On the 14th of September:

We arrived back from our ridiculously amazing holiday. I’ve been having so many fond memories of the trip over the last week, one being her and me having Chinese for dinner at this cute little restaurant in Seaford called “Golden Palace.” It was actually really nice food, and the gentleman serving us was very kind.

After that, we went to the beach. It was very dark and the wind almost carried us back into town. The shoreline was low and it was a little too sketchy walking around in the dark on a weirdly steep drop. I think we avoided at least one broken ankle.

We went back to our lovely unit. It’s called the Burrow. It’s this backyard attached to a lower-level granny flat. It was more like a townhouse with one bedroom, a split kitchen/living space, and a lovely bathroom. The backyard was clearly made with a lot of effort and care. Situated along an alley, you had the feeling it wasn’t even attached to the main property.

Easy access in and out with street parking a few steps away, with a little trouble finding a spot sometimes. Traffic moves a lot in Seaford, so it was never a problem. When we arrived, we got nice and cosy on the pull-out bed in the living room and had some ice cream. I didn’t really enjoy it; I think it was Caramellow. Yeah, it had the Cadbury’s Caramellow branding, a big blob of that in the middle, surrounded by ice cream. I think it was chocolate ice cream. What kind of abomination is that? I think Carolyn enjoyed it, so maybe some people can get around it. But overall, the time in Seaford was just a memory maker.

Like when we went to do our washing, it felt like I was almost on an episode of Idiot Abroad, but with the comedy of Arrested Development and maybe even a bit of Black Books as the setting. It was funny running around town trying to get someone to exchange any money for 2-pound coins so we could get the washing done. I believe we attempted the day before but arrived too late to actually exchange or withdraw money. The following day, however, we managed to get into the bank, and it was like he could read my mind. Obviously being tourists, but I was still more or less thinking about what we could do if we couldn’t get the coins out here. You see, we just ran over from Seaford’s local COOP, where the cashier said she couldn’t give me any 2’s because they were such a rare commodity, which I didn’t really understand when she said it. Maybe ‘I thought’ it was because I wasn’t local or maybe she didn’t have enough to make it worth it and was saving us the time. It was a very confused look on my face as I walked out. I thought maybe there was a language barrier like there was a week ago, but no, we moved on to the bank. The teller created us with a cheeky grin and comment as I stood up to the window. Me still unsure of what was going on in the COOP, I asked for the coins and he let out a loud giggle and said, “I’ll have to check if we had any delivered in the main today because I don’t have any in my till.” Lucky for me, he said there was a bag delivered with one and a half bags of 2-pound coins. I gave him the two ten-pound notes and he gave me the whole bag of 2s. And just like that, I became the second most rich (in two-pound coins) person in Seaford. I assume whoever owns “Seaford Launderette” is number one. And I was soon down to 10th place after putting a load on. But we had a good time exploring those op shops that day while we waited, as well as a proper English breakfast inside “The Grumpy Chef.”

I should write some more about the trip in my blogs. I might try to write a few of my favourite memories! But since I’ve been back, it’s been really incredible. I’ve been reading “The Power of Now” and without realising it until now, I’ve been trying into a bit of a “yes man” kind of just putting up with all the reasons why I don’t want to do something and just doing it anyway. It’s been a struggle, like running first thing in the morning and even going back to work, I was resistant. But once I get in motion, it’s pretty easy to stay on track. Writing more, I’ve been drawing and reading more too. I really want to get some colourful work in today before an early night. It might sound a little lame, but this is honestly my happy place right now. Going out and spending time with my family, riding my bike every day, hanging out with my housemates, it’s been a very big social shift for me. Before the trip, I was so isolated and really it was just me making excuses to rest, and I needed to stop taking no for an answer and really creating false realities. I had a bad habit of building up ‘problems’. But they were only building up because I was avoiding them. Simple tasks were pushed back, and I was at a bit of an end with my own moods. That time away really helped me break all those unhealthy patterns. A reset always does me well, but it’s sticking to it now that’s what really matters. I’m sick of restarting. It’s time for me to get back into the things I enjoy and spend time around the people I love.