STUFF & THINGS by Jon Taylor

JUST CHILL

I haven’t been away this year. Haven’t gotten on a plane. Haven’t travelled to far-off cities with their exotic weather and cheaper beer. I’ve not been able to upload holiday snaps to various social media sites and bask in the glory of being away while others aren’t. The furthest afield I’ve been is a day trip to London which was cool as I don’t get to go to the capital for any reason really so it was nice to mooch around and have a drink or three in Soho.

I was due to go to France for 10 days with my mum, dad and brother but that got shelved as France got put on the travel ban list, which made it non-viable. I know that folks who work from home have been able to go away to travel ban hotspots and then self-isolate on their return because they’d be at home afterwards anyway. As I work for the minimum wage in a shop, I didn’t have that luxury unfortunately. Try as I might, I can’t sell things at the shop from my sofa. It did strike me as ironic with the travel bans that those who weren’t engaging with the public and putting themselves at risk on a daily basis were able to escape these shores, whereas those who do interact with the public couldn’t. Hey ho.

I’ve been travelling to France with my family since I was four years old. We used to go camping when I was younger and stay in various dubious hotels on the way down to the south of France. When we got there, I used to love to wander the campsite with a carry mat, find some French people playing boules (French bowls game) and just sit there and watch them. This started my deep love of peoplewatching, which endures to this day. There’s nothing I love more than sitting with a cuppa and a cake, watching the world go by. I tend to write down the things I see and put them in my blog: www. teapotscoffeeshops.weebly.com (shameless plug). But back to France!

When we’re abroad we tend to do as little as possible. We’re a ‘sit in the sun for a bit, then read a book in the shade with a beer’ type of family. We don’t go far. We’ll mooch about a couple of towns, might have a meal out once or twice, but that’s it. So holidays for me are for sitting about relaxing with some form of alcohol readily available. None of this getting up, getting out, then visiting places and doing things. Oh no. I will swim if we’ve got a place with a pool. That’s the busiest I’ll get.

I’ve had the typical gay holiday of Gran Canaria with beers, beaches and bunk ups. It’s not my natural habitat though. I prefer a hammock, a book and a small beer. You won’t see me then till pre-dinner drinks.