Saturday 15th August 2020 - Why I Don't Want To Go On Holiday

When we first moved here, we went on a previously booked holiday and that was it. No longer working, and living in such a beautiful part of the country, there was no need to escape. Every day is, in effect, a holiday. You may ask, after living here for nearly twelve years, do we not feel the urge to explore further, or resume our trips to Greece? Although I freely confess, in the depths of winter I have looked at renting a small house in the spring for a couple of weeks in Greece, but in the light of the way I currently feel, I cannot see during the forthcoming winter the temptation will still be there.

There is always the risk, if we went away, of either picking up Covid-19, or possibly taking the virus with us and infecting others but that is not the only reason I don’t want to go on holiday. It is because of the comments we hear, when some of the visitors to our village are less than considerate towards those of us that live here permanently. ‘I wish they’d go home,’ is the most common phrase uttered. This is such a shame, as I have said before it’s a case of the minority spoiling it for the majority. I don’t want to go and stay in a Greek village and feel the locals, because other visitors have been disrespectful in the same or similar ways as they have been here, are saying about us, ‘I wish they’d go home.’ This then makes me wonder, when we travelled three times a year to Greece, was this what the locals, who were not making money out of tourism, were saying amongst themselves - in the same way as residents here are saying about our visitors. Am I over reacting? Maybe, or some may say, probably. Even though we were respectful on our travels, embracing The Greek way of life, the whole situation does not lie easy with me. I truly hope we were genuinely as welcome as we were made to feel. But whatever, I no longer feel comfortable about the thought of going on holiday – so I am staying put.

Today’s photos are of the sun, on what was a lusciously warm and hazy early morning this Wednesday, and one of the groups of pots on our patio.