Settling Into San Jose, Cabo de Gata - Feels Like Coming Home

By the time spring returns it will  have been pretty much three years since we drove Homer, our first motorhome, south from Durham and began our adventure. During that time we've seen many places, done many things and met many wonderful people. Yet there are certain places that seem to keep drawing us back time and again. One of those places is the Cabo de Gata Natural Park in the south east corner of Spain. When we first arrived here in December 2014 we fell so in love with peace, tranquillity and calm that seems to hang in the air and on the stunning cliffs and beaches here that we have now returned for a third winter.

We arrived here a little over 3 weeks ago now an especially hectic time in November, travelling back to the UK from Switzerland (via the Netherlands) in order to 'simply' organise our lives after a summer living out of a single rucksack each....and somehow that is what we did. Despite an unexpected hospitalisation, despite having massively underestimated the challenge of finding an available, van conversion motorhome that could be ready in under a week and despite trying to squeeze in all sorts of other clearing out and family visits we made it, but in doing so (and almost without noticing at the time) we massively compromised the health and self-care routines we have developed and learned during our adventures.

Still it is the challenging times we can learn the most from, and as the dust settles on our tumultuous November it is certainly helping us to even more fully appreciate and be grateful for the life we enjoy on our adventures. Plus, our winter base in San Jose is exactly what we have needed to recover and re-energise.

There was a part of us that wondered, during summer while we were hiking in the Alps, if an entire winter in one place wouldn't be a little dull? Perhaps get a little stale? Well now we are here, looking out over the sea from our beautiful rented home, reading books and listening to music, or wandering on the golden beaches and strolling along the jagged and precipitous cliff tops I can definitely say that we are so glad we had the foresight to put an extended stay in San Jose in our diary way back in Springtime.

As it says in the title of this post, returning to San Jose has felt a lot like 'coming home'. What do I mean by that? Well, after almost three years moving around the concept of 'home' has taken on a very different meaning for me. In part we are always 'home', and not just because we have a motorhome or because we carry all of our possessions with us as we move. Rather we are always home because the idea of home expands to include just being in the moment and being together.....less attached to a physical location or a pile of bricks and mortar. We can be happy and be 'home' any where.

Still, there are certain locations that at a given time we just feel more peaceful in, like we are in the right place at the right time. That is how I'm feeling in San Jose right now. It helps that we are enjoying seeing so many friendly and familiar faces, walking along familiar streets and looking out on familiar views. But more than that San Jose in particular and Cabo de Gata Natural Park in general is like an oasis of calm. A haven away from the busyness to recharge our batteries, refocus on self-care and remember how to sit still again....an art we still struggle with.