Cape Town

I recently spent a week in Cape Town visiting my sister who leads a beautiful life in this coastal city. Here we are watching penguins on the beach. My favourite experience was the bohemian atmosphere and elegant dilapidation of restaurant Olympia which serves delicious food and local wines in a historic café near Kalk bay harbour. We watched the chefs at work and the groups of people sitting at bare wooden tables with mismatched chairs, and afterwards walked out to the harbour lighthouse to enjoy the waves whipped up by the salty air.

I thoroughly enjoyed the people of Cape Town – much more relaxed than their inland city cousins, they seemed to taste more of life – people walking their dogs on the beach, flights kites over an estuary on the weekend, strolling in the forests that rise against the mountains… My sister told me that arriving any earlier than half an hour late for any social function led to awkward discomfort as the first and only guest taking up a lonely chair.

I could live here, I told my husband.

He wisely reminded me that being on holiday in a place, and living there, are two entirely different things. There is a fair share of grief, loss and loneliness in leaving a home and setting up a new one. The hurdles to be overcome can sometimes obscure the view of the beautiful and exciting place you moved to, and your reasons and hopes for a fresh life.

To those of you who are seeing a gloomy and dark picture of life in a new place – go on a wander and remind yourself of the beauty of where you are and your aspirations in moving there.