Lifelong “Palentines”
We’ve been celebrating love in all shapes and forms during the last month or so, and have really enjoyed hearing all the stories from our customers, our friends and family.
Our next story is more of a Palentine’s / Galentine tale and is from Claire who works here at Thisisnessie.
It’s a story of love of travel as well as love for each other. Which is just as well, as if they need to see each other these days, they need to catch a plane.
“I met Lyndsay way back when we were in the summer at the end of our first year of GCSEs. We had the same Spanish class at school, but didn’t know each other. On camping holiday in France with our families (separately) that summer, we were coming out of the shower block one morning, and bumped into each other. Finding a friendly face on a *boring* family holiday was sooo exciting.
“Looking back, it’s pretty clear that travel, trips and holidays have been a major feature of our lives and our relationship.”
We quickly discovered that both of us had spent our younger years being brought up in the Caribbean, because of our parent’s jobs, Claire in St Lucia and Anguilla, Lyndsay in Grand Cayman. So we felt a little out of place at “normal” schools, especially as generally we would prefer a beach, or very genuinely, rather “be mermaiding”. Our first major connection, and one that has stayed throughout our friendship.
We ganged up together that summer and escorted ourselves to the campsite discos, meeting boys, drinking sneaky beers and generally becoming partners in crime for the duration. After the summer holidays we stayed friends at school and became lifelong buddies. With our strange starts to our school lives, we’ve known each other the longest out of all the friends we have made in our lives.
Looking back, it’s pretty clear that travel, trips and holidays have been a major feature of our lives and our relationship. Both of our families were, and continue to this day to be, avid travellers. We have definitely both inherited that bug. When the winter days are gloomy, we dream once more of being mermaids on a beach somewhere and Lyndsay, in particular, is famous for always planning the next trip.
Pretty much everything we do can be done better with a trip or holiday, especially if there’s a beach involved. Neither of us have quite grown up from our respective “beach babe” early lives. Our first holidays abroad without the parents were with each other (Greece), we had a trip to celebrate / commiserate after Claire was made redundant one year – we scooted off to Egypt, scuba diving and snorkelling for that one. We were the instigators and planners for New Years Eve holidays with the London posse back in our early working days. As we got older, we took each other on holidays for our respective hen dos in Sardinia and to Camber Sands. We were, of course, bridesmaids at each other’s weddings. Now we have run out of excuses we now have to take trips “just because”…or the best excuse of all, because we have to.
Lyndsay moved to the Isle of Man in March 2008, where she and her husband have lived ever since. They’ve had family, and now have two beautiful kids, and a dog called Molly (plus other sundry creatures – I think there’s a hamster). They’ve even managed to persuade most of her family to come to the island and take up home as well!
“So now, to see each other, there is literally a trip required every single time. Luckily, I live just round the corner from Gatwick and the Isle of Man is closer than Ireland – we joke that the flight is really just a glorified taxi service for us.”
So now, to see each other, there is literally a trip required every single time. Luckily, I live just round the corner from Gatwick and the Isle of Man is closer than Ireland – we joke that the flight is really just a glorified taxi service for us.
No matter what’s been happening in our lives, or where we are, we know that we are always there for one and other.”
Here at This is Nessie, we have started adding new Wellies every Wednesday to the Original Welly Collection in between the seasonal wellies that are released in the Spring and Autumn. I was especially excited when our new Welly on #WellyWednesday recently was a Traveller Welly – I instantly knew that this was the one for us, and I thought a nice cuddly Welly Boot Cushion would be the perfect Palentine’s Day present.
Keep an eye on our Instagram for love stories with a twist from some of our friends & family and at our Valentine’s goodies.
