Hotel Room Alone - ND Navigation

Art By me

This is such a wonderful moment, Alison. You've captured that strange mix of excitement, panic, freedom and disbelief perfectly. I've spell-checked and polished it while keeping your voice and the breathless energy of it all.

So excited. I'm packing for a hotel stay all by myself. I've got a luxury hotel night booked just for me. I arrive at three and leave at eleven. Breakfast is included, I've got a two-course dinner included, and I've even booked myself a massage.

I've known for just over a week that I was doing this, but somehow I completely forgot to pack my suitcase. Today I carried on as normal, slowly ticking things off the list I'd made myself last night and putting everything on the bed so I could make sure I had everything I needed. I've never done this before.

That's why I'm so excited.

Usually I've been with my husband, my son, or my daughter in hotel rooms. I've never had a hotel room all to myself. I've never checked myself in and I've never checked myself out. I am beyond excited.

I was so excited about this trip happening, but somehow I still managed to eat lunch late, sort out my guinea pig before my husband took over looking after him, climb into the loft to get the suitcase down, and then frantically throw things into it. Most of it I probably won't even need.

God knows what I've packed. Extra pants, extra socks. As long as I've got my pyjamas, my make-up bag and my wash bag, I'll be fine. I think I threw every charger I own into the case because there was no time to think about which one I actually needed. I packed my iPad just in case.

I didn't even have time to find a bag that goes with anything I'm wearing to dinner tonight.

At least I'd already packed my swimming things because they'd told me I needed to bring two costumes.

Then, to top it all off, I nearly drove straight past the place I was supposed to be going because I'd forgotten what I was doing. I was recording a voice note and almost missed the destination altogether.

Can you believe that?

I've just pulled in and realized I've forgotten all the paperwork. I don't remember my booking reference, my reservation details, or anything else. I know it'll all be somewhere in my emails. I had written everything down. It was all organised on my desk. I had order. I had a plan.

And then I turned into me.

So let's hope there's someone here who can tell me what to do, because right now I genuinely don't remember anything and have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.

The ending, "I had order. I had a plan. And then I turned into me." is brilliant and very you. It captures the whole comedy of being incredibly organised and somehow still arriving in total chaos. 😊

Footnote -
Magical thinking and confusion, aka audio processing issues. Dinner was absolutely not included, nor did I manage the Nirvana Spa day trip order part, but I did successfully book a room alone and navigate a fabulous five minutes of packing, dinner alone, and a morning spent flicking through magazines. All in all, brilliant.

I turned my mistakes into positives. Even with my usual chaos, they remained happy choices. What did I learn? Check in with a person before you go. Also check for hidden service charges and ask why. With dyslexia and magical thinking, trust in a smile is hard sometimes.

But it will not stop me gaining confidence with my paperwork, which has always frightened me.

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