Preparations and worries!

I am simply counting the hours until I leave this country for my summer holidays. I know it’s probably a little bit late to go away now, when most of the people are already gone and back. However, I love going away when tourist destinations are less crowded. I’m flying next week, on Friday, after work. I’ll be away for a little bit more than two weeks out of which 10 days I’m spending with JJ.

The plan is to go for 5 days to my parents’ place in Northern Greece. I really love it there during summer. We have a nice house very close to the sea. I will be pampered by my mother who as always will think that I am too thin and try to stuff me with food. I’ll also see some of my old friends and spend time on the beach, getting some much needed tan. Living in London for more than three years made me look so pale, it’s not funny! My natural colour is so much darker than the one I have now.

10 minutes drive from my parents' place

After that, I’m flying to Rhodes. I’ll be welcomed by my friend JS there where we’ll be staying for some days. I’m meeting JJ of course there as well. For the time being we’ve booked a hotel in Marmaris, Turkey, for two nights and a hotel in South Rhodes, considered to be one of the best hotels in the world by ‘great hotels of the world’ website. I now have to book my ferry tickets from Rhodes to Marmaris and my scuba dive.

we'll have our own private swimming pool overlooking the sea in Rhodes...

However, hand in hand with exciting preparations, I can’t but feel stressed over my journey. Yesterday BAA (British Airports Authority) announced that they will go on strike in the following weeks which means that the Heathrow airport will not be functional. After BA (British Airways) strikes earlier this year and the volcanic ash cloud, even more travellers will be affected and tormented. I only hope that the strike will begin after I’ve left for Greece. I really don’t mind being stranded for some extra days in Rhodes. ‘JS’ will be the one probably swearing since he will have to take care of us.

The fear of running into a strike lies on the other side of journey, in Greece. There hasn’t been a month in 2010 when something is not working properly in Greece. Recently there was the strike of the people distributing petrol to the gas stations causing chaos to transportations. It’s been announced today that the Economy has shrunk even more which will probably bring new tougher announcements by the government that will make people go on strike again.

However, what I worry most is ‘JJ’. It’s the first time we’re going away together for so long! I fear that so many things can go wrong. I worry that he might not like it. He’s so overly excited about our trip that he might find Greece disappointing. Rhodes is nothing similar to ‘Shirley Valentine’ or ‘Summer Lovers’. I also fear that we might have a stupid fight over something that will ruin our vacations. I worry that ‘JS’ might not like him (it’s the first time he’s meeting him).

What I worry most is myself and the way I will be behaving. ‘JJ’ doesn’t mind attracting attention to him. Not in a bad way, but he just doesn’t really care about what other people will say. In London, most of the times, I don’t really care either. People here do not pay attention. You can go in the street extravagantly dressed and most people will not even care. I can be however self-conscious when lot’s of attention is drawn to me. In Greece, things are different. People do stare a lot and they are very judgemental. You walk into a bar and almost everybody will turn around to see who walked in. It can get even worse with gay people. That is what I fear, that my self-awareness might make me very uptight (a jerk in other words).


I admit that I shouldn’t worry that much. Everything will be perfect. We’ll probably have the time of our lives. It’s probably just the fact that I want to go there SO much and I want us to have a nice time (hopefully)!