Today a man I know, gets off the phone after bickering with his wife, looks at me and says, "Stay single. The minute you get married or move in with someone, you'll be pissed off about something every day." I told him, "My being single has its challenges. I still have to put up with friends and relatives who insist that we take a vacation together. We're talking about people who are either very persnickety or have health problems. I know a person who's a penny pincher. I mean, it's a condition that's so bad it pains this individual to spend more than seventeen dollars on anything. There's one who has back problems, one with foot problems, and another who can't take the heat because it triggers migraines. Then there's the one who can't sit in a theater if there's someone sitting behind her and another who can only sit in the very last row. And lastly, the cousin who complains at the last second, the menu at the restaurant we're in front of and about to enter, doesn't have enough vegetarian options. When I'd come back from each adventure, these same people would say, 'Gee, I would've liked to go to Australia.' or 'I would have gone with you to Morocco.' I think to myself, IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE YOUR OWN HOMETOWN, HOW THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU GOING TO HANDLE SOMEWHERE LIKE THE SOUTH OF SPAIN, North Africa, Indonesia or the Australian outback?!!!! And WHY would you as a friend or relative, want to throw a wrench in my vacation?"
I have to put up with these people at home and I should invite them on my holiday too?!!!
HELL NAW. And to top off all this insanity, when I posted this same thing in a Facebook group, there had to be over a dozen people who commented the likes of, "You're not a very good relative." or "You seem very selfish." And "You're an intolerant friend and I can't imagine why anyone would want to travel with you." Can you believe this mentality? It's like a cultish personality trait or something. ARE YOU HEFFERS KIDDING ME?! What is wrong with you?! No I didn't post that.
I really replied, "you act like it's against the law to take a solo vacation to get away from it all. Why is it so wrong for someone to travel solo? Why does traveling alone make me a bad relative or friend? I have to put up with people's nonsense at home, why should I put up with this crap on
my vacation too? I should spend several hundred on a flight to what, sit in a darkened hotel room making ice packs for the afflicted one who shouldn't have gone to the hot climate destination in the first place? Or cut my day short because my travel partner is exhausted and his/her feet ache?" Not one reply. Probably because they realized after the fact, their comments looked idiotic. For anyone to be upset that I don't tell them my vacation plans ahead of time seems like control freak-itis to me. Two of these friends recently passed away and hadn't spoken with me in a long while because of this. To travel with either of those two would have been similar to going somewhere with Adrian Monk.
No, I don't feel bad or guilty. I hope they're traveling the globe in style now without any pain or misery. Part of me wants to know what they expected me to do if we were somewhere like the south of Spain and the heat gave one of them a migraine when we planned on a day tour. Would I be expected to sit and hold his/her hand back at the hotel? If I went without him/her anyway, would I have to put up with an attitude problem? I'll answer that. Yes, most definitely. If say, we were in Greece and my friend/relative couldn't climb the 80 steps at the Acropolis, what do I do? Not go? You expect me to have a half-assed trip because someone had a hip replacement?
Now for the proverbial non-rhetorical question of the day. How and where am I the selfish one here? Your conditions are NOT my problem.
So back to the beginning, after telling the man all this, he busted out laughing hysterically. Never had I heard a belly laugh that loud. He told me, "Good going. You keep doing your thing."
And I will keep doing my own thing. I'll climb 80 steps in 95-degree heat in peace, I'll hike 10 miles in peace, I'll get to spend seventy-nine dollars on a meal without hearing someone bitch about it, and I'll get to keep my sanity. Now, if the pandemic will let me travel ALONE this year, I will be a happy camper. We'll see.
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