Difficult one to answer this one…
On the one hand, yes I’ve had family fall apart, and yes tramping had a part to play in that…but only a part. It wasn’t always the way, so I think it was more that it magnified the problems rather than causing them.
When a relationship goes sour it is too easy to start running out a day earlier (Sunday in my case, something which I point blank refuse to do now), which just makes you drift further and further apart. On the flipside, it’s also very difficult to find ways to spend more time at home when your main reason for being away is that you live in the back of beyond and day work either doesn’t exist or doesn’t pay.
One mistake which I will never repeat is to be out all week when you have a small child. I bitterly regret that, although I had no choice at the time (see above). Next time I’d rather live on beans on toast than miss so many milestones…and if there isn’t the work in the area to enable that to happen then it’s really quite simple. I’ll move.
One thing which forever haunts me was the day my daughter first smiled…and I was (surprise surprise) on the A34 in a container lorry…
You can borrow money to see you through their early years. Ok, you end up in debt, but you can pay that back, and you can muddle through…you can always go back to the long-distance driving thing…you can never have a second shot at your kids’ lives. If I had a second run at it it’d be day work all the way, and sod the bank manager and the credit rating!!! 