Too much travel

Yesterday and today have been relatively quiet. With a slower pace, I've felt more tired than usual (though admittedly we still drove more than 60 kms today). When I think about the previous two weeks, I can understand why I might be a little weary.  

It's been more hectic for me than usual. David's education students are on prac, so he's been at home, with the car. Therefore we've scheduled in more mid-week things than we did in during Feb-April.

This is our van in Japan. It serves us well, but not as
much as our van has this year in Australia. We're
looking forward to taking possession of it again when
we return, we've lent it to new missionaries for the year
 we've been away. I'm so thankful for the vehicle we've had
here in Australia. It's old and rattly, but it's done the
 job with little fuss, and we've not paid a cent for it,
except for petrol and a little maintenance.

I/we...

• inspected and bought a shipping container
• supervised its installation on a farm (David) 
• saw a physio twice (my knee and head are still giving me issues)
• had coffee, lunch, or dinner with four different individuals/couples
• saw psychologist together (took several hours due to travel)
• represented Japan at a local play group
• drove our eldest son for exams at a friend's place (a correspondence maths subject he's doing to bridge between curriculum)
• had a dental checkup
• did some clothes shopping, stocking up for the trip back to Japan
• saw a doctor for an infection

Last Saturday we also went to Toowoomba for a joint birthday party with a friend I've known since I was a baby. Both our families were there as we all knew each other as children. It was a great get together that we really wanted to do, but a tiring day.

In total we've driven over 1,000 km in the last twelve days, and none of that has taken us out of the south-east corner of Queensland. (Actually David did 200 of those without me, but still.) No wonder I'm tired. I'm know I'm not a wonderful traveller, but I'm increasingly realising it really does stress me. Even if I don't know it, my body often tells me. I've had a number of urinary tract infections this year (sorry if that is too much information for you), most of them were associated with long journeys or stressful days.

Sometimes people ask what I'm looking forward to in going back to Japan. Less travel would be close to the top of the list. Our car only gets occasional outings in Japan and usually only for these reasons:

• trips to wholesaler Costco every two months or so
• driving students to inter school sporting events
• holidays/camping
• conferences (a couple of times a year)

By the way, I'm not writing to garner your sympathy, just explaining what has been ordinary life for us recently.