It’s been a while since I sat down and just wrote a blog post about what’s going on, what we’ve been up to and how things are going. I really got into the swing of doing a daily post back in Lockdown last year, but since then my blog has taken a back seat from the videos that have taken up so much of our time.
It’s February 4th at 10am as I start writing this post with a bowl of coco pops overlooking the sun that is starting to burn through the fog this morning. Our gardener is pottering around and cutting down trees and the sound of the sea waves is gradually floating in. Rio is curled up in a ball on my feet snoring away. It’s moments of peace like this that I am thankful for.
For the past few days, I’ve had a sore back. Back on Tuesday, I could barely move without being in agony so I’m massively relieved to have some sort of relief. I’ve now got a lot more range of movement back and it’s only when I lean too far over that I feel a twinge. I managed to do a 10km walk with Rio around Benidorm and I do feel like that took my mind off it and eased it up.
Speaking of Benidorm, it’s very quiet around here at the moment, with the current restrictions, there are far fewer people about, except on the beach which seems to be more popular than ever. Locals, me included, would never have dreamed about spending a day on the beach in January or February before, yet here we all are appreciating the sun and taking every opportunity to be outside. My local café are offering takeaways at the moment and honestly I don’t know if I ever want to stop going for a coffee and croissant with ham and cheese to eat on the beach with Rio in the morning.
It’s been glorious weather wise for the past week or so. We even managed to sneak a few beach days in! We did have some fog this morning and the sea mist yesterday which was cool. It’s crazy how quickly it comes in and how quickly the buildings disappear. There have been some amazing photos of the weather on social media.
So, what’s new with us? Alex is still teaching in person at his school and I’m still working as a Marketing Assistant. I was sad to lose one of my longest standing social media managing clients over the weekend, but I’m remaining positive that something else will come along. As one door closes – another one opens, as they say. I’m not going to sit about and wait for that door to find me, I’m out there trying to knock on every door now. I do still have one of my jobs, although it’s only part time I’m grateful to still have that.
Quite possibly the most exciting thing to happen to me recently, alongside being appointed an ambassador for Benidorm which I still pinch myself about, is the interview that I did for the British Embassy in Spain. I never would’ve dreamed that something like this would happen to me. But, receiving that correspondence was a wonderful feeling. I was incredibly nervous to provide content in Spanish, but I think it went well. If you missed it, you should be able to view it below.
I’m powering through with my fictional story too. It’s quite foreign to me, writing for a story. I’m used to writing factual events, things we did, reviews of places we’ve been, travel information. That sort of thing. So writing creatively is a challenging yet exciting concept. Although it’s a slow process, I’m sure it will be worth it in the end. I’m also working on some children’s stories too. No rest for the wicked, isn’t that what they say? With Rio as the key character, I had the idea of making him a loveable character in cartoon form who grows up with young children and becomes everybody’s pet they grow up with. I have written a few short rhyming stories for the very young and eventually I’m hoping to take it through primary school development ages. The idea is to implement travel as a key discussion point and make learning fun with Rio.
I am working closely with a graphic designer to create a realistic cartoon Rio, with beautiful backdrops that should not only peak children’s interest, but also be nice for adults to read to their children too. Alex and I were talking about how amazing it would be if Rio could be forever remembered as a children’s book favourite character. We know how loved he is far and wide so to extend that even further would be a beautiful thing. His face is one of those that you can’t help but smile back at, so who knows how much joy and potential these children’s books would be.
Alex and I are also getting excited for our day out with Visit Benidorm. On the last activities, it was only me who ventured out with them. Mainly because it was to assess my suitability as an ambassador for the company, but also because Alex was working through the week. This time, all three of us will be heading out on an adventure, so I can’t wait to share more about that when we know what’s happening.
Alex is loving using his camera to play about with new ideas and it’s giving me a lot of nice photos to post on Instagram too, which is great. I used to have a strict colour scheme on my Instagram, but I’m really loving just posting freely what I feel like posting without worrying too much whether it matches or not.
I keep thinking about how spring is coming soon. The flowers blooming. The longer days. The animals that will spring into life. We’re in a turmoil of emotions at the moment, all of us. All missing something or other. Whether that’s family and friends. Holidays. Our favourite places. Our local bar. Normality. We all crave that life we all had before the tsunami of 2020 hit. The irony isn’t lost on us that we’ve been here for 4 years and never made any friends our own age to hang out with. But now, we’ve got three couples our age who live here who we message and we’re all desperate for days out and cocktails, yet we’re not allowed yet.
But, the days will get better. Things will get better. And, I for one, absolutely cannot wait. I hope you’re all keeping safe and well. Please don’t ever feel alone, my inbox is always open.
Together, we will see better days.
Lauren x
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Lauren in Leicester 
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