The final post. Well almost.

This blog has always been about our time in Bosnia. What it was like to be living in Bosnia, the things that I liked, the things that I find odd, the things I found completely incomprehensible. Now we've moved back from Bosnia, the time has come to draw this blog to a close.

When I started it way back when, it was really for me to keep a record of our time abroad and to keep the odd friend and family vaguely in touch with what we were up to. Eventually I discovered a whole blogging community and this turned into a bit of a life line for me. Life with 2 small boys away from home was, at times, very isolating and lonely. I never really found my Mummy niche in Bosnia, never found other mothers I could hang out with with whom I could despair of ever potty training or getting full nights sleep again. But there they all were in the blogosphere. I could read their stories, often funny, occasionally heartbreaking. It was like having a cup of tea and a natter with a mate over the road. For me, it was invaluable and made all the difference to my time in Bosnia. By providing that headspace, I had the mind set to cope with being an expat.

I was also surprised by the number of people in Bosnia who contacted me through my blog. We met people from all over the country, stayed with a few of them and hope that they will remain friends. Yet others contacted us with all sorts of ideas and help with some of the bureaucratic battles that we were always facing and every offer of help and potential contact was very gratefully received.

Our time in Bosnia was amazing. There were ups and downs but the experiences were unforgettable. Bosnia is a wonderful country full of warm, vibrant, funny and ever so generous people. It is a country that is so let down by its leaders, but a country that has so much to offer and so much potential. If you are thinking of visiting then do. Sarajevo and Mostar are wonderful cities to visit as a tourist, the skiing is good, the scenery spectacular and you will be welcomed. If you are thinking of visiting Bosnia at any point then do get in touch, I can direct you to some good literature, give you some ideas for places to go and things to do.

I say this is the final post, really it is almost the final post. I will be posting a few more times, but with useful information for people thinking of moving to Bosnia, importing a car, all those things that we now have a very detailed knowledge about. Again, feel free to contact me if you want any wildly unprofessional advice. I'll do my best.

So, all that remains is to say a big thank you to everyone. I am going to continue blogging, so if you are vaguely interested then do head on over to my new blog Pants With Names.* No idea yet what I'll be whittering about there, but with the situation in Bosnia remaining fairly volatile expect a few posts along those lines and I suspect that the old small boy destruction tactics will also feature largely. Who knows what else, but I expect I'll find plenty to whitter on about. Pop on over, come follow, subscribe, comment.

In the meantime thank you very much and good night!

* Pants with Names being the winning entry judged by me after 3 days driving in the car with my husband and no radio for company. Congrats to Jen at The Madhouse for her winning entry - do you want a bottle of sljivavica in a plastic bottle? If you do, one will wing its way to you shortly. Alternatively I will buy you a drink when we do eventually meet.... which is also Iota's prize for spotting the potential of the name. For some reason she didn't fancy the homemade plum brandy. Was it the fact the we use it to get ticks off the dog that put you off?