I won a holiday.
That's not a sentence I ever thought I'd say but it's true.
I entered a competition that I saw on an email newsletter and a few weeks later, thanks to the lovely people at Intrepid Travel (www.intrepidtravel.com) I was getting ready to go to an exotic place that I had wanted to travel to for a long time; Morocco.
At this point, after finishing my MA last year and feeling pretty exhausted, I really needed a holiday.
I was making plans with friends on how we could sneak away for 3 or 4 days, sharing airmiles, borrowing accomodation, even collecting holiday vouchers.
I was determined to get away even though I had no money to do so and then low and behold I won one.
Believe what you will about cosmic ordering, but mine certainly worked.
As I started to get ready for the trip by doing the usual things like buying a travel guide, insurance and a first aid kit I realised there was of wealth of things I didn't know about the place I was travelling to.
It's their winter but how hot is that?
I was going to the desert but do you need insect repellent for there?
I wanted to be excited, and don't get me wrong winning a holiday is pretty damn exciting, I felt grateful and relieved but if I'm totally honest I was nervous too.
I felt some trepidation about going somewhere that I hadn't actually decided to go.
Also the cynic in me couldn't quite believe that I would actually just turn up and get the holiday without being tapped for some 'additional costs' (which I wasn't).
I discovered that the biggest reasons for not doing something are ones you come up with yourself.
I wasn't sure what the trip would be but I had a feeling I would give me a chance to discover a whole lot more...
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