T R A V E L F E A T U R E - S pain
IAN TALBOT-JONES
GOOGLE MADE
ME SEND THE
WIFE AWAY
O
ver the years my wife and I have
developed a worrying habit.
When the children were young,
we went on family holidays.
We loaded the VW camper with our
sleeping bags, cooking equipment,
strapped the bicycles to the back,
then took an overnight ferry and
headed south through Europe. The
four of us happy with each others
company.
More recently as “the children”
have grown, they have arranged their
own independent holidays, travelling
with their friends seeking late night
teenage kicks and not the restriction
of their parents.
As a result, my wife and I have
drifted into separate holidays, she
chooses to fly to a Mediterranean
beach resort and lie in the sun,
reading her book and dining in fancy
waterfront restaurants. While I
choose to load my old Suzuki DRZ400
with camping kit, head off on my
own, looking for a foreign road trip
TRAVERSE 41
adventure, seeking out the sleepy
quiet rural village and life away from
the tourists.
With the new academic year upon
us our marriage is for the first-time
suffering from “Empty Nest Syn-
drome”, both children are studying at
university, living their student lives
far from the family home.
To alleviate the symptoms of said
syndrome and the lack of common
topics of conversation within a
marriage, spouses will often, join a
club, purchase a dog, take up a joint
activity or more worryingly separate
and divorce. I pondered the idea of
planning a joint holiday, just the two
of us, spending time together, rekin-
dling our common bonds from years
past. I turned to Google and read
a Consumer Survey that asked the
question -
‘What’s the most important factor
when you’re deciding where to go on
holiday?’
The top five priorities identified by