Day 30: Too much information!

I recycle!

Over the weekend I have been thinking of nothing else, weighing up the pros and cons of whether I should be a volunteer breaking my back working on my annual holiday, or lazing around on a boat being pampered, taking photos of this island and or not going at all and saving my money.

My head is beginning to hurt. I write down my pros and cons.

I have never been a “lists” person; shopping lists were always left at home. What a waste of time. My memory was good enough.

But not now. I have so much stuff going on at work and now this huge decision to make, I know I need help. Scrap paper is too easily lost. I have the solution: I need a notebook, and should I go through with this trip I should never leave it at home.

I have a drawer full of empty notebooks, pristine pages just waiting to be filled up with embryonic chapters of my first bestseller. I also have a pile of old, empty, week-to-a-page diaries that I have rescued from landfill when the office has its annual stationery cupboard tidy-out. They’re perfect for making lists and notes.

After ticking all the pros I realise I’ve got nothing to lose if I join the volunteer group. In fact, I’ve got everything to gain: not only would I be able to spend much more time in the archipelago than a standard tourist, I would intimately get to know the place, get fitter, see more of the flora and fauna and finally, the old but true cliché of giving something back to the islands would give me the best feel good factor.

And what stories I could tell once I got home!

I pick up the phone and book my place.