Friends my destination

After the previous nights dream, I looked up at the grey skies above me on my way into central London this morning and thought that I would really rather be somewhere else. Somewhere warm with white sands, blue skies and bluer seas. And sunshine, lots of sunshine. Rainbows are optional. It would also be blissfully quiet. Just the sound of the waves lapping gently over the sands and little else. London has that effect on me in general - nothing makes me pine for solitude more than having to fight through a seemingly endless stream of pedestrians that frequent/infest the center. Whilst my mental map of London includes a number of routes from points A to B avoiding the busiest areas of the city, it only goes so far at this time of year.

I think I want a holiday. Of course, I'm not about to take a holiday, the primary reason being that I have scant little holiday time left from work and what I do have I really need to save for Christmas.

But I'd like to.

But by myself?

It was one of those curious thoughts that I've always known but never articulated before, which is that I've never really ventured anywhere significant by myself. That's not to say that I haven't made small expiditions on my own, but rather that every significant bit of travelling I've done (say beyond a 15-20 mile radius of my natural habitat) other than for work purposes has either been with friends or family, or has had friends or family at the eventual destination. I've just never gone anywhere on holiday by myself. Really, I'm not even sure what I'd do on holiday by myself, although right now a week of sitting alone on the quiet beach of my dreams sounds positively idyllic - not something I would have imagined appealing to me, even just a few short year ago.

But however tempting that sounds to me (and right now it does sound very tempting indeed), I'm not sure I'd enjoy it. The trips I have made with friends/family or to friends/family in the past, well, what can I say other than such trips number as many of my most cherished memories. Looking back, there aren't any such holidays that I would trade, even for my beach, and truthfully sacrificing time with people I care about for more time with myself seems like a very poor bargain indeed.

However, should any of you have a hankering to find a quiet beach in exotic (yet temperate) climes feel free to give me a call. Sooner rather than later, if you don't mind.