![crowtherspool01lr.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/timothyallen/4FWfi9DZ-crowthers-pool-01-lr.jpg)

<center>_The view from our kitchen window this morning_</center>

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Tonight I am off to the United Arab Emirates.

I travel quite a bit for work.  Not as much as I used to before I had a family, but still a fair bit.  The truth is, I've had only a handful of jobs in the UK over the last 15 years since I left my job at a newspaper in London.  Traveling abroad is unavoidable for me.

Eight years ago, I moved to rural Wales with my partner and I can say that it was the best thing we've ever done.  Since then we have renovated a remote farmhouse in the hills and filled it with 3 awesome children.

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I remember many years ago when I first started coming to Wales regularly, an old friend who'd been living here for a while took me aside and jokingly warned me..  _"If you're not careful, this countryside will take away your ambition"_.

It took me a few years to start understanding what he was talking about.  

Nowadays, it's something that is all too familiar to me... never more so than when it's time to leave.

@timothyallen