Travel.

Next trip on hold?

I am a ‘when we’ from yesterday to sixty good years ago, plenty of ‘when we’s ‘ in this treasure.

When we (yes) first came to London, the cost of a return trip to Paris could be for as little as £59.00 return. Paris perfect for little and a magical way to reach her.

Oh yes, you say, but they do have specials for as little as £39.00 one way too. I have tried to work with this. One way at that price, is most likely the first train in the morning around 6.00 am or the last train at night, arriving in Paris with a day wasted and a night to pay for. The return could be much higher, and yes you may still get a really great ticket if you are very, very flexible, which most of us are not.

It is not just the Eurostar. Airline tickets have soared, literally, and train journeys bring those tears to the very edge of my lashes. No blame in the post-Covid/Brexit game, but it does impact on those of us for whom travel is akin to being alive.

Cape Town

What was going to be an annual trip to Europe with my three friends, fizzled out quickly when the sums stacked up. ‘Let’s go to Florence’ was the first cry - let’s go to Florence and see the Duomo, the Uffizi and everything else. Excitement levels rising. ‘Let’s go to Mont Saint Michel’ was added to the wish list. Or just Paris - and the costs began to rise like an unwanted rain spider. We would have to postpone till next year.

And in that, perhaps, is a small beating heart in the travel breast. Staycations became the phrase du jour during the pandemic and more discovered the gems within their own borders. A trend to be continued.

But - perhaps the idea of luxury travel, not so much the six star (now we get six star hotels) kind of travel, but the idea that travel is a luxury to be savoured and desired, brings back the actual joy of travel. The careful planning, within your budget. like building a puzzle to marvel at the end result. The true test of choosing what matters and not. Rather than hit the low cost airlines and end up somewhere for a crazy weekend or a destination wedding, the art of travel goes back to the very purpose of travel.

Slow and meaningful travel. An education.

Varenna

When we used to travel, once, or maybe twice a year, the idea of somewhere different, doing something new would carry your hopes for months on end.

I may not be able to hop on the Eurostar once a month to visit Paris simply because the fare is so cheap, but now I relish the idea of returning to Paris because I miss her so. Our reunion will be ever so passionate.

And I am carefully, studiously planning our trip to Europe next year with my friends, and it shall be well thought out, include all our wishes and even more sweet for the experience.

Though I may lament at the cost of travelling at present, the cost of living in general, I still chose to go without some luxuries if it means I can sit beside a parent, a lover or a lake and just take it all in.