Vacationing

with my son in Tenerife

The last time I went on a holiday abroad by airplane was eight years ago. I had forgotten what vacationing felt like to be honest. It’s not that I hadn’t taken a day or few days off, but those were usually spent visiting the coast or staying at Airbnb’s where you mostly do all the things you usually do at home. In other words, there isn’t much pampering experienced like you would when staying at a hotel.

Late one evening in January, the phone rang and my son suggested I join him on a trip to Tenerife to visit his girlfriend during her internship at a well known resort. After my initial hesitation - would this trip not be more fun for him on his own? - I gladly agreed to go with him because he seemed adamant that I join him. We booked our flights, hotel and rented a car within the next few hours and looked forward to our upcoming trip a month later.

We had a few hectic weeks before leaving for Tenerife as we had to pack up our old home. We put stuff into storage, threw away things, donated whatever we could and worked hard to clear everything out before leaving on what - by then - really felt like a well earned holiday!

Off we went on a Thursday morning in February. We drove to the airport and left our car parked there as we’d only be gone for five days. The flight took longer than expected due to headwinds, but we got there and were warmly greeted by summer-like temperatures. After getting our car rental - and being bumped up to a bigger model than what we had asked for, we drove off to our hotel.

In short, that turned out to be a filthy nightmare! Our bathroom door was covered in a sticky layer (of only God knows what…) on to which hairs were still hanging on! The room was old and tattered and to be honest the only way to describe it was that it looked like a worn out porn dorm. I was not going to stay there!

After miraculously getting a full refund, we went to see my son’s girlfriend at her internship hotel (the Iberostar Selection Anthelia adding this for anyone who wants a fantastic hotel to stay at in Tenerife) and they were kind enough to offer us a wonderfully clean room and an all inclusive stay for a very reasonable price, so suddenly we were vacationing in a beautiful luxury resort! I not only felt extremely grateful, but also very very lucky.

The next few days were wonderful, the food was fantastic, the views of the beach and sea beautiful, the company exactly what I needed and our trip to the El Teide Volcano incredibly memorable!

I came back a different person.

Photograph: by Merlijn Stefels