LIVE24SEVEN // Local C LAI R E IN THE COUNT Y
So What’s It All About?
Claire Thayers’ exhausting tale of all that holiday preparation
Too hot... too stressed... too much work... too little work... too much tax to pay... too much on the credit card... what IS life all about? This is my over active mind in overdrive mode, the MINUTE I put my head on the pillow... guaranteed it kicks in.
Yes, I know I should relax more - I own up, I bought the book on ‘mindfulness’ but I have just been too busy to read it. Yes I have thought about yoga, but if I got onto the floor, I know I’d never get back up again and I have tried herbal tea before bed – but that just tastes of dishwater – this de-stressing thing is quiet stressful!
So, my solution to all of this is to reach over for the iPad at 5am, find the credit card which is already creaking at the seams and I decide that a holiday is going to solve ALL of my problems – nothing flash, not too long, just a nice city mini break to Barcelona. I actually convince myself that it is cheap – just because the flights are a mere £49 return. (Yes... I know I should sit down and do the maths and work out what it really costs but that’s not me, as my friends will tell you, crazy and impulsive!) Within 20 minutes, it is all booked - the flights, the hotel and even the car parking is booked – all VERY easy with no stress involved!
Not sure about you, but for me the best part of the holiday is counting down the days and the looking forward to it – buying a few new clothes, getting the eye lashes tinted, searching out a few pairs of sparkly earring, and investing (yes, I use that word wisely) in some nice new shoes, or 2 or 3 pairs.
The worst bit... winding down at work, which I conveniently forget – handover notes,
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copying everyone in, remembering to put the out of office on, changing the voicemail... and then there is the house to sort out... making sure the lawn is mown, weeding, emptying out the fridge, making the beds up, changing the towels, cleaning the house so it’s lovely to come back to... oh and then that little issue of packing.
I always try and take just hand luggage; keep it simple, walk on and off the plane but I obviously have OCD... but at least I own up to it! I tend to pack one week before then a few days before, I unpack it, change it all, and pack again. Then the morning of the flight – guess what? YEP I take it all out, check it again, make sure everything coordinates, the shoe trauma (isn’t that the hardest bit for us all – flats/flipflops/heels for the evening) and double check that no errant toothpaste has fallen from the clear plastic bag (usually does), which always ends up with me being pulled over and frisked in security.
The final hours - the last few bits and bobs to do... cannot find the passport, where is that handy little over the shoulder pickpocket resistant handbag and then there is the ordeal of checking in online. Typical... printer runs out of ink, the dropdown box will not work so I shout very loudly, turn the laptop off and back on and eventually its done.
Only when I am sat on that plane, on the tarmac, do I let out a little sigh of relief... I MADE IT! The dog is in kennels, the rabbit has a neighbour popping in, the house is gleaming, ironing mountain has been decimated and the fridge has long life goodies in so we can eat upon our return – planned with military precision... and a sprinkling of stress!
As we taxi down the runway, I close my eyes... and what do I do? I start working out the cost of the hotel, the dog sitter, the wine for the neighbour, the shoes I didn’t need, the earrings I will never wear, that stupid bikini, which I should return but I cut the labels out, the car parking cost, the potential restaurant bills, the cost of the taxi, did I get enough euros – the list goes on and
on...and
on...and the blood pressure rises, and funnily enough I find it difficult to doze.
What IS it all about? Holidays... life... stress and then finally, zzzzzzzzz just as we are coming in to land. I still don’t have the answer, if you know, please share!
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