Holiday, Day 1
Hello, I thought I'd try and write something every day about being on holiday. Think of it as a postcard you didn't ask for and don't have to read.
I could post this to Facebook, but I thought I'd send it to a small group of friends who listen, and who aren't too polite to say "STOP SENDING ME THESE".
My intention is to write a couple of paras every day about this trip. I don't know what these emails will be about - but I guess we'll find out together. That being said, here's today's.
Saturday 23 October 2021 - Solihull to Gleddoch
Suggested song: Edge of Seventeen - Fleetwood Mac
It’s not as far as you think, Scotland. I mean, it’s about 265 miles from our front door to where I am now, and it took all day, but on the first day of a holiday, when I’m full of giddy expectation, a carefully drawn up itinerary and a large coffee, the journey is a welcome one.
For us, long-form journeys are a time for long-form conversations. We discuss and debate, we make connections between ideas - our arguments polished, refined, dismantled or shored up by the conversation with each other. Today’s conversations were about tech, about transphobia and about the language and culture of the internet, the miles slipping behind us along with discarded ideas as we headed up the M6.
It was the start of half-term in England which meant the service stations were full of families with children hopped up on new-found freedom exploring just how loud they could shout before weary parents intervened. Going away on the first day of half term is a Bad Idea if you value peace as you sink a cappuccino on the side of a motorway.
A scenic ugly duckling through the Midlands up to Manchester, the M6 blossoms into the elegant swan of the Peaks then the Lakes, before wall to wall glamour as you head into Scotland. The hills and mountains helped calm my brain, replacing intrusive thoughts about things I’d forgotten to pack or do. I put some music on, the debating of the earlier part of the journey replaced by companionable singing along and comments on the scenery.
Tonight’s hotel sits on a hill overlooking the Firth of Forth. The views are spectacular, the beds warm and wide and any last cares were bubbled away in a moonlit dip in the outdoor spa pool overlooking the estuary, tiny lights blinking on and off quietly in the distance. It’s not as far as you think, but right now it feels like a world away.
Goodnight.
Let me know if you would rather I took you off this little group, else see you tomorrow!
Love you, bye,
Liz xxx