In the grand scheme of ‘holiday hurrahs’ (the moments that help you to exhale that little bit deeper), everyone always talks about the ‘hot air hit’ when you step off the airplane, the sand between your toes, and the scrumptiousness of coconut-scented sunscreen.
What gets talked about much less, it seems, is the minutia that maketh ‘holiday mode’, albeit in a much more subliminal fashion.
For example…
The local radio playing in the taxi ride from the airport.
The soft drinks that still taste like sugar and not chemicals (a product of being in a country that’s free from sugar tax!)
Buffalo grass (you know that thick, spongey-underfoot stuff that you just never see at home?!)
The sound of sprinklers
The white noise of crickets in the evening
The smell of mopeds (maybe that’s just me!)
Soap suds on suncreamed skin
Those push-button beach taps, and the icy-watered joy of de-sanding oneself, flamingo-stylee! 🦩
The above list, for me, is just a snap-shot of all the incidental ingredients that, collectively, make holidays feel so alchemical… and so far removed from the realms of the normal and everyday.
Granted, moped fumes might not be as stereotypically ‘savourable’ as surf-paddling, or sundowner-sipping, for example.
What they ARE, however (or maybe), is a metaphor.
A sensory fishhook for escapism, with as much potential to an out-of-office mindset make, as all of the suncream-shaped cliches put together.