THE HOLIDAY FIRST-TIMER
Countryfile presenter Anita Rani, 39, is a self-confessed work-addict who has no interest in holidays. Would two weeks in Guatemala and Belize change that?
Ican’t sit on a beach. I don’t sunbathe. I’m not really the holidaying type. But my husband, Bhupi? He loves them, which is why last year, seven years into our marriage, we took our very first summer holiday together. Perhaps I feel this way because I grew up with two hard-working parents who ran their own business in their early twenties, while bringing up two children. They were striving to build a life, and closing their business for a holiday just wasn’t an option, nor was it something they did as children. Summer holidays for most Indians of my parents’ generation were usually spent staying with cousins in another part of the country.
Their drive definitely worked its way into my psyche – ever since I left Yorkshire to build a career as a TV presenter, work has been my priority.
But in 2016, I did something I’d never done before: I booked Bhupi and I a summer holiday. Why? Partly because I felt I’d earned the right after Strictly Come Dancing – a wonderful, but exhausting, four-month-long experience – but also because I felt my husband deserved one. He’s supportive of everything I do, and it was time to think of someone other than myself.
We decided to go away for two weeks; one in Belize, the other in Guatemala. It was a compromise: plenty of culture (for me) and a bit of beach (for Bhupi).
Truthfully, the thought of finally peeling ourselves away from work and our lives back home made me anxious. What if we hated it? What if we got annoyed with each other? What if I missed work?!
MY WORRIES, THANKFULLY, WERE UNFOUNDED.
From the moment we arrived at our little guest house in the old Spanish town of Antigua, the adventures began. We walked around cobbled colonial streets, drank mescal in dingy bars, ate fantastic street food with locals and took a five-hour bus ride to the beautiful Lake Atitlán.
The next day, we embarked on a jungle trek at 4am in the pitch-black in the ancient Mayan city of Tikal. At dawn, we climbed to the top of the tallest temple, high above the jungle canopy, where we sat waiting for the sun to rise. For two hours, we listened to birds and howler monkeys waking up. It was here I began to take stock of my life and how stressed we all get over small things. I acknowledged how depressed I felt about Brexit and the refugee crisis, and how futile and damaging discrimination is. Then I wept at the beauty in front of me. Work wasn’t on my mind at all – I was exactly where I wanted to be.
Time has a wonderful ability to concertina; a day can go in a flash, or two weeks can feel like a month. The latter was true of our trip. By the end, I was exhausted, but truly relaxed (I even spent a few days on the beach!).
I can’t say that I’m wholly converted – I’ll never enjoy whiling away hours on a sun lounger. But this trip allowed Bhupi and I to rest, laugh, think, talk and, most of all, to focus on having fun together. I have no regrets.
WORK wasn’t on my mind at all – I was EXACTLY where I WANTED to be