The Importance of Spontaneity and an Aperol Spritz
- Helen Ramage
- Oct 14, 2018
- 5 min read
I wouldn’t say I’m a spontaneous person as such. In fact, I’d say I’m the opposite. I like to know what time we’re meeting, where we are heading to, what other people are wearing, will there be a cloakroom, how much money are people taking, the list goes on. But when my friend said she was going to be in Venice for three days and I should come, a week before she was going, I did something genuinely spontaneous for probably the first time ever and booked myself a flight to Venice.
Don’t get me wrong, it started badly. I was obviously panicking about being spontaneous so naturally booked myself onto the wrong flight choosing to fly the week after my friend had left Venice. I still don’t know how I managed to book the wrong flight. I genuinely believe it was Sky Scanner’s fault, although I have not mentioned to the CEO of Sky Scanner that the website is clearly flawed. So, after paying an extra £97 to change both my outbound and return flight, well done Helen, I was set to go to Venice.
This was the Sunday afternoon and I flew out on the Tuesday so it was truly spontaneous. Obviously, there are levels of spontaneity. The first level being ordering a take away for dinner or going to Thorpe Park on a whim, the second being cutting all your hair off and dying it pink but I think I had reached the third or intermediate level of spontaneity which was booking a mini break to Venice three days before you’re meant to be flying there. Anyway, mum was going to drop me to Gatwick, work had approved my holiday request and Ellie (my friend) was going to meet me at Marco Polo airport.
Although, I had flown on my own before and I knew how to say hello in Italian and was not planning on smuggling drugs into the continent I was sick with nerves when I got to the airport like actually felt sick. I think this was because I had never ever just dropped everything and did something I wanted to. I had always said ‘definitely next time’ or ‘when I have some money’ but I had never said ‘yeah I’ll book it now’ especially concerning a holiday. It was so foreign to me to just pack up and go that I was going into panic mode thinking what if the hostel is disgusting, what if my stuff gets nicked, what if we’re sharing with people who are on the run for murder, you know just those little niggling thoughts. However, once I got past security and had put all my liquids into those little clear plastic bags which never seem to seal up, I was buzzing!
I realised that even though Venice will still be there in two years when I have booked it eight months in advance, looked up on trip advisor ratings for hotels, restaurants and attractions, I would never have the opportunity to go with my best mate and just enjoy it with no motive but just having a good time. That’s what being spontaneous is good for, it’s good for having a good time. When you have time to plan things out you find yourself living off other people’s suggestions like for instance a 50-something couple from Ohio in America who loved Piazza San Marco but hated Burano. If we had listened to Caroline and Mike from Ohio we would have spent £30 on entry into a cathedral with a bunch of tourists but would have not gone to Burano and ate fritto misto on the water’s edge in the most whimsical place I’ve ever seen. When you allow yourself to just go with it you take the place in as you want to see it. You can wander for hours with no agenda but just having a gander at everything and that is what we spent the whole time doing in Venice. Everything that I had worried about in the car over to the airport didn’t happen. The hostel was lovely, it had a waterfall shower for god’s sake, my stuff did not get stolen and the only criminal we shared with was some girl who kept opening the curtains at 6:50 in the morning. If I hadn’t had booked the flights and just thought ‘go on then’ these doubts would have stopped from me going and in that lies the importance of spontaneity. When you book something, anything, you must go and that is all it takes to be spontaneous. Book something you normally would say ‘maybe next time’ to and just go and I promise you’ll love it and feel like you’re really spontaneous and edgy.
Also, if you are looking for your next mini break I could not recommend Venice highly enough. It was the most romantic place I have ever been. I have never seen anything like it. The water lapping against old wrought iron balconies, pretty bridges and gorgeous architecture makes Venice a one of a kind destination. The culture is so relaxed and aperol spritz is available on every corner making it my ideal holiday. If you are thinking of going, look into staying outside of the city. We stayed in Venice Mestre, a ten-minute train ride from the floating city and much cheaper than the hotels inside actual Venice. I would also say buy a water pass for the taxis, the city is literally floating so there is hardly any other transport but boat. The water taxis run really frequently and there are stops near every land mark, including Piazza San Marco if you do like spending £30 on a cathedral and the Rialto bridge. Also, go to Murano and Burano. They are two islands of the coast of Venice and both me and Ellie loved them. Murano is famous for glass and you can pick yourself up some lovely souvenirs and go to a glass blowing tutorial with a really fit guide. Obviously, we all have different types so sorry if you do go to the tutorial and the guy isn’t your type, but I personally think he was saucy. Burano is the Balamory of Italy and is a must do. The restaurants are unreal, the shops are cute and if anything, your Instagram feed will be lit after visiting. It was a whirlwind trip of aperol spritz and sunshine and I literally loved every second. We drank our body weight in wine and soaked up every ray of sunshine.
I think what I want to say is if your best mate invites you to Venice just go. Or for that matter if your mate invites you anywhere just say yes because money is always going to come back to you and these doubts you have are never going to materialise. So, you might as well. Life’s too short to say next time, just go do it. Since this I have not done anything spontaneous and I do still check the traffic before deciding if it’s worth going somewhere but I did only go to Venice last month, so I’m trying to aim for one thing a month. Actually, just as I wrote that last sentence I realised I did do something spontaneous which was join a bingo hall. I’ve always really wanted to go but sort of always thought it was for old women and people who smell like urine, but I went for the first-time last week and literally loved it. Also, no one smelt like urine and there was a lot of younger people there. So, there’s the proof, things aren’t always what you think they will be, so you might as well be spontaneous and go and do it. Also, if you ever start to panic, always remember everything is better after an aperol spritz so pour it up hun.
Till Next Time.
Helen oxo
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