I didn’t really realize it was a thing until I saw a cute video about it the other day.  I recognized it immediately, though –  Scott and I have done it our entire married lives, and it turns out most couples do as well.  It is “the ‘lache walk.”  The simple act of walking and talking.  

We have logged HOURS -years really-  walking toddlers, kids, dogs, working on our ‘lache (relationship). As part of that walking and talking, we dreamed.  Planned.  Visualized where we might be in five years, ten years –  when the kids have flown the coop, when we are both finally retired.  We talked about the  houses we wanted,  how to spend holidays, health issues, aging parents and how to get through a busy week or a tough job, whether we should plant tulips, or if it was a waste of time because the deer ate them.  We talked about everything. 

And we talked about travel.  Vacations.  Dream destinations.

We went home and made lists. Looong lists.  I read Rick Steves’ travel guidebooks like they were novels. Our travel list -sigh- is long.  It is ambitious.  It is wildly varied.  Everchanging.  One destination would rise to the top for a few years, only to be replaced with a new location as our interests change. 

But one item never changed.  It simply said: long.

Now, a couple thousand ‘lache walks later, Scott is (somewhat) retired and we’ve finally begun to talke that  ‘cache (vacation) list.

The idea of a long trip rose right to the top.  We wanted it to be long enough so we could navigate easily, no Google Maps required to find the train station. To have a pub that was “our pub,” a pub with a cool name like “The Bird and the Baby,” or “Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.” Long enough to be able to make familiar conversation with the corner grocery clerk. To know which cafe has the best cup of coffee. It was an easy decision for both of us. I will spare you the many iterations it took to get to the final plan: Five weeks in the UK.  Merry Old England.  

Our goal?

Slow travel. Seeking the quintessential quaint.  Pastoral landscapes. Gardens.  Literary wanderings, history. History and the Highlands. Castles.  Moors.  A touch of  Jane Austen with a little Bridgerton and Peaky Blinders thrown in.  Perhaps some Winnie-the-Pooh or Peter Rabbit or maybe even some Harry Potter.  Jrr Tolkien and CS Lewis.  Roald Dahl.    

Small towns.  Country roads.  Windy walks along the Seven Sisters.  Warm tea on rainy spring day.

Off we go – another ‘lache walk – a little longer, a little farther from home… one long lovely walk.

CLICK HERE to listen to the Holderness Family “‘Lache Walk” video.