Being in business class is like being in your own little bubble. Completely hidden away from the world surrounded by nothing but blue sky. It’s a long while since I took the time to just be. Comfy seat, reclined just so, a little faux wood wall separating me from the rest of the passengers, food and drink delivered at regular intervals.
One of the joys of being a minimalist is being able to invest in maximalist adventures. Money saved not keeping up with the latest trends allows more money for things that matter – adventures, alone and together. My partner is across the aisle, headphones on, Cointreau on ice in-hand, lost in a movie he hasn’t had to vet with me first. When we came onboard he graciously gave up his window seat for me. This is the first time we’ve travelled together, the next step in living life, together, in the moment. All it took was a phone call from an old friend and here we are taking a delightfully unexpected trip we didn’t know we needed.
Why Sri Lanka? People keep asking. Why not, I wonder. Sure Will has a friend there but it has so much more to offer than that. Tigers and peacocks and elephants. Tea plantations and sweeping white beaches. Lake houses and century old caves. Buddhist temples and food to make you salivate.
We’ve been so caught up in the everyday drama of our renovation and running a business remotely that just before we left our tempers frayed. Will yelled, I almost cried and a crier I am not. I don’t remember what triggered it but we were both edgy and angry for no real reason other than the front stairs still weren’t finished and neither was the bathroom or the painting or the carport or any number of projects. Realistically our house is held together by wasp nests, termite-chewed wood and the hopes and dreams of a couple of hopeless romantics.
But now sitting here gazing out the window at endless blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds all of that is fading away. Whatever we’ve forgotten will still be there when we get back or it will have lost all importance.
It’s going to be an intense and interesting time. We’re still getting to know each other. Our quirks and foibles. His inability to pay attention, my inability to remember anything. But then there are the moments when we’re flying, talking about plans and dreams, hatching schemes to make them a reality and there’s no way we’d lose that over an absentminded ‘yes dear’ or ‘oops I forgot I was going to do that’. The things that bind us together can’t be grasped by an observer. We’re both a little damaged, definitely left-of-centre and delightfully suited to each other.
His son said to me ‘you’ve never travelled together, have you?’ And then shook his head and laughed. His partner chimed in. It was like they knew a secret that I didn’t but what they’ve forgotten is sometimes in this life you have to take chances and we have!
At times I feel hedonistic and selfish but then I remind myself of all the years I did the right things and revel in the here and now. 18 months after a chance meeting we now share two chooks, three dogs, four fish and a Queenslander amongst the Frangipani. We have a business that supports us as we renovate our lovely old house and plant gardens that nourish and nurture. Locally, we’ve slowly but surely found our tribe, a group of people as eager as us to grab life and relish the ride.
So, I settle back as we hurtle ever closer to our destination and know that this quiet place in space and time is the precursor to the next chapter of our grand adventure.
