Should you ever try to recreate a perfect trip from the past or is it better left alone as a memory?
When my editor at Asian Woman Magazine sent me on a trip to the Maldives, I couldn’t quite believe it. A week at the luxury private island of Baros with flights, accommodation and all excursions paid for seemed thoroughly fantastical. What’s more, I was told to bring my boyfriend on this would-be honeymoon.
This was back in 2012 and while Peter and I had been to Italy, Iceland and Cambodia together, there was nowhere quite so idyllic. With sky-high expectations, we flew out to Malé, the capital of the Maldives, and caught a private speedboat to the island of Baros.
The trip was predictably perfect. We dined on a private sandbank, sailed with dolphins, guzzled champagne on a dhoni vessel and sampled a nine-course menu. In short, we couldn’t believe our luck.
What we didn’t know then is that Baros Maldives would set an impossibly high watermark against which to compare our future trips. Over the ensuing decade, we travelled to around 50 countries together including stunning beach destinations like St Kitts & Nevis, Bora Bora, Fiji, Mauritius and the Cook Islands. While some of these places came close, none rivalled Baros.
Peter and I spoke of returning but always theoretically. We rearranged days and activities to hypothetically create the perfect week: dinner on the beach instead of the Lighthouse, diving instead of snorkelling, maybe a second massage. Given the cost involved, never did we think that we’d actually do it.
After two years of lockdowns, however, we wanted some way to begin to relive. For years, I had been on a treadmill, publishing my novels Take It Back, then Truth Be Told, then Next of Kin and writing Those People Next Door. I hadn’t rewarded myself for this work. What’s more, I was turning 40 – and so we decided: let’s spend the money and return to Baros Maldives.
Atlas & Boots
We decided to go back to Baros
Straight away, we were advised against it. Our neighbours told us that you couldn’t recreate the perfect trip; that it was better as a perfect memory, but I knew I’d regret never returning and decided to take the risk.
Peter and I booked a week at Baros and made the 12-hour flight from London. On arriving, we were escorted to our beautiful Beach…
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