Italian Riviera
A trip to the Ligurian coast. We did lots of swimming, snorkelling, scootering, eating ice cream and complaining about the heat. I've spent a lot of time in this region (my mother lives there) but it was nice to be pushed out of my comfort zone a bit to some places I hadn't explored, as well as visiting familiar spots. Snorkelling for the first time in this area was pretty magical, especially at a tiny sheltered beach near Framura, which we reached by hiring bicycles at Levanto and cycling along the tunnelled bike path which runs through the coastal hillsides. The water got deep pretty quickly but despite not being a strong swimmer, I'm building confidence and was able to use the snorkel much further out than I expected. I was pretty terrified of water when I was growing up, attributable perhaps to my anxious grandmother who had her own fears around swimming, some traumatic swimming lessons at school as an awkward prepubescent, and generally being an anxious soul from a family of pretty highly-strung humans. The last few years I've found myself doing much more sea and lake swimming in Scotland and abroad, and my skills and confidence have increased accordingly. I don't flap about in panic like I used to, however I'm still aware that I'm not really using my legs properly and am perhaps over-cautious about getting out of the water when it starts to get choppy. I have a pretty over-developed threat response system, which is an advantage in a career working with children and an inherent part of my personality, however it does sometimes mean that I sometimes get stressed out during activities which push me out of my comfort zone, which unfortunately are also some of my favourite activities! But the important thing is that I try new challenges, despite being scared, and sometimes I get that incomparable exhilaration of conquering my fears and reframing my perspective on what kind of person I am. It's amazing to still be able to surprise myself well into my thirties - in fact, I feel that the older I get the less I know and the more I am open to discovering.
As a side note to this moment of tangential self-reflection, this was pretty much the best holiday I've ever had. Just the right balance of activity and relaxation, in a place that was familiar enough to not be stressful and with amazing company that helped me look at it anew. Thank you, D.