If you’d have told me back in January 2016 when I booked our holiday to the Dominican Republic through Ice Lolly, I’d have thought you were mad telling me that we’d spend a week of doing nothing. I’d have laughed in your face with a big ol’ LOLZA. You see, as much as holidays are for relaxing we often find ourselves adventuring out a bit and very rarely spend a week doing sweet F.A. Sadly, I was struck down with a bout of V&D due to exhaustion (my body just decided to give up on me) I was reduced to staying close to the hotel room, you know, just in case.
Constantly keeping on top of my blog, content and Instagram I feel like I need to be doing something all the time. It’s a pressure I put on myself and thank goodness I gave myself a little break because I’ve now come back feeling ever more ready to grow my blog and get back on track. Back at the end of September we took a 7 night trip to the Dominican Republic, sadly the hotel wasn’t on par with what we were expecting but we tried not to let that dampen our spirits, especially as we had the most beautiful coastline to enjoy and the weather was glorious (bar the last two days when the hurricane was on it’s way)
Because of my dicky tummy, we did stay at the hotel and I ploughed my way through three books whilst enjoying the sea breeze. Heck, even Mr C read Guy Martins second autobiography which made it even more peaceful. He didn’t complain once that we weren’t doing anything outside of the hotel (which normally he’d be chomping at the bit to go and explore.) It made it even more clear that we’d both been burning the wicks at both ends of the candle.
We live in a day & age where we are always on the go and sometimes we never take in to consideration just how much our bodies need a little rest from time to time and a holiday is the perfect way to unwind. It gave me time to re-evaluate and prioritise what was coming up for the rest of the year and gave me sheer clarity that I needed to cut myself a little bit of slack and realise I can’t always do everything. Sadly, it’s that “FOMO” culture, isn’t it?
This time though, I didn’t let it bother me. I didn’t worry that we weren’t out chasing dolphins on a boat trip or swinging from the trees on a jungle adventure course. I just sat back and watched each day roll by and eagerly met the buffet everyday with trepidation. (Mm how many pancakes can I fit on my plate without looking greedy? That answer I found out on this holiday.)
I didn’t worry that I wasn’t getting involved with local culture or hopping on a clapped out mini bus heading out to different places, I just accepted that this was how it was going to be. We were going to do absolutely nothing and we were going to enjoy it. (And not worry that we were missing out.) There really was no point beating ourselves up about it.
We have so many years ahead of us to enjoy travelling the world and it’s something I am keen to bump up a gear (we can all dream, right?) and there is plenty of time to see the corners of the earth. It’s time to take things a little slower and take it all in and give ourselves that necessary break every once in a while. You’ll thank yourself for it, I know I have.
