Since I was little I’ve always had active holidays. As children we would always go away to places dotted around the UK and so our vacations were filled with day trips to theme parks, castles and adventures. If we went to the beach, we wouldn’t be creatures of the sun, instead we would be out in the sea body boarding, playing badminton games on the sand or searching rock pools. We never experienced lazy days sunbathing abroad by the pool. Luckily as Phil was brought up the same way, we’ve always found it easy to pick where to go and what to do. Our holidays together would mainly involve walks around national parks, or visiting a new part of the country and ticking off all of the highlights. In fact whilst travelling on our years out, we would joke that exploring was our job and so left the hostel every day during normal working hours to see everything. We took sightseeing seriously; we rarely had a rest day, there was far too much to see and do. Even since being Ill, I’d only reluctantly allow myself the odd rest day on holiday as I was desperate to explore and experience it all whilst I still could.
Therefore our most recent holiday was a complete new one for us.. A weekend in a hotel.. and we didn’t leave the hotel at all!
At the end of last year, we’d decided to hire a cottage for a week in the North Yorkshire Moors (Phil is running a race for sponsorship up there next month so wanted to recce it). We’d originally booked for the holiday to be in February, but then I ended up in the Brompton so we had to rebook. So we postponed it to last week, and unbelievably I once again ended up in the Brompton! I hope this isn’t going to be a repeating pattern for all our other holidays already booked for later in the year! After receiving my latest diagnosis, I was asked to stay in the Brompton for another few days to have steroid treatment. However I persuaded them to let me do it the following week so Phil and I could at least get away for a few days. He’d already given up a week of his holiday allowance to sit by my hospital bed, so we didn’t want to completely waste the rest of it! We also desperately needed to escape the world of medicine and ill health, and be a normal couple for a while.
After a tiring few days in hospital, we chose to stay close to home, so booked in to a hotel in Warwick only about half an hour from our house. And despite the fact neither of us had visited the beautiful city before, we didn’t even pop in! We were amazed that Lottie was allowed to come too at no extra charge (Hilton hotel for future reference). She coped remarkably well and didn’t bark at anyone. Last year we took her to a Travelodge that had such thin walls, she kept barking whenever the neighbours made noise. In the end she had to spend the night in the thicker walled bathroom where she didn’t get disturbed! Luckily the Hilton walls were more dog friendly, and she didn’t hear any ‘burglars’ in the adjoining rooms!
We ate some gorgeous meals in the restaurant, drank G&Ts in the bar and spent the rest of the time playing board games in our room, and chatting about life. We didn’t dwell on the past week but instead we laughed and had fun. We even had an internet ban, which turned out to be quite relaxing; on Sunday morning instead of googling on our own individual computers we sat and did the Times crossword together, badly I hasten to add! My Mum and Mark joined us for brunch on Easter Sunday morning which was a lovely catch up.
This weekend we learnt an important lesson. Holidays don’t always have to be ticking off exercises, seeing all the sites and being busy every day. Sometimes you need those rest holidays where you give your body a chance to relax and heal. A chance to switch off from the internet and the white screen. A chance to talk and chat to your partner about anything and everything. And importantly all whilst not feeling guilty about wasting the holiday! We’ve already planned to return.
We Can Adjust The Sails 