Tomorrow I should have been packing to go on my holiday to Naples.
Ah well. Ain’t gonna happen. I’m not the only person whose holiday plans have been thwarted. Maybe next year. Maybe.
But the thing is, this trip to Naples was symbolic for me. It was going to have been my first holiday on my own. Not the first holiday I’d booked and planned – I tended to do all of that side of things anyway. Not the first time I’d flown on my own. Not the first time I’d stayed in a hotel on my own.
But the first proper holiday I’d taken on my own. And I’d made all sorts of plans – I was going to visit Pompeii, take the boat to Capri, drive the Amalfi coast, do a food tour of the city, take the train to Rome, eat pizza in the place where it was invented. I was looking forward to it, dammit.
It was symbolic of my independence – and it was intended to be the first of many. I had plans. Naples this year. Then, over time, Vietnam, New York, Scandinavia, Japan, India… All bets are off now.
And it was symbolic of my improving finances. Since he left I’d got myself a job. I’d managed to continue to work professionally with him in the business we own. I’d taken a lodger. I’d spent a year scrimping and saving to really get a handle on the finances. And this was going to be my reward. It was proof that I’d survived, and that things were looking up.
I’m still waiting for the refund from Jet2. They’ve been in contact and told me I’ll be getting one – I just haven’t actually got it yet.
I’ve already got the refunds back from AirBnB (applied online, money back in my account within 5 days), and airport parking (rang them, money back in my account within 2 days). So it’s only Jet2 left to cough up.
And then – what to do with the money? I feel I want to do something specific with it, so that I haven’t wasted my holiday completely. I’m thinking I might put it towards the front garden path and a new front door. Sounds daft, but the day we came to view the house my first thought was ‘the path needs fixing and the front door is hideous’.
I spent three years renovating the house, and two years sorting out the garden, and these are the only two jobs left to do. I’d like to finish the job before I have to sell – and if I do it now I’ll get some benefit from it. Besides, I think it’ll make the house more saleable when the time comes. Kerb appeal and all that.
And once the restrictions have been lifted, I’m going to go out for a pizza.
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