I know I'm moving house and all that, but it hasn't stopped me planning a summer holiday.
Two weeks of sitting poolside, drinking toxic cocktails and generally doing my liver plenty of damage, whilst pretending to read books. So much to look forward to!
I'm meeting up with a couple of old friends from my Sydney days in Vanuatu. They wanted to meet somewhere 'halfway'. How we ended up with them travelling four hours and me 22 hours I don't know. It hardly seems halfway.
But the plan is that we'll just relax, unwind, drink.
The first thing the Aussies said to me was
"we have to coordinate our duty free purchases - we need to make sure we have all we need for balcony cocktails"
My poor liver is going to hate me for this. But possibly not as much as my bank manager...
That said, thanks to the trusty old Platinum Air France card, the flights haven't cost me a bean (apart from taxes, natch) and so I get to giddy my way around the world in a business class haze of fancy drinks and movies for nothing. I may even get some sleep.
And joy of joys - thanks to flight schedules, I get to spend a couple of days in Japan on the way down under.
Japan is my favourite country for holidays - I just love the alien-ness of it all. The total challenge of travelling somewhere where there is no common cultural reference.
So, two days bimbling round the shops of Osaka will do me good and give me the retail therapy that I can only imagine does not exist in Vanuatu! It'll also help break me in gently to the 'being on holiday' thing, which can take some getting used to.
But first I have to move house. And drive to the UK. And sell my car. And fly back to France. And hand over my work to a colleague. And pack for holidays.
And not lose my tickets in amongst the chaos....
Now that would be a disaster.
18 commentaires:
Sounds heavenly really!
I too would love to experience the alien-ness of Japan. And I will someday. Just not in the next little while.
Pretending to read whilst lounging poolside? Reminds me of my last trip to Mexico.
I was in the pool(naturally - I'm part fish) and this man and woman came along. It was quite obvious they were travelling together to see what they could pick up. She a she - and he a he.
The guy - double hoops in ears and the smallest speedo I have ever seen peeking out from a bit of a belly - leaped into the pool and let out a screech! My brother almost drowned and paddled over to me and said "Now that is what we refer to in my world as 'a siren call'. We did almost drown laughing.
Unfortunately not one male hurried to his rescue much to his chagrin.
You had to be there!
Sounds hilarious Aims!
Trust me, I won't be wearing my 'budgie smugglers' (aka speedos) let alone making any siren calls!
I'll be the one drunk in the corner. As per.
I have no idea where Vanuatu is .. is this sort of next to Xanadu? .. is Olivia Newton John there?
Will you pack your yellow trainers?
I love flying for free ...and charging the taxes to the card that gets me free tix ... perfect.
And what will you pretend to read? I would think the title would be important if for no other reason than to signal your cool ...
Japan .. now I know where that is and would love to experience its alien-ness ... one day I too will be lost in translation
:-Daryl
Oh Daryl, how happy I'd be if Dame Olivia of Newton John made an appearance. I'd even get my roller-boots out of retirement...
Alas, I think the yellow trainers will only get worn in Osaka. It'll be the trusty Havaianas for the beach, me thinks. I have a special black pair for evenings...
As for holiday reading, I'm thinking that I'll catch up on the latest David Sedaris, maybe the new Armistead Maupin 'tales of the city' sequel...although I'm not sure how good it is.
Also 'a thousand splendid suns' to see if it's worthy of following the excellent Kite Runner.
Getting the reading list together is an essential part of holiday prep. And lots of fun.
Suggestions, anyone?
jealousy, thy name is CawfeeGuy
OMG! Daryl! Did you google Vanuatu?! Did you see where it is?
Cawfeeguy - add my name to your list.
sounds blissful.
I don't know I don't stop by for a week and you've been dark and dangerous in Paris, knee deep in celebs and now it's jollies in the South Pacific via Japan! I'm not jealous oh nooo not a bit
Except for the 22hour travel, I'm jealous. I'd be a basket of stress too trying to get all that stuff done first.
Red, I'm so looking forward to it. As you can imagine.
Breezy, see what you can miss when you don't check in regularly!
Torny, the 22 hr flight isn't making me happy. Luckily it's business class, so at least it means comfort.
And as for getting everything done before I go away, well someone just drove into my car. Add that to the list!
Oooh can I come too?
Marjolein, you can come, as long as you don't bellydance down the aisle of the plane....or maybe you should do that...it'd entertain the passengers!
You will need a holiday after all that organising. I loved A Thousand Splendid Suns but not as much as I loved The Kite Runner.
You need to take something cool, befitting your image.
Which basically I means I will be of no use to you at all.
Tina, I'll be running around until the bitter end. But that will make the holiday all the more sweet....
Think this year it will be a home based holiday , may be the pembs coast or lleyn
Dim Arian - bloody house extention
sigh
VM, with such beautiful spots down the road, why go anywhere else?
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