What the future holds...

who knows?! 
You may have long term plans. I don’t. I never have.

I very rarely plan anything ahead. I don’t have a personal five day let alone five year plan.

There are exceptions. My diary is now littered with hospital appointments. I am hosting a Cake Break in aid of the MS Society in exactly three weeks’ time. This forward planning is unusual.

My normal response to invites to future events I would like to attend is either

a) a regretful ‘No, I am already booked for…’ or

b) a tentative ‘Yes, depending on work. But I am currently available’.

For me, work comes first. By work I mean acting commitments. Over the years, friends and family have had to get used to me dropping them in favour of jobs. I missed my first cousin’s wedding because of a theatre tour. I only have two first cousins. My family were not at all impressed.

In 2005, I agreed to go on a going-abroad-holiday with a good friend. I rarely have holidays. I am reluctant to book ahead for things in case a job comes up. It is a common phenomenon for an actor to get a great job as soon as a holiday flight has been paid for.

This holiday was to mainland Greece to join in the celebrations for my friend’s Greek friend’s wedding. My friend wanted to go for at least 10 days. I only had 7 before a good theatre job started rehearsals.

I suggested my friend could stay for longer than me but she felt it would be simpler to book us on the same flights and accommodation so we just went for a week. It was a fabulous holiday. We saw amazing places like Epidaurus, Mycenae and Olympia.

In fact all of my (very few, all bdx) going-abroad-holidays have been excellent. They have often been booked at very short notice because I rarely commit to things in advance. Many castings come at a matter of days or hours notice. Jobs get cancelled or rescheduled. There are no certainties.

In 2000, I went on a Nile cruise with my then boyfriend booked less than two weeks before. It was a fabulous holiday.

The Greece trip was my last going-abroad-holiday. That’s nearly six years ago.

I’d quite like another and now that I’m not injecting it would be a lot easier. Although I don’t want to travel alone, at least I wouldn’t have to consider potential complications of taking needles and non-oral drugs onto a plane.

I don’t know what my future holds but a holiday would be good.