Tag: friends

I am just back from a weekend in Leeds visiting old university friend and her husband, and meeting their 10 week old boy. It was a very nice weekend, with catching up and the chance to read three novels, but frankly, having watched her parent wee George, I have come to the conclusion that I am clearly not unselfish enough to have children and actally raise them properly (as opposed to packing them up in a wicker basket and popping them on a bus across Africa with me).

I really do just like my lifestyle of being able to trot wherever far too much. If a suitable consenting adult would like to sign up to come along, I would be ok with that, but children aren’t so much consenting as dragged. I was listening to Fi talking about how she only wants to go back to work part-time, and would rather not go back to work at all than go back full time while he’s small and my head was just yelling, “I could never do that.” And I barely have a career (this PhD thing is supposed to help with that, though).

1. There’s tension involved in travel, even when you go on your own. The ‘why am I here’, ‘what’s my purpose in life’, am I just jumping through tourist hoops’ kind of tension. I think it happens every trip, and yet, when you come back you just sort-of forget about it. So, just learn that when it happens you should consider stopping seeing the things you’ve got on your list that you want to see – even if you really really really want to see them – for an afternoon and find a park or a sofa to sit and read a novel, or write screeds of nonsense working through your tourist-monkey issues, or email all the folks at home. And then go out the next day and get over it – chances are you’ll find something wonderful that makes you think that even if you are being a tourist-monkey, it’s probably worth it (hello, Kinkaku-Ji and Nanzen-Ji, Kyoto.

2. There’s more tension involved in watching other people travel – especially to historically sensitive places like Auschwitz. You have to work through that too – normally with the aid of pen and paper, but you’re allowed to talk to other people about it, ‘cos it’s not just emo-esque self-indulgent wank. It’s something worth thinking about. What kind of photos should you take in such places?

The Maternal Unit apparently has no words to describe the slackness and old age of me, Mel and James, for we spent New Years Eve curled up in my sitting room with a large pile of books each, and several mugs of tea. We waved our arms vaguely in the air at midnight, read another chapter and went to bed. Oh, and we introduced James to High School Musical, mwahahahaha.

We did do stuff during the day yesterday. We went to play on the beach for a bit, and then went to Waterstones and Starbucks, as we do. For evidence – pliz to see photos.

Today, we have made approximately no plans, but there are still books… Best New Year ever.

Happy New Year to you too.

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I wholeheartedly recommend Bulgaria as a holiday destination. I wouldn’t recommend driving in Bulgaria quite so much, unless you have nerves of steel and enjoy driving on long windy pot-holed mountain passes where drivers (including articulated lorries) overtake at will, despite imminent hairpin bends. Those hills in the background of that shot, in fact. On one day trip, from Gabrovo to Plovdiv, we passed an overturned lorry on the way up and over the Shipka pass – fortunately (ha!) it just seemed to have overturned under the force of gravity rather than actually smashing into anything. Our return trip over the pass was made more interesting by and “automobile catastrophe” (pronounce it like it’s French, please), which meant that, in the dark, we had to go up and over the longer, windier, worse laid, older pass next door. So buses, they’re the way forward, especially since they’re often coaches, and you can shut your eyes and pretend that cars aren’t driving straight for you. Anyway, apart from the driving. Gorgeous scenery, stunning weather – pretty much 30-34 degrees everyday we were there – fabulous people. Plus, we got to stay at a place with a pool with a view.