This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
I booked myself a holiday – to go alone – so exciting! I fancied Turkey as I’ve never been before so I Googled myself an hotel – £50 for a week’s B &B and an Easyjet flight for £180 – bargains! Everyone at works questions my impending trip but the feedback on my chosen destination all sounds great and, to be honest, at £230 for a week away, even if it’s bad, at that price you can’t really complain!
Amaze myself by packing only a capsule wardrobe – it’s not quite the 6 pieces fashion magazines would have you believe you can survive with for a week – like most women it’s toiletries and shoes that always take up the room. Oh, and the new Bridget Jones. There is a medical emergency on the plane so we end up flying via Munich. Having worked for a major airline I know that however disgruntled the other passengers may be – these decisions are not taken lightly – the cost to the airline to divert is huge – I just hope the patient made a full recovery. Spirits on the plane were still buoyant despite the delay but I land in the early hours of the morning and just jump in a taxi with absolutely no idea how long my transfer will take. I sit in the back of the dark car calculating if I exchanged enough currency to cover the fare – which I haven’t. We’re nearly at the hotel (although I don’t actually know this) when I spot a cash machine and ask the driver to stop. Despite the language barrier we both make ourselves understood – I give him my phone with the name and details of where I am staying and I get out the car to get cash – seems a bit naive looking back – but once back in the car (no he didn’t disappear with my smartphone) he is on the phone to my hotel explaining I am late and that we will be there soon – at least this is what I can only assume is happening.
On arrival, I am shown to my room – for garden room read basement! But it is spotlessly clean, the bathroom clearly new and the bed is incredibly comfy – I sleep like a baby. Why do we use this term? Babies do not sleep – they wake, they want feeding, they need changing, they have wind, they get hot, they get cold!
The next morning I have juice, coffee, melon, yoghurt and honey sitting in the sunshine. My holiday should have been my treat for myself AFTER my house move which still has not happened and I am hoping that we will exchange while I am in Turkey. The major hold up has been EH and his incompetent team of idiots. Even he decides that they are completely useless and at the last minute changes solicitors and we start all over again – ggrrr. Screaming matches and vile texts are exchanged as once again it is still him controlling my life and stopping me from moving forward. Am rather glad I am in another country.
So I take my book and bag a good spot by the pool, then as I close my eyes to the cloudless sky I can actually feel the stresses and strains vanish away – bliss. After a very busy morning of basting myself and repeatedly turning to get that even colour – I feel it’s time for a siesta. No-one should be out in the midday sun right? I flop on my bed and wake 6 hours later. At home I have been struggling to sleep – so to catch up is a good sign that I am switching off. I go and sit on the beach just in time to see the sunset, when it isn’t long before I am joined by a man. He is called Tony and is a captain on one of the tourist boats bobbing in front of us and asks me if I want to go on a sunset cruise the following evening, so I say “Yes”.
After another exhausting morning by the pool and after lunch I take myself off to the far end of the local beach to the blue lagoon – it is a nature reserve and very picturesque. I pay for a lounger right on the water’s edge and just sit with my iPod watching the world go by – couples cuddling in the water, beautiful girls in itsy bikinis and families splashing about. There are lots of snorkellers and a guy jumps out excited with a huge squid ! A crowd gather round to gawp and then he takes it back out to sea. I find I can actually listen to music now that a few months ago would have made me weep. It is a lovely way to spend a few hours and I am in good spirits !
Later I head off to the beach for my sunset cruise (all of £5 and dinner included) and as I near Tonys boat he comes to meet me and offers me beer. There isn’t anyone else waiting which surprises me – but a long line waiting to board a much bigger boat moored a few yards down. After our beer he takes my arm and steers me off to the queue. I am confused, but it becomes clear that we are going with the crowd on the bigger boat and apparently Tony is joining me as my plus 1 ?????
I immediately feel uncomfortable but the boat is packed – with couples. Before long I have an arm around my shoulder and he is nuzzling into my hair. Aargh!! He is not UNattractive but this is all a bit unwelcome and I tell him he is making me uncomfortable. The whole evening passes like this with me trying to shrug off advances. It shows how my mental attitude has changed though – all the months I thought I was crying out for male attention and a cuddle and now I have it I know it’s not what I want – at least not like this. I have never been one for one night stands and I don’t expect to start now. It is such a shame as the trip is beautiful – a full moon shining on the sea, delicious food and a soft balmy breeze – I just cannot relax and enjoy it – I am on edge the whole evening.
I’m not sure what everyone else on the boat makes of us but they can’t have missed the woman in the black trousers who practically hurled herself down the gangplank when we returned in a desparate bid to get off the boat as quickly as possible!
More from Sassy’s solo trip to Turkey next week…