On The Road Again

PINLast month we moved out of our home here in England in preparation for our family adventure: five months traveling in our caravan around Europe with our three kids. On the night of February 12th, we went to bed with our caravan fully loaded for our departure the following morning. When we woke up on the 13th, ready to take off for our trip, our caravan was gone – it had been stolen in the night by three men, all caught on security cameras. It took them less than five minutes to break the locks and drive away with our caravan, nearly everything we owned, and our dream of this special adventure we’d poured our time, energy, money, and love into over the past two years while living abroad.

The caravan was recovered by police, damaged and missing all of our personal belongings – all of our clothing, the children’s toys and treasures, our bedding, our books – all things of little value to the thieves, but things that meant the world to us as they were going to accompany us as we took our kids to see a little slice of the world.

We made the hard decision to sell the damaged caravan back to the dealer. It would have taken too long to fix, too much money to rebuild exactly what we’d lost, and we had moved out of our home in order to take the trip and no longer had a place to live while the repairs took place.  Besides that, the caravan didn’t feel like ours anymore. It had lost it’s sweet, cozy feeling that had comforted us and been our base on other wonderful adventures. We didn’t want to go into this special time as a family feeling anxious that something like this could happen again.

PINWe’ve spent the last two weeks trying to grieve the loss of our original dream, navigate insurance, come up with a new plan, and rebuild the basic necessities for a family of five. With our meticulously planned dream trip changed, we now simply hold a ferry ticket that will get us to France, and no other plans of where, how, or what exactly we’re going to do. But we’re together, we’re healthy, and we’re determined not to let the actions of a few terrible people deter us from fulfilling a new – if yet unknown – dream.

Many friends and family have extended support to us in the form of clothing, donations, and an endless flow of love and encouragement. We decided, after careful consideration, to set up this Go Fund Me, as there are so many of you who still want to help. Please know that your cheering us on, your love, and your words of consolation and support are more than enough, and that every small contribution is humbly and gratefully received.

For months now the first line of my Nana’s favorite Irish blessing has been with me, and they were with me on my birthday morning when we woke up to discover our caravan was gone: “May the road rise up to meet you.” Our family trusts in these words, and we know that everything is going to be okay. Thank you for being a part of our community, for extending your hands to help us up, and for being a part of getting us back on the road.

https://www.gofundme.com/on-the-road-again-2019

With love,
Kacie