What makes a perfect holiday?
As we all head back to work and autumn closes in, I thoughtI’d share mine with you.
As I get older, I find a holiday becomes more and moreimportant.
The batteries take a little longer to re-charge and thequest for peace – in its widest sense – more urgent.
Well, let me take you to Norway, where my wife comes from.
In the summer, families tend to migrate to their huts alongthe country’s rocky coast.
This is not just the preserve of the wealthy, either. Allright, their huts are slightly more sophisticated than others, but the theme isthe same.
Let’s call it back to basics.
You swim, walk, canoe, play cards and board games, picnic,fish, take boating trips, listen to music and of course barbecue anything thatyou can eat.
In our case, stuck on the last island before the open sea,there’s no electricity.
A petrol-powered generator is occasionally dragged out totop up the one mobile phone, needed in the event of an emergency.
The bath is the sea, the loo a hole in the ground.
The former is surprisingly warm - circa 70 degreesFahrenheit – the only downside being the regular quota of jellyfish, whosepresence automatically creates entertainment as bathers play a game of dare whilewashing.
The latter eventually turns to good compost and food for thefew plants which poke their tough little heads through the myriad of rocks.
In our wooden hut, the decoration is basic, the furnituresparse and the central heating non-existent.
A very effective log fire glows from about 5pm onwards,adding to the feeling of well-being and peace.
This euphoria is only enhanced further as you watch thefishing boats chug out to sea, listen to the seagulls screaming overhead, spot theodd seal bob to the surface like some wet-suited diver and gaze at the stunningarray of colour as the sun sinks over the horizon.
I also notice family cohesion and a friendliness created byhundreds of thousands of people who realise they have a winning formula whichis treasured by all.
Do you, like me, ever wonder how much better off we’d all bewithout this explosion in IT?
I dream – sorry.
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