After not being able to write all of last week, and not even being able to finish the first sentence of this blog, I decided to try again today. So, in honour of having a bit more confidence in myself, and in honour of actually being able to open a word document and look at the words I’m writing for once, I will attempt to give you an insight into my recent holiday on the Isle of Wight.
Some of you will already know that I went on holiday, but to those of you that don’t I spent about a week away with my boyfriend. I was told this was, and to quote him (probably not exactly), my ‘first adult holiday’ as it was my first time away from home where I had to be responsible enough to survive six days of adulting.
Surprise, I survived. And now I’m here to tell you all about it.
Don’t get me wrong, I had an amazing time, but to say I was pushed out of my comfort zone, would probably be an understatement (as I am a young woman with fairly bad social anxiety, and social skills). I was thrown straight out of my bubble of comfort and onto a Hovercraft to cross the Solent. This in itself, wasn’t all that bad after the embarrassment of having to drag a suitcase across Portsmouth and Southsea (note to self: don’t take a suitcase next time, Emily). However, I still have a fear of being on open water because, hello, death, but I discovered that, actually, the Hovercraft wasn’t all that bad. This is especially the case if you hug your boyfriend tight enough and close your eyes, then it’s just like going down an extreme country road. I was fine, on both ways, and the joys of travel sickness pills made sure I didn’t hurl my guts up after breakfast.
When we got to the island itself, the weather had cheered up and we were presented with the next obstacle. The caravan we had hired for the week was on the other side of the island and we couldn’t book in until after 4pm. At this point, it had only just turned 11am. You can see the dilemma, right? (I’m being overdramatic, for suspense, plus to give you all an insight into how much I overthink). We had five hours to kill, and after buying a week-long bus ticket, we spent the following half hour on a bus travelling to Sandown.
We walked probably for the next half hour, seeing a total of only one cat (which was actually really disappointing), down to a small zoo down on the coast. My boyfriend, C, was kind enough to drag my suitcase for me in exchange for me carrying his duffle bag (again, remind me to never, ever, take a suitcase on holiday if walking is involved). This worked for a while, and after paying for entry to the zoo, we were able to shove our bag behind a till for a couple hours.
The zoo itself was really good, mostly full of monkeys, but there were also tigers and lions (C would be able to give you their proper names, but I don’t know animals so you’re getting the simple ones. You’re welcome). We spent a good couple hours at the zoo, which was more of a rescue centre – they rescued their tigers from a Spanish circus where they were being injured – before deciding at just gone 2pm that there wasn’t much else to see. We then proceeded to walk, in the rain, to a bus stop on the other side of Sandown. On the way we went to the amusements (hello, 2p machines, you were a bum to us. All we wanted was a keyring), as well as a small little café which had amazingly good cakes and average coffee. I also think the coke – not the drug, we are sensible – was good, because C drank all of it.
By this point, we were exhausted, and spent another half hour on a bus to get to Shanklin where we were staying. We booked ourselves in, settled into the caravan, went shopping and watched some rubbish TV (the caravan didn’t have free Wi-Fi – what kind of monster….?).
On day two, we had breakfast, made lunch and hopped on another bus. Once we’d got up and ready it was about half nine, and (after waiting ten minutes for a bus, because we’d just missed the last one) it took a good while – probably over an hour – to get to Newport where we reached the end of the bus’ line. I think that this, after sitting next to the worlds weirdest and most annoying couple the entire way, was more of a relief than anything.
We got on another bus, surprise, after almost missing it. C had to do a lot of running for us to catch this one; it was actually really funny.
We then faced the trek up to Carisbrooke castle. We didn’t die, but it was close. What is it with the Isle of Wight and pavements? Did they just forget to add them? Is it for fun, to watch the tourists challenge fate? (I’m kidding don’t attack me, the Isle of Wight is actually a really beautiful place).
Either way, we survived and spent a good few hours at Carisbrooke castle. It was nice, the weather was good and sunny, and we got a really good view from the Keep. C made me laugh, we dressed up as soldiers, messed around with a cannon we didn’t expect to have sound effects (dramatic
affect), and climbed over a well we didn’t see the warning sign for (until some seven-year-old kid read it out once we’d made our way up to the observation wall of the Keep – and it was too late).
After just missing the donkey showing at the castle, we decided to just go to the donkey sanctuary in Wroxall instead, as it was on our way home and there was guaranteed to be far more donkeys. We didn’t spend too long at the sanctuary, but we did have a good time laughing at the donkeys and their names: Colin, Jimbob, Sankebite, Dave, and so on. We threw some donations in the wishing well there, C bought some more coke and I decided I wanted icecream (but then decided against buying some because I am responsible with money – to the point where sometimes it hurts).
Once we’d finished laughing at the donkeys (seriously, have you ever heard a donkey scream? It’s actually hilarious.) We got on another bus and headed back to Shanklin before spending the evening watching more rubbish TV and cooking pasta. C figured out how to turn on the heater on the first night after we both almost gassed out the caravan, and so we sat in front the heater – because it was freezing – before heading to bed.
On our third and final full day, which we’d dedicated to our ‘chill day’, I was not feeling very great. After my fair share of drama, and a pretty disastrous trip to Poundland for some cheap movies, we made it back to the caravan where we proceeded to eat icecream, crisps – which C very kindly bought after I decided going out was a bad idea (thank you C) – and watch TV. C was great this day, I’m genuinely so thankful for how great he was at looking after me, and how he made me feel so much better.
This day seemed to go quickly, naps aside, and Nachos for dinner was by far the best decision we’d made in terms of food. There was some more rubbish TV after we’d finished the movies, and I went to bed fairly early. I was so tired I barely heard C come in about an hour later.
Our fourth day on the island equalled rain. Heavy rain. After finding out our Hovercraft home was booked for 6:15pm, we cried internally (this was probably just me), before deciding we’d try and see if they’d let us get an earlier Hovercraft home. The people there were great, there were no arguments, and we made it back to the mainland in Southsea before lunch. From here we walked to Gunwharf Quays (my suitcase, honestly. If it was a living thing, I would have been close to killing it). We had Burger King, then got on a train home.
And that concludes of our holiday on the Isle of Wight. What I’ve learnt from this holiday is that I need to do much better planning next time, for my sake and C’s. But I’ve also learnt that being an adult isn’t perhaps as scary as I thought it would be. I survived a holiday, and a very bad day (mostly because of C’s help). I’ve found out that being independent, especially with someone I love, is actually quite fun, and that I can have a great time – while being pretty stressed.
Once again, thank you all for taking the time to read this blog. I hope you enjoyed hearing about my time away adulting.
(Thank you for an amazing time away, C.)
Want to find out more about my books? Follow the link below.
www.emilybrown.org.uk
You can also find me on Instagram: @emilybrownauthor
I also have a Spotify Playlist you can find below.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rfakaE1iuqx5aMgL259L0?si=HsznmHHASOmMJ3J_CzYoHQ