Home Comforts -- Number 10: Road Trips

Back in August, it was months. In September it became weeks. And these days, it's, er, days. By the end of the month, we may have moved on to hours.

I refer (of course!) to our Preferred Method of Countdown (or PMC if you prefer, which sounds suspiciously like woman-troubles, but then again, perhaps that more accurately reflects the anxiety-levels) to our furlough. 36 days remain until touchdown in Glasgow. But who knows? Perhaps by the time we're on the Heathrow-Glasgow shuttle we'll be down to seconds. Amanda's gonna love that flight!

(I've even started working out where we are percentage-wise, based on the number of days passed since the 14th of January 2010, our last day in Scotland -- seeing as you're interested, we currently stand at a cool 97.52%)

Now, please don't misunderstand my excitement as a desire to be done with missionary service. We love Trinidad and its people and fully expect, God-willing, to be back here in early 2015. But with nearly four years of ministry in which giving of oneself is a crucial factor, we are in need of a proper re-charging of the batteries.

And a key part of this process is indulging in those pleasures of which one must deprive oneself when working in an isolated region of an isolated country. Functional internet. Naff Christmas music. Queues.

So, over the next few weeks, I'm going to write an occasional series on the things I'm looking forward to most. And, being a music fan, the only way to do this series justice is to present it in the form of a top-ten countdown.

Why am I bothering with this? Firstly, as a keen scribbler, this will hopefully give me an outlet for my excitement, thus making life significantly less stressful for Amanda. Secondly, while not all of the things I'm looking forward to are necessarily related to their lack in Bolivia, it will perhaps give you a greater sense of the realities of day-to-day existence in a developing country. And therefore, thirdly, it might just serve as a useful reminder to all of us (myself included) to count our blessings.

Having been blessed by the offer of motorised transport for the year, we already have a few road trips lined up, God-wiling, for next year. We're hoping to be venturing south of Hadrian's wall on a few occasions to catch up with friends and family. We will most certainly be headed in the opposite direction to sample the glories of Scotland (on which, more in the coming weeks). And in Canada, we're looking to make the obligatory trip down to see my relatives in Virginia. However, depending on our friends' locations, we may also be taking in Georgia, Ohio and New York City! 

An iTunes 'Road Music' playlist -- which, in accordance with universally accepted truth, must begin with 'Born to Run' -- is in the works. The Boss will be accompanied by such storied road music practitioners as Kansas and Journey in the US. As for the UK...hmmm...do we really do road music? Whatever the case may be, an abundance of Murray mints and trail mix (depending on the nationality of one's jaunt) will be consumed with no paucity of fervour.

Best of all, though, will be that sweet ache of emerging from a car in the foetal position after an extended stationary period. Because here in this corner of the world, such journeys just aren't that feasible. Aside from the road to Santa Cruz, most thoroughfares here are in an appalling condition, devouring defenceless vehicles on a daily basis. And the drive isn't exactly worth staying in the car for either. There are literally no hills for hundreds of miles (again, see forthcoming posts), so unless your ideal landscape is a wide variety of shades of green, then there's not much to look at.

Not so back home! Indeed, even the lowlands of the M8 have their fair share of curiosities. Wire horses? Check. Red lego men? Check! Grassy pyramids? Check! Check! Check! 

Yep, it's fair to say the next 51,840 minutes could hardly go by sooner.