This month I’ve spent 16 nights out of 28 living out of a hotel room. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you I’m a homebody and that amount of time away sits heavily on me. Â My answer to the loneliness that can bite at unexpected moments is to create an alternative family where I stay.
This is the team at the Airport Cafe in the base of the Stamford Hotel in Sydney. They are unfailing cheerful and happy – nothing is too much trouble. English in their second language so the odd miscommunication causes lots of laughter and some interesting breakfasts! The ladies who work the other end of the counter, making yummy sandwiches and salads, are equally wonderful, but they were too busy to pose for photos…
The other morning my coffee turned up looking spectacular. I had to take a photo – it was a work of art! And I smiled for the rest of the day at the extra effort they’d made! The cafe will never replace home and my saggy couch, and not so saggy husband, but they are familiar faces that brighten my day!
Hi Helene, it must be very hard for you and hubby. On a positive note things are going upward and forwards for you with your writing and soon you might have a changed life and the novels be the bread winner.
Hi Kylie, I don’t get a chance to kick off my shoes before our demented staffie, Zeus, has welcomed me home. Thankfully, being a dog, no matter how long I’m away he’s still happy to see me 😀 Gotta love that short memory span…
Then if my husband’s home he makes me a coffee and we sit down outside overlooking the pool and catch up. We live on a relatively quiet street so the absence of city noise is like a soothing bath. Ahhhh….
Hey, Helene, I so understand what you mean by being a homebody. While I don’t travel in my line of work (yet! 😉 ) when I do go on holiday I usually do it over weeks rather than days.
Living out of a suitcase is no fun thing and you do get to wanting the familiar comforts of home even though you’re enjoying the adventure of seeing new places.
So, what’s the first thing you do once you kick off your shoes and throw your suitcase in the bedroom? I like to play with my cats – if they’re not all miffed and ignoring me because I’ve been away so long 🙂 . This is then followed by a wander around my garden, usually with all 3 cats in tow, just enjoying the familiar quiet and peace of being at home.
Hmm, tasted very yummy… And I’m home now and the world is a beautiful place!
Hey Helene,
That coffee looks almost too good to drink. Maybe you should hang the photo in Glaskins?