TRAVEL BUDDY
by Musings of Pan
I have always liked to travel. When my wife was with me we went to many places, sometimes on organized tours and sometimes just ourselves. We had a lot of fun and created some good memories. However now that I am living alone traveling is not as much fun. Going by myself is lonely and there is no one to discuss the sights with. (Wait! Apologies to my primary school teacher. There is no one with whom to discuss the sights.)
It was winter when I saw an advertisement for a tour to Belize which made me really excited. Leave this cold weather for sun and sand plus a jungle trip and snorkeling. That sounded great! The cost including air fare wasn't bad until I read the part about singles traveling alone would pay almost twice as much. Bummer! Not only is traveling alone not as much fun but it costs more too.
That afternoon I was returning from my daily walk around the neighborhood when I saw Madge, who lives three doors down, pulling into her drive. She stopped to say hi so I asked if I could help her unload her car. She had a lot of grocery bags which I carried into her kitchen. When they were all in she started the coffee maker and asked me to sit down while she put things away.
As we chatted I told her about the Belize trip and about how difficult it is to do fun things like that when you are alone. She agreed and said she hadn't been anywhere except to visit her children for a very long time. Mostly joking I asked if she would come along to Belize so I could make the "double occupancy" requirement. I was surprised when she took it seriously and said she would think about it.
The next day Madge called and asked me to stop by when I was out walking. So at about 2:30 I rang her doorbell. We sat in her kitchen and she said, "Let's talk about this Belize trip. It sounds good but I want to understand how the double occupancy would work. Do we ask for two beds in the room or what?"
I decided that I better be clear about this so it would not be a problem later. I told her, "No, I want you to understand up front that if we are going together we will share a bed and if we share a bed it will be with sex. I am a man and you an good looking woman so there is no need for awkward tip toeing around."
I was sure this would be the end of the trip and that she might throw me out of her house, but instead she just looked at me. After a few minutes during which neither of us said anything she said, "Okay, I'm in."
We went over the details, when we could go, and what we would need to take. I booked the trip and we both did some research on what to see and do in Belize.
When the day to leave finally came I picked her up and off we went to the airport. It was a long flight to Belize where we met the others in our tour group which was ten couples from the US and Canada. Then a short hop in a small plane over to the island on which we were to stay.
Madge and I were assigned a nice room on the ground floor which had a small patio facing the beach. It was all lovely. Madge rummaged in her suitcase, pulled out some clothes, and told me, "I'm going to put on some beach clothes and go exploring." With that she disappeared into the bathroom.