Doubting Thomas

Back in Carlisle I had doubts, doubts whether I should go on this latest Spanish trip. It’s only been seven months since I was last abroad in the car yet it seems so much longer, maybe because during four of those months I was preoccupied with all things chemo related?

My doubts about this latest trip were instigated by the return of a nagging twinge in my midriff accompanied by other symptoms which, had I not been diagnosed with this latest cancer back in May, I would probably just put down to getting older which, in fact may actually be the case.

Nevertheless the doubts were there and a week before departure I started to ask myself whether I was doing the right thing by embarking on such a trip?

Life is easier at home, everything just where we want it, and keeping in a routine is much more doable compared to being ‘on the road’. But I’m at odds with the easy option, the comfort zone is not a place which is good for my head, it never has been. Rachel and I always preferred our travels to have a little ‘edge’ to them and I don’t think that I’ve lost that desire. But I wished for somebody in authority to give me a little assurance that all would be well, something I suppose nobody could really do. So on Christmas Eve, when I went to the chemo department for my six weekly bone density injection, I explained my predicament to the nurses, they managed to get my oncologist’s sidekick to come and see me. I basically told her what I wanted her to say and she duly obliged, thereby giving me a sort of self analytical green light that all would work out fine. Armed with this self reassurance, for self reassurance read bull$h!7, I talked myself into thinking/hoping that it will be a venture worth the risk, I’d rather have niggles travelling than sit at home contemplating my navel, or whatever one does when bored?

So Boxing Day I headed south to Portsmouth for the midnight ferry to Santander (almost sounds like a song title). My friend Gav from Guildford drove the one hour to meet me and wave me off treating his dear wife to the pleasure of a Boxing Day evening out, I’m sure she’s had much better ones! It was great to see them both and we chatted away for over an hour before we went our separate ways, Gav & Deirdrie back home and me the two minute drive to the queue for the ferry. 

How do I feel? 

The doubts are receding.

Here’s to the next four weeks 🤞🏼

Who needs the Commodore Lounge?

It wasn’t long after my introduction to solo Euro travelling back in 2021 (when I first met Gav) that I discovered the Commodore Lounge, Brittany Ferries attempt at a bit of upmarket ‘socialising’, ‘you get a better quality of tourist in the Commodore Lounge’, I hasten to add that’s my take on it rather than Brittany Ferries advertising strapline. They must have introduced this option immediately after us bikers had disembarked the ferry back in September of that year, as neither Gav nor I seemed to be aware of it at the time. I returned to the same ferry in spring 2022 (en route to my Canary Island venture) and for a mere £25 there was access to all day snacks and unlimited alcohol. I thought ‘this won’t last once they realise what the Brits are like’! In one sense I was wrong, it has lasted, but without the same terms and conditions. It’s now £80 and the alcohol isn’t as free flowing as it once was! The alcohol side of things no longer interests me as my post operative body has determined that such beverages now sit at the bottom of my desirable list. Nevertheless Gav, who is also a tea-totalling ferry-master recommended it, so I thought I would treat myself for this outward sailing only to be told that it was fully booked. Being the experienced traveller I am I was undeterred, I am well equipped with all the luxuries a Euro-hopper could wish for, I have a travel kettle! Ok, so it doesn’t really compare with all day hors d’oeuvres and canapés as well as access to a more plush lounge and prime viewing area, but what more does a Brit need than the ability to make a brew wherever and whenever he/she so wishes? 

Alone again, naturally 

The words of the curly haired 1970’s pop music icon Gilbert O’Sullivan, for those old enough to remember those ‘heady’ days, seem apt at this moment.

I’ve adjusted to solo travelling over last last few years and had come to appreciate the benefits that come with it. In no way is that to detract from what Rachel and I did, I look back at our time touring as being in perfect harmony, as most other things in our lives were. 

My biking and driving ventures since 2020 are now starting to get split between solo trips and sharing the journeys with mates. Ray, Ken, Paul and Andy D have all either biked with me or rode shotgun in the Boxster and this trip will be no different, if all goes according to plan, but for the next week it’s just down to me.

However, the empty seat syndrome is still something that impacts my life, it’s not a big deal but it is a deal, and requires a little adjustment to my mindset. I suppose the monotonous 360 miles of motorway driving on Boxing Day and killing 33 hours on a ferry is probably the time I’m more likely to think about it? I’m sure that once the wheels are rolling in sunny Spain I will be engrossed in absorbing the type of travelling I really love

So I thank you for allowing me to share my journeys with you, it’s more rewarding than talking to myself! 😆

PS. Photographs will have to wait until I hit dry land due to the speed of the on board wifi!