We were meeting up later this evening…….virtually, to discuss making ‘a plan’ for the week ahead. Usually our holiday ideas and excursions would often come from Viator, who have never let us down in the past, but all they’re offering in Dorset are tourist attractions which a) we’ve either been to b) they’re closed due to lockdown or c) they’ll draw too many crowds. We’d already decided that our social distancing-lockdown-staycation will take us to places off the beaten track which is better said than done really because it seems the website is full of ‘hidden gems’ and ‘unspoilt, empty beaches’ in Dorset which of course once these places find themselves top of the pecking order on google they no longer become hidden or unspoilt! Hence why we need a plan. We want to make the most of every second of our holiday, not having had once since Lisbon five months ago!
We’d both simultaneously worked out on our yoga moves in the morning, hoping for some inspiration and ideas to pop into our heads and when that didn’t ignite the grey cells we’d gone for long walks around the countryside in the hope it would provide the inspiration we needed. Maybe our afternoon Zoom meeting with our friend Claire would be able to provide us with some ideas of ‘off the beaten track’ walks we could do…..so fingers crossed she’s able to assist. Mind you, since she abruptly left the meeting due to a failure with her broadband connection its looking unlikely she’ll be able to email us any walking maps!
As it was, we greeted our FaceTime meeting images at 7pm that evening with blank expressions. After some pleasantries about what we’d done that day talk turned to our staycation – what were we going to do, where were we going to go, what were we going to pack? Maice had found an OS map of the area lurking at the back of her wardrobe which was so big she struggled to open it up, then she had trouble navigating her way around it the letters were that small! She’s going to pack it anyway and we’ll see if four eyes are better than two!
After much deliberation and looking at maps and guide books we’ve sort of come up with a flimsy plan for the week. Well, it’s a start. Of course it may change as the week progresses but at least we’ve got something to work to. So once we knew, more or less, what the agenda was we needed to work out what to pack in our haversacks. We’ll be out all tday in the countryside with no pubs, coffee shops or facilities open so meticulous packing was required. We concluded our holiday planning meeting sometime later actually knowing what we were doing the next day. I was going to drive to Upwey and leave my car at Maices, then we were going to follow a path into the countryside that Maice had followed once. She only did a little part of it when she turned back so she doesn’t actually know where it leads! So we, M&A are going to venture forth on an adventure into the unknown and see where we end up. All we know is that it will take us somewhere……where that somewhere is, is anyone’s guess.
Bags packed, route sorted, outfits planned, time agreed we ended our meeting, both excited about what lay ahead. We’re so thrilled about our staycation…..and hey, who knows, it may even catch on!
Good night….....
M&A xx