You know it’s funny as I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while and even though, logically, I know I’ll enjoy it once I get going, it can still be a struggle to get started. Bizarrely my last post was inspired by gardening – or my more violent version of it – and today as I was grappling with the weeds I found myself wondering why I had put this job off for so long? It’s never as tough as I think it’s going to be and there is no waiting around for results, the patio instantly looks better the moment I get rid of the first weed, with things getting better the more I do. And it’s the same with the blog, once I’ve laid down my opening gambit the rest of the words tend to flow fairly easily and in a relatively short amount of time a post has been created.

All be it a post with a rather irrelevant preamble as this is supposed to be about holiday strolls not flipping weeds again so let’s move swiftly on. We all have different ways of approaching holidays, for some people they still have to continue working so the holiday is more of a change of scene rather than a complete break from the normal. Others may be able to avoid work but may still have other elements of everyday life to tackle for example if you’re self-catering then you may still have shopping, washing-up and perhaps even laundry to contend with. Even if you are in a fully-serviced hotel you might decide that you still want to remain connected whether it’s to post (brag?) on social media or keep up with the news and forums or simply to keep streaming your current box set. However generally speaking when I’m on holiday, I like to completely switch-off – both literally and figuratively. No social media, no internet (except for messaging fellow travellers or checking holiday-related info/directions), no TV or movies. Aside from the company and the destination the only entertainment allowed is reading. The bookworm in me still prefers a physical book but the practical part of me has accepted that e-books do make much more sense.

The reason behind the restricted technology rule – actually rule sounds too harsh, perhaps aim or guideline would be better – anyway whatever you want to call it the point is that a holiday is meant to be a break from the everyday. A chance to hit pause and to enjoy a simpler way of life, just for one week. That being said even without the internet and the general admin tasks of life, we still tend to fall into a routine. Admittedly it’s a far simpler, stripped-back version of an ‘at home’ routine but there is still a sense of making order out of nothing. I’m sure there are people who go away and every moment is spontaneous, the week disappears in a hectic whirl of ‘what next’ but for those of us of a risk-averse nature there is joy to be found in order. Even when the world was turned upside-down during the covid pandemic my household established a ‘stay-at-home’ routine as it was our way of making sense of the nonsensical. I’ve never really understood the desire to force yourself out of your comfort-zone, especially when I have gone to great efforts to make my zone as comfortable as possible. So when I leave my established comfort-zone, a routine allows me to establish a new, temporary one. This may make me sound like a control-freak, perhaps I am but I do feel the need to point out that these thoughts are just occurring to me as I type, I do not consciously sit on the plane and start to plan out my holiday routine. These are things that happen naturally, it’s only as a I type that I start to try find reasons.

As ever my ramblings have taken a detour so let’s see if we can find our way back to the official sign-posted trail. Ah yes, the juxtaposition of holidays being a way of escaping the everyday and yet needing a relaxation routine. The point I was eventually striving to get too as that even when all other pastimes are discarded the only two that are permissible are reading and, of course, strolling. Actually this isn’t entirely true as we did swim as well and there was eating & drinking too but if I’m including those I might as well include breathing. I suppose the difference is that while we have tried to add swimming to our at-home schedule it’s just never the same as on holiday. At home the water isn’t as warm, you have to quickly dry off and get dressed rather than lying in the sun until cocktail hour and you leave feeling ravenously hungry with no convenient snack bar close at hand.

Therefore reading and strolling are the only ‘at-home’ activities that are also allowed on holiday. And even though I have literally made-up the rules, I’m not entirely sure what the reasoning is for this. But for the sake of this blog I will hazard a guess… Reading is something that can be done whilst you lie in the sun or enjoy a sundowner or simply unwind before going to sleep. Reading seems to fit within the laid-back holiday mode more easily than watching something does, I guess it’s the physical act of avoiding the sunshine to fixate on a screen that mentally takes me back home. I’m not entirely sure that makes sense but in my mind there is a difference.

Strolling will always be an acceptable pastime no matter where I am. When I’m at home going for a walk can offer me a mini-break from the everyday, whereas on holiday it’s a familiar activity which helps me to adapt to new surroundings. Generally whenever I arrive somewhere new the first thing I want to do is go for a stroll to get a sense of my surroundings. Then, perhaps inevitably, going for a stroll becomes part of the temporary routine. This month we visited Cape Verde, we stayed in an all-inclusive resort so we mainly stayed at the hotel but we were on the beach and so a morning stroll along the coastal path was the first activity of the day. The island is still relatively new to tourism and so there is a rugged, undeveloped beauty to the landscape. Developments are happening and so this is bound to change but I’m sure it will retain some of its natural-charm. As someone who loves watching the sparrows in our garden when I’m working at home, I was thrilled to see their African cousins as we took our morning constitutional. Although, as often happens at home, I heard their cheeky little chirps before I actually saw them. Either way they were a welcome addition to our holiday strolls.

I feel my post is coming to an end but do I have any conclusions to draw? Nothing earth-shattering, but just the realisation that my routine, at home or abroad, will always include a soothing stroll.

That’s how I stroll.