In a battle against my own rigidity, I decided to forego a hotel and stay at a beach condo this time. This is a big deal for me because I’m extremely particular about the places I choose to stay during vacations.
The condo where we are staying is enormous. It has two separate bathrooms, a huge balcony, a bedroom, a living – room and a kitchen.
The moment I saw the condo I almost doubled with laughter because I remembered how when I was 14, we once went on a family vacation to the beach back in Ukraine.
We rented a single small room for us all to stay for 2 weeks. By “us all” I mean my mother, my sister, me, my aunt Vera and her daughter, my aunt Natasha and her 2 kids, and my aunt Larissa and her son. Obviously, there weren’t nearly enough beds for all of these people, so most of us slept on the floor right next to each other. There wasn’t an inch of floor left that wasn’t covered by human bodies.
The worst thing about this vacation wasn’t that the conditions were so horrible but that I was the only person who detested this kind of life. Everybody else loved the trip and has the fondest memories of it. I felt like I was from a different planet than everybody else.
And that was the only reason why I eventually emigrated. People around me were enjoying things. No water, no electricity, dog shit and rats everywhere – and still everybody was having fun. Except me.
But hey, people who keep wanting more are the ones who make all progress happen.
Here’s the view from my balcony:
Clarissa's Blog 
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Yes, that picture just screams “I’m going with the flow and not making plans!”
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I found this place in just an hour on TripAdvisor which for me is super laid back. 🙂
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Which coast are you on, gulf or atlantic or keys? I don’t think I could bear to see the gulf coast again after the oil devastation… (even if you can’t see it on the beach I’d know it’s there).
My own victory against rigidity was my gradual acceptance of package holidays (as they call them here). The first time I hated, hated, hated it and then I realized… “It gets you to the hotel and back and once you’re there you can ignore the travel agency and other people from the flight and do your own thing”
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I’m ashamed to say that I have no idea. We’re in Fort Myers.
Geography is not my forte.
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If you have a rental vehicle, drive out to Sanibel Island …
It’s worth the trip.
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That would be the Gulf and not terribly far from where I grew up.
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What a great climate. Compared to where we live, with its useless, sticky heat, it’s paradise.
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You might have enjoyed the West Country, especially the coast …
Actually, you could do this with a booking through Butlin’s …
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BTW, this is Minehead, West Somerset, in case you were wondering …
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“Dog shit and rats everywhere” hahaha.
You haven’t stayed by the water in Baltimore have you?
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I already wrote about this! Wow, I completely forgot.
It was kind of sad to see the post and all the commenters who have been lost to the inexorable tide of progress.
I’m going to go feel sad now.
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