Noun: holiday; plural noun: holidays

 

An extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or in travelling.

 

After my friends and family, holidays are my next big love.  I absolutely live for them.  Everything about visiting new places, experiencing different food and cultures, meeting new people, spending lazy days in the sun or whizzing down a snowy mountain.  I can’t think of a single holiday that I haven’t liked.  Home or abroad.  City, beach, mountain, countryside or off the beaten track.  I always have at least one in the bag.  Gives me a reason to get up in the morning and stops me getting too pissed off at having to work for a living.

 

Between June and October 2017 I had 3 trips abroad planned.  Spain to visit my brother in June; a big road trip through Holland, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland and France in August and then Italy to visit the rellies in October.

 

Then, The Cancer goes ‘I know you like having hair, and two boobs and not feeling shit all the time.  And I know I have taken all that away from you; but for an extra laugh I’m going to destroy all your holiday plans for the foreseeable.  OK?’  For fucks sake.

 

Of course there is nothing to physically stop you from going abroad if you really want to.  But as you have an appointment of some description around every 15 minutes it is really hard to fit a week all-inclusive to Benidorm in.  Also you have had the ‘talk of doom’ telling you how quickly you can die if you contract any infections whilst on chemo, or you may develop a blood clot, and you need to be admitted to hospital immediately, so the thought of being more than a couple of heartbeats away from our beloved NHS is terrifying.  I’m not sure your holiday insurance would get you very far if you had to be airlifted home from Bodrum in an emergency.

 

But, one of the beauties of our wonderful NHS is that it is National.  So there is nothing stopping you from exploring our green and pleasant land.  Whether for a day trip, cheeky weekend away or a full blown holiday.  Fish and chips by the sea in Whitby may actually be one of my top 10 gastronomical experiences ever.   We visited some amazing places in the 9 months I was under UK house-arrest.  In some ways I am even thankful to The Cancer, as I would never have forfeited Croatia in favour of the Isle of Wight unless forced to.  That said, the second I was given the all-clear to fly, I was on a flight to Seville.  Tapas, sangria, flamenco, Spanish guitar and sunshine.  Frinton on Sea couldn’t have been further from my thoughts.

 

If, like me, you love your holidays, it’s also a wonderful thing to plan a family holiday for ‘when it’s all over’.   My family and my holidays.  What better way to celebrate kicking the shit out of The Cancer?