Proper travelling

I have missed travelling. I know, it’s not a human right, but then neither is sloe gin and I’d miss that too if it were banished from my life. I know that many people have satisfied their urge to travel by touring around their own countries and discovering great beauty on their doorstep, which is wonderful, but I can’t quite summon the enthusiasm needed to do it. These are the holidays I’ve taken in Britain in the past two years: one week in Dorset, four days in Hastings and two days in Wales. It’s not an impressive list, is it? Dorset and Wales are very beautiful, but I have visited both of them before. Pirate Day in Hastings was great fun and I look forward to going again this year, but still none of this really feels like proper travel.

For me, proper travel involves leaving the country. Three years ago we visited Northern Ireland, which is (confusingly) in the United Kingdom but not in Great Britain and it is a plane ride away, so definitely bordering on proper travel. It a fascinating and beautiful place, full of lovely people, but they all speak English and spend pounds in shops that look a lot like ours. It’s just not like going to Mexico, is it?

I did make it to Italy last year, during a lull between lockdowns, and it felt as exciting and adventurous as going to Vietnam. Maybe the pandemic has taught me gratitude, which is no bad thing. We took the safe option and went to Puglia (a part of Italy I’d always wanted to visit) with a tour company so if it was all cancelled at the last minute, it wouldn’t be our problem to sort it out. Taking a pre-flight Covid test two days before flying was quite nerve-wracking, but everything was fine and so now we’re taking the plunge and travelling independently to Southern Spain, another part of Europe I’ve always wanted to see. I have a great love of Islamic architecture and Andalucia is brimming with it.

Spain is as keen to welcome travellers back as we are to go, so we have booked our flights, accommodation and activities ourselves and are praying that it all goes ahead without a hitch. We’re travelling in a week’s time, Covid variants and autocrats willing, so we won’t be in suspense for too much longer. However, I count on nothing these days and will be so grateful to be on that plane to Seville I’ll be grinning from ear to ear. People in books seem to have eyes that shine as well, so maybe that will happen too. Or that might just be from one too many in-flight gin and tonics.

I have put together a map and itinerary, for those who are interested. For those who aren’t, you’d do best to wait for the Pirate Day pictures in July. Now those will be interesting.