An 'Alone ' Holiday

Praneet is a  loving indulgent husband, but there are two things he is not happy gifting me - flowers and diamonds. So I negotiated that on my birthday he could gift me a holiday - all by myself- at a destination of my choice.  Prague it was this year , with the added incentive of running the Prague Half Marathon with my friend stationed in the city. 

The run was a nightmare-with a knee that gave up on me, and the timing chip being taken away  because I was not going to hobble to the finish line in under 3 hours. But the holiday was a dream come true!

 I am a good mom and a decentish wife, but  for those few days in Prague, I was simply me. And while I missed my kids, thought of what was happening back home, and shopped for them, I was pretty much at peace. I knew Praneet would schedule his work to spend more time with the kids, that they would cook together or order-in  and would have fun without me nagging them to clean up, study and do this and that!

Pure liberation.  I didn’t have to draw up a schedule to please the kids and husband. I ate wherever I felt like without worrying if the place was clean, or if the kids would like the food. I ventured to see things I want to - spending the whole day at the Castle, standing on Charles Bridge and unabashedly watching people , or merely sitting at a cafe on the road, sipping coffee or beer and reading on my Kindle. It took a bit of courage to walk up to people to request them to take a picture of me! 

I got lost while walking to places, and in the process discovered new offbeat things. I rode different trams to soak in the city.  I struck up conversations with random people - on the tram, at the bar, in the church, and just had fun listening to them. I ate all kinds of street food, browsed in local grocery stores to figure how the locals live,  and tried on clothes that looked horrendous on me! Took pictures of things that caught my attention. Got a massage, a haircut - stuff I would never do on a family holiday!

I unlearned a few things. Like habits that I have acquired because of co-dependency in a marriage. At the check-in counter, I had to remember to fill out all the immigration and custom forms, and ask for the boarding pass for the connecting flights.Or remember to buy and swipe the tickets in the tram. Withdraw or exchange currency.  Even pack my own bag because I am terrible at it and depend on Praneet to organise it for me. 

I did not ‘discover’ myself. Or find solutions to my ‘existential’ questions. Or find a story that fired my imagination.Hell, I did not even bother thinking about things that were stressful for me. Most of the times, my mind was a blissful blank. 

Traveling alone did not mean there were men lurking in bars, or on street corners, looking for a quickie.  I did not find handsome Czech men to hit on, and no one hit on me. Instead I found graciousness ,friendliness and loads of tips on what to do in the City. 

I came back happy, relaxed and refreshed. Delighted to walk into my home, and to be hugged by my daughter who said,‘Mom, we missed you. You make this a home!’ To be back in the fold of the ones who hold my heart, and reaffirm that this is my beautiful world- with the people I love the most. 

I think, every woman should take a holiday all by herself. It is refreshing and therapeutic.  In all that we do for our loved ones, we tend to forget ourselves and put our needs on the back-burner. There should be no guilt to spend time with ourselves, connect back with our own selves, and to be reminded that we can be happy in our own company. 

My one lesson -I would prefer a holiday to diamonds -any given year now!! And methinks Praneet will rue being intransigent on not gifting me flowers - because flowers would be cheaper than the holiday he will end up sponsoring every year!!