Adventures of a Non-Binary Author – Travel, Escape Rooms and Castles
Nine days off work. I hadn’t been expecting that. Since usually when I book a weekend’s holiday, I still have some working days that week. I guess the difference was booking four days instead of three. I only do a four day week. If I take four days of holiday in that week, I’m not supposed to work the remaining three days. I can appreciate that.
I spend the first three days just relaxing. Making sure I keep on top of my weight as best as I’m able. The weekend will be overindulgent. The less weight I put on overall, the easier it will be to get it off again after. Keeping my weight within a certain range is part of my pain management. It is not always the easiest to achieve.
Thursday we travel. We don’t own a car, or drive. In total takes us eleven hours, one bus, two couches, and a train to reach our final destination. Or at least, our final destination for Thursday. The wedding we’re here for is on Saturday. In a different location. But we’ll have a lift for that. The journey up isn’t one continual transit. The bus gets us into the city center with enough time to pick up a few bits before the first coach. We have a two hour stop over between coaches. After the second coach there’s a twenty minute walk to the station. Little bits of air to break up the nauseam of traveling.
We keep the evening simple. Freshen up after the long day of travel. Takeout in the hotel room. TV for entertainment.We both end up going to bed earlier than normal. It’s been a long day.
Friday is a free day. We walk over to my partner’s parents’ place in the morning to say hello. We have plans for lunch, booked weeks ago. Only those get canceled before we set out for the train. Still, that’s no reason not to make a day of it. We find a nice little market place for lunch, situated in a market. We potter around the shops for a while, before making firm plans. Escape room time.
We love escape rooms. And there are some near enough to where we are that we can do. We kill the time before we can start, with more travel and shops. The room itself is a chocolate factory. And there is actual chocolate inside. I pretty much ace the taste test challenge by myself. The rest of the room we solve perfectly together. There’s only one challenge we solve through guess work. At the end there’s lots of chocolate for us to take home, so definitely a satisfying room.
The evening meal is with my partner’s dad. He’ll also be staying in the hotel with us tonight. Along with other members of my partner’s family in town for the wedding. My partner is one of the bride’s older siblings. The wedding itself is in a Welsh Castle. The wedding is also not till mid afternoon. So we’re able to spend all Saturday morning in the hotel room. Leaving about fifteen minutes before checkout, ready for our lift.
We get changed once we arrive, then explore the castle grounds for a bit. There’s still a lot of time to kill before the wedding. Soon enough that time is killed making small talk with my partner’s family. I’m not the most naturally social. Especially with people I don’t know, or have only met the once. But it’s fine. We are not here for us. And small talk with relatives is just the norm for these kinds of events.
The wedding is nice. The day goes smoothly. And all too soon we’re in bed again, in preparation for another day of travel. Travel home this time. By train. One changeover. Plus the bus on the other end. We’re home within six hours. Still a long day, but nowhere near as bad as Thursday. Now we can turn our focus back to the house again, and fixing our completion date…
To be continued…
