As you may know I went on holiday recently & came home after only two days (of a holiday that was supposed to last nearly a week).
It's hard to explain how this came about, the short answer is M.E. but that doesn't really explain it.
In theory a canal barge holiday in term time & mid week is ideal for a borderline Moderate-Severe M.E. sufferer like myself; the canals/rivers aren't busy, the boats move at no more than 5 miles an hour (my electric wheelchair goes faster) & there are things to see out of the windows without you having to do any work. If you went with an experienced crew, a mattress topper (the beds are not comfortable) & on an overcast week (or with lots of sun glasses to layer up) it could be perfect.
I had none of these advantages. The only one of us who had ever been on a canal barge before (my mum) had done it when she was child & my brother had only ever done sailing before which is apparently very different (who knew a tiny 1 man sail boat would be different to a 60 foot barge (?) ^^), I hadn't realised how uncomfortable the beds would be so had taken only my pillows & the two days we were there were unbelievably sunny (you should see the sunburn my brother got, he managed to burn his eyeballs & burn one of his arms so badly it blistered).
But honestly I should have been able to cope with these problems. Looking back I could have covered my bed in spare pillows & my duvet to make it more comfortable & I could in theory have stayed inside more & wore my noise cancelling headphones more to block out the panic & stress pouring off my brothers. All of that seems so sensible & so reasonable now & perhaps that is what I should have done but it was impossible to be sensible.
