Wednesday 12 June 2013

Why holidaying abroad is like childbirth


I have had four babies, and it hurt. A lot. But I cannot for the life of me remember what the pain was like. Half-way through the birth of number four, I recall saying to my husband: "When I next get broody, please remind me of this". But I cannot for the life of me remember what it was he was supposed to remind me of; what the pain was like (otherwise presumably I wouldn't have kept on doing it).

The same with holidays. If the holiday is great, I forget the agony of travelling. The early rising, the waiting, the being herded hither and thihter, the being frisked by po-faced officials, the delays, that awful moment when our suitcases don't appear on the carousel, and I wonder whether they are holidaying elseswhere; still sunning themselves while we are back here in the rain. It's horrible. All of it. It's still fresh in my mind (we got back last night).

But no doubt in a couple of days I shall have forgotten all that, and will remember only the sun, the food, the marvellous places we visited. But for the time being, all I can remember is the journey/labour. It still hurts.The equivalent of stitches, I suppose.

16 comments:

  1. Good to have you back Frances! I am the same as you. I have to forget the build up to the flight, the tense wait until we board, the flight itself (waiting for the turbulence or the captain to have a heart attack) and then the week when I am waiting for it all over again! I love holidaying abroad but, as you say, like childbirth, the flight is something that has to be forgotten or I wouldn't do it. I'm off in a week and a half... help!

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    1. Think of the baby and forget the labour, Wendy. ie enjoy your holiday!

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  2. I'll be off in 4 1/2 weeks, visiting the family in Yorkshire and looking very much forward to it. But I am not looking forward to the flight - can't choose who I am going to sit next to, can't move for an hour and a half, can't (= don't want to) use the toilet for that time, and so on.
    But it'll be all worth it, and the rest of the journey (several hours on several trains across the Pennines) will be good, it always is.

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    1. It certainly will be worth it. Yorkshire isn't called God's own country for nothing!

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    2. You'll have a great time, Meike, and L is right. Yorkshire is wonderful!

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  3. Apart from a motorbike trip across France when I was 18 (Wow, all those years ago) I've never had a holiday aboard I've always been put off by the thought of the waiting around and the fear of flying too. I enjoy traveling in Britain or (by ferry) across our fair land.

    It's good to have you safely back with us.

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    1. You are very wise, Paula. But I do wish we had some sun!

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  4. I look forward to your next post, "Why entertaining grandchildren is like constipation"....

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    1. I thin you'd better write that one yourself, RWP!

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  5. I'm glad you're safely back, Frances, and, as always, putting what we all think into words so perfectly. How soon we forget the pain and trauma of travel. And since we keep repeating the experience, it is just the same as childbirth and, in my case at precent, maybe even novel writing too. x

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    1. I think with novel writing, it's the journey that's the good part, Joanna. Because after that come The Wait...!

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  6. Maybe this is why we have become terribly boring and only holiday in GB. We get up, pack a bag and go. No traumas, just the motorways to negotiate. Bliss. Lovely to have you back - you have been missed.

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    1. You're very kind (not to mention sensible!) Maggie.

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  7. Glad the holiday was worth the travelling, Frances. I'm exactly the same - detest the travelling part. We're off at the weekend but to Wales so no flying this time!

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    1. Wales....excellent. Have a great time, Rosemary! And who neds sun, anyway.....

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  8. It's why, when I go on holiday anywhere in Europe, I like to take my home with me in the form of my car. Sadly with the need for security and the battle for cheap air travel battling through the traffic in the South of England is, to me, preferable to the alternatives.

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