Being away from home

...is a weird experience, especially on one's own. Everyone else knows someone but said visitor knows no-one. Everyone else appears to know where they are going but - visitor is like proverbial fish out of water - even with Sat Nav (or, should I say, GPS for our American readers!!)

Silly things like how one goes about paying for car parking. Instructions seem to be 'infra dig' so visitor has to use own common sense and hope for the best. Any mention on parking meters of the price per hour, the coinage required, the general regulations are considered state secrets. How to pay in department stores? No rails to queue behind, no roped-off queueing areas, just a couple of plastic footprints on the carpet and a plastic white line! What's that about? More state secrets I guess!

Eating out alone is a bit strange. It's like advertising oneself as 'Billy no mates'. Mind you, the food was very nice. Far too much for one person but I didn't get a carryout box because I don't fancy pizza for breakfast. Do people actually eat the food they carry out or are they just avoiding the embarrassment of not clearing their plates? Perhaps they put it in the trash can (sic) as soon as they get around the corner.

Nice to sit on one's own in one's hotel with no-one to argue over the TV remote.... I suppose there are some compensations.