do work hard to not be disrespectful of others beliefs and customs – but some tourists here are truly awful though, not covering up, shouting loudly in the meditation zones etc. Such a shame.  So then headed out on a long hike to a lonely beach bar, which was way more peaceful!

Kkasxo – loved hearing you are enjoying getting out in nature more – there really is nothing quite as restorative for me. The snowdrops must be gone by now and into daffodils and crocuses there I guess now? Does sound like you would love it here then – full of pretty birds and flowers – amazing colours everywhere. Often if I had a rough time at work I’d head out for laps round the park until calm again!  Yes, it is sad how genuinely people like your ex mean what they say totally and just as totally fail to realise that they aren’t truly committed to it when push comes to shove. I think you do just reach a point you are actually kind of sorry for them instead of angry/disappointed. Hard not to lose respect for them too I think.

I’m not surprised you are panicking. It would be a big deal to have (all?) your family leave the country even if you were not dealing with your trauma, break-up confusion and were settled in your own home somewhere already. So it’s a lot of change at once to work through but that’s what you can and will do, work through it bit by bit. Like a plan for anything, prioritise what needs to be done first and tackle that before moving on and thinking about the next step, else it can very quickly get overwhelming and you do nothing ( been there! ).  From a practical perspective, do you have your own budget sorted? As in do you know what you can and can’t financially afford in terms of somewhere to live and areas that fit the bill. St Alban’s is pretty nice – have you thought about looking for a flat/house share there?  It could help both financially as well as being a half-way house of your own space but also company in the new area.  It’s actually what I did when I moved out from my short stay at my parents after ending up homeless and broke from splitting with my ex ( I did have a lovely set of saucepans though so not all bad……!! ). Worked well whilst I saved up for a deposit on buying my own home and might work for you whilst you see how it shapes up with your ex or not later down the road. I do think you are wise not to rely on him committing to moving out in the time-span you have. Better to get yourself sorted out, reduce some of the uncertainty since you have more than enough to deal with and then see.  Happy to help with plans if I can, it’s kinda my thing as you can probably tell……!

Shelby m’dear. That is a week and a half for sure. It’s actually my step-uncle’s funeral today and whilst we were not close, it’s yet another reminder to me to make the most of the time we have, as it can all too quickly be taken away from us unexpectedly. Your friend & her husband must be struggling to cope right now for sure. Perhaps it’s a good time to look more seriously at booking your trip away. Do you have another meet-up planned?  If you have the appetite for yet another self-help book, one I found really useful was Steven Covey’s Seven Habits for Effective People, plus some of the related ones.  It really breaks things down into simple and annoyingly obvious yet impactful ways to help manage through, think you might find it helpful – once you have some free time/space away to get to it….hang in there.