This post is part of a paid campaign to promote the Balearic and Canary Islands, as part of their #SpanishIslands Campaign. Although all views are my own and I have not been instructed what to include.
I haven’t been abroad since 2011. Can you believe that? Mainly because I started to suffer with a severe anxiety disorder which you know, kinda stopped me leaving the house. Let alone jumping on a plane. Almost a decade later and I’m doing better than I’ve done in ages and going abroad would definitely be on the agenda again. But before all this, when I was younger, my parents and I took yearly holidays to the Canary Islands.
The only island we didn’t do was Fuerteventura but I visited Gran Canaria twice and both Lanzarote and Tenerife once each. I was still in school when we would go, so it was always in the middle of Summer and our holidays were the highlight of my year. I remember crying when it was time to leave Tenerife because I didn’t want to go home that badly!
Some of my fondest memories come from these holidays. Not even memories of anything particularly exciting that we did but just the general feeling I got from being in the Canary Islands, in the middle of Summer, a world away from my friends, school and the boys back home. There was something so special about stepping off that plane.
I always kinda felt that I was stepping into somewhere I belonged.
And I’m sure a lot of us have had that feeling with certain places. Some places just FEEL special, as soon as you get there. And you know that that place will hold a special piece of your heart forever along with all the memories you made there. The Canary Islands are like that for me. Here are some of my memories from my family holidays:
The special friends I met that I never saw again
I think that’s what made those fleeting friendships so special. Having that knowledge that despite how many times you say “we’ll definitely meet up again!” to each other, realistically you both know you won’t. Those magic moments you shared together only remain in the Canary Islands and in your memories and I think that’s beautiful.
Playing cards long into the night with my parents
We used to love to spend hours playing cards together. At night, after dinner, sitting in the outside bar of the hotel where it was still warm enough to not need a jacket. I was taught a lot of card games on those holidays and played hundreds of games. My Dad and I both as competitive as each other.
The gorgeous weather and the refreshing breeze
The weather in the Canary Islands is beautiful all year round. You really can’t go wrong with it. If you love the baking sun, the Summer is perfect. If you prefer a warm but not too hot climate, go a little later in the year. But regardless, you’re always guaranteed beautiful weather and a refreshing breeze to cool you off.
Being a world away from everything back home
At that age – being a young teenager – it felt magical to me to leave all my friends and my normal life back at home whilst I made my own memories. A whole week without any ties to my normal life and whatever everyone back home was doing, quite frankly, didn’t matter at all. Because my holiday belonged to me.
Exploring the surrounding areas at night
Although I couldn’t name a single road or town we were near, I used to love going for a walk after dinner and exploring the local area to our hotel. Mooching around the gift shops – which all sold the same things, walking by the sea and tagging along with my parents whilst they tried different bars. An Irish bar with a waiter who played pranks on everyone.
The tacky entertainment
There’s no polite way of saying this but more often than not, the entertainment in holiday resort hotels is pretty tacky. And I loved it. Nothing screams Brits on holiday like it. My personal favourite was a hypnotist who made the volunteers he called up on stage believe they were washing machines. Hilarious.
I’d love to go to Fuerteventura so I can complete my collection of Canary Island holidays. It’s unlikely my parents an I will ever go abroad again just us 3. Things have changed since I was 14. But hopefully I can get out there in the coming years, perhaps with my partner or a friend. Or maybe even on my own, if I’m brave enough one day.
I couldn’t even use the photos normally for this post because they’re so old and such bad quality. But that’s what it was like at the time. And I wouldn’t have had it any different. I’d love to add some more memories to my collection from holidays to the Canary Islands. A group of places that hold a special place in my heart.