Michel Roux

Friday 2 March 2012

Grapevine Cottage

It feels like a long time since I went on a holiday that took me somewhere completely new. One that was accompanied by that feeling of discovery, but also nervousness; eyes searching at airports, maps hastily glanced at, locals tentatively approached. One that ended with a newly acquired sense of familiarity, of little spots staked out and made my own.



Mostly, of course, I go home when I can swing a vacation about every 2-3 years. And there are compelling reasons to go there—people to see, geography I hold close, familiar things oft-missed. And there's also a sense of responsibility to that trip: My parents won't visit me here, so we would never see each other if I didn't go home.



But I miss striking out to places new. I saw this cottage on Unique Home Stays. I've never had a holiday like this, staying at a beautiful house in a such an incredible setting. And I found myself fantasizing about it, trying to imagine really staying there.


I'm tired of simply overwriting old memories with updated versions of the same things. I feel like I'm too young to just beat that path back and forth between Dublin and Toronto. I used to relish discovery. And even this little fantasy felt liberating and exciting. Wouldn't it be lovely? Where would you go?