My second solo trip as a mature aged woman was in January 2016 when I took myself on a mini sojourn to Fiji.
Initially I resisted documenting my travel on social media because of a strong sense that my travels would be very boring to all at home.
I was accustomed to travelling all over the world. However a white western woman travelling alone in Fiji proved to be something of a novelty.
I had on arrival been in Fiji less than 2 hours and had already been asked on 5 occasions if I was travelling alone. It felt like I was causing a mini revolution whilst getting some much needed time to myself. A woman dining alone also caused a lot of curiosity much to my amusement.
The resort I stayed in had the first adults pool I was to encounter and I distinctly remember with some shame the indignation I felt when a group of adults brought their baby into the adult only area.
As a busy working mother I had no inclination to share my time to myself with other peoples children. Lucky for me there was a lifeguard on duty who understood my predicament and to my great embarrassment remedied the situation.
I found sitting by the pool made me restless after a day or two and promptly set out to find adventure. I hired a car and traversed the island and found a day trip that took me snorkelling off the South Sea island.
This trip made me more selective about where my adventures were to take me. Tropical beach resorts whilst relaxing, appealing and often economical holidays are invariably frequented by family groups.
I started a process of eliminating and encompassing who I was as a traveller.
It was certainly going to be a while before I embraced the adventure of travelling the world solo with courage.
Fiji was a simple 5 day escape and I came home feeling a million times more refreshed than I was when I had left and feeling a lot of gratitude as a result.
At home the family was starting to understand that I was an easier human being to live with after taking some time away from the minutiae of everyday life.
I sent a message home to say 'When I leave this earth you can safely say 'she loved to travel and lived a life well lived!' Trip two had been completed. #lovestotravel
