Dear Jaclyn and Heidi,
After much persuasion, I finally got my wife Alice to reluctantly agree to a trip along the Gibb River Road. I’m so excited to see the incredible gorges out there. However, she just won’t stop talking about how bumpy it’s going to be and how we might damage the caravan. I know we’ll be fine. Anyway, when we get as far as the King Edward River campsite, we’d planned for her to stay in the van on her own for a few days while I drove down the rough track to the Mitchell Falls with a tent. Now though, she’s suddenly decided she’s coming with me. She thought I’d delighted but, in all honesty, I’m gutted. I was looking forward to having a few days on my own. I’m just worried she’ll just be a nervous wreck. How can I tell her she might spoil it for me?
Chris
Maybe you should just be happy knowing that you are going to drive the Gibb River Road and get to the Mitchell Falls. There are plenty of people who would love to swap places with you for the next few weeks … whingeing wife or not! If you look at things from Alice’s perspective you would see that she is being extraordinarily accommodating. I suspect she might be a bit nervous about spending a few nights alone at King Edward River, especially as she would probably be quite anxious about how you were getting on in rugged country. She may well be imagining it to be worse than it actually is, but her foreboding is 100% real. You may not have the ‘alone time’ you crave, but you will have the opportunity to share an incredible experience with someone who adores you. Life’s still pretty good, Chris!
Jaclyn
Given that you set out on this incredible adventure around Australia together, you can hardly accuse Alice of being an unadventurous stick-in-the mud, Chris. We all of us have different thresholds for adventure. All grey nomads, courtesy of their lifestyle choice, are at the ‘let’s go for it’ end of the scale. Trust me, there are plenty of husbands and wives sitting in suburbia because they couldn’t persuade their partners to hitch up and head out. Count yourself lucky! If Alice is ready to leave her comfort zone to take on the Gibb River Road to make you happy and then take it one step further by heading out to the Mitchell Falls with you, then you should count yourself very, very lucky to have such a wonderful wife. Maybe it’s you, Mr Grumpy Negative Head, who is going to spoil it for her!
Heidi
