YOU might think the title of this article implies that I’ll be speaking about eating well and exercising. No, this one is for those of you that don’t take time to relax and recuperate. I should know; I’m one of those.
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Slowing down and taking time to rest generally doesn’t fit into my schedule. And admittedly, I’m terrible at it. But I know being busy all the time is no good for my health.
Just as bad food choices and inactivity make for an unhealthy body, so does lack of rest.
For years now my girlfriends and I have been saying that we need to organise a relaxing weekend away together. But for the last 10 years, one of us has been having a baby, or getting married and something else. Consequently, our weekend away has been put off – "date yet to be confirmed".
However, a couple of months ago we decided that the time is now. Let’s just book it.
So collectively we searched flights, and Bali seemed to be the popular choice. At the time it all seemed quite simple.
Arrange a leave pass from the husband and children.
Book flights, accommodation and transfers.
Organise time off work.
Check and check.
So what’s next, simply relax and enjoy? You would think so, but no. What seemed like a stress free break away resulted in several lots of delayed, cancelled or altered flights.
And the morning of departure went like this:
Alarm chimed at 4am. I slept though it - too exhausted to wake up after a massive week at work trying to get everything done before I go.
Phone call at 4.45am – my friend has arrived to pick me up and I’m still in bed! Eeeeek, up and at ‘em! Clothes on, teeth cleaned, kiss the kids goodbye... and out the door in 10 minutes flat. No time to make coffee.
Just 20 minutes away from the airport we receive a text message. Your flight has been cancelled. What! We only swapped to this flight yesterday after our original flight was delayed.
After a frantic phone call to the airline, they booked me into another flight with a different carrier. And my friends would be transferred to that flight too. Oh wait, the customer service representative has just realised after locking me into a booking that my flight has now sold out. So I’m on but my travel companions aren’t. They’ve ended up on a flight with a five-hour stopover, making the journey to Bali 11 hours instead of six!
And after having to swap flights three times, I was now on my own.
To add to this stress, we are on a tight time line. As of 6pm today Bali starts its national festival. Meaning that it’s a public holiday. Everything closes. There’s no transport available. We would be stranded for the next 24 hours, unable to get to our accommodation. So we need to get there and ASAP!
I arrive to check in on my alternative flight. The reservation hasn’t come through yet, but the flight departs in 45 minutes. Waiting, waiting and unable to go anywhere in case I miss the call, my body is longing for breakfast and a coffee.
At the very last minute I’m advised that I’m on. Only now, I have to literally run to the gate! Using my initiative, I scamper through the customs line, no pen to fill in the declaration - because I slept in, I hadn’t finished packing my bag properly! So I ask a seemingly organised man on the opposite side of the cattle yard line for a pen – beauty, he has one! So here’s me speed walking, carrying bags and filling in my customs form. Relaxed yet? Definitely not!
With stress levels rising, I high tail it to the departure gate. I made it, hungry and stressed, but here all the same.
Anyway, enough of my whining, life could be so much worse. I’m sitting here on the flight writing my story, coffee in hand (finally) and a heart filled with hope that nothing else goes amiss.
So I guess the moral of the story here is this; even with the best of intentions, life can throw you a curveball.
So I caught that sucker and I’m throwing it right back.
I can almost smell the day beds, endless pool and sublime Bali hospitality. Relaxation, you will be mine... eventually!
Amy Holmes is the owner of Shape Health and Fitness. You can follow her on Facebook at Shape Health and Fitness or on instagram amy@shapehealthandfitness