…met 29 years ago when Ella walked into the shop in which Jon was working and he turned at once to the girl he was working with and said: “That’s the girl I’m going to marry.” Sometimes you know instantly that something is right.

Met in January and married in July.

Now we are 49, have 4 grown and flown children, two grandchildren and, after 20 years in Christian ministry have chosen to take a sabbath year. A year out – though not necessarily a year off. We have left our job and our home and as part of the year we are using the proceeds of selling almost all our possessions and are traveling around the world on an adventure to inspire and inform the next 20 years.

We are both ordained in the Church of England and, having had a variety of jobs we have most recently spent the last 5 and a half years working together in two parishes as Rector and Associate Priest in Astbury and Smallwood on the border of Cheshire and Staffordshire.

On Jan 16 we fly out to Capetown and beyond…… Staying with a mixture of people, some we know, some who people we know know, strangers we’ve contacted because we’ve read about them online, and in some cases waiting until we get somewhere and (hopefully) finding a couch to crash on.

Well, that’s the plan. We have our tickets – we know the cities we’re traveling through – we know some of the places we’ll be staying. We will, among other things, be traveling the Garden Route in South Africa, journeying through the Kruger National Park, yachting round Sydney Harbour, spending a month in a small monastic community in New Zealand,, possibly sky-diving (!) coast to coasting in North America – and back for Annie’s graduation in July

With just one small carry on bag each – we may make it back in one piece – or we may have killed one another half way round.

You’ll read it here first.