Today is the first day of a 4 day holiday to centre parcs with my friends. Centre parcs is a holiday park where you live in a small house and there are lots of activities.
This is my forth centre parcs holiday with my friends.
I want to write about the weekend incase it was useful to other autistic people and their families.
I didn’t sleep very well last night. Going on holiday means breaking lots of my routines. I really like my routines so I don’t want to break them as it makes me get bad elephants.
This morning i woke up feeling anxious after about 3 hours sleep. The babysitter helped me pack last night so I got dressed and waited. I’m glad I was already packed.
My friend was due to arrive at 9:30am but he was lat as he car had a tyre problem. I was very anxious and I was trying to distract myself. It didn’t work very well and I had a small meltdown at my boyfriend when I got frustrated trying to do something he asked me I didn’t understand.
When I can’t talk and am anxious I find it even harder to understand what people tell me. He had been vague but I had no easy way to clarify and he just kept repeating the same vague instructions like I had not heard. I lost my temper a bit and then hid in my room to recharge.
My friend arrived in the car about an hour late. I’d had a chance to calm down and then I slept for most of the drive.
We went to a super market and I walked around with my friends. I held his hand and felt safe. I feel safe around my friends and the anxiety started to stop. He explained the plans which made me feel less anxious.
At the supermarket we brought food for the week which involved making a plan for every meal.
We decided we would go to the pancake house for lunch today. In order to feel less worried I found the menu on the centre parcs website and picked what I wanted.
When we arrived we parked and walked to the pancake house. I got to hide in a dark corner as my friends chatted. Lion came out for hugs and I had my pressure vest on to help stop the floating feeling.
We shared pancakes so we could all try a bit of everything. My friend helped me order my meal but I picked it. I knew what I wanted and a backup before I arrived. It neither were available then my friend would choose for me.
This makes it predictable and makes me less anxious.
I liked the pancake house but it was loud. I really needed my ear defenders! It was a nice meal.
When we visit centre parks we get bikes because it’s a big place.
Last time we were here I’d just had my operation and could not lift my legs very well so I had a step through bike. It had a child seat which lion liked.
This time, I decided to try a trike! It has a shelf so lion can go on the shelf. It also means I can carry things like shopping and swimming kit.
I really like the trike. It’s not fast but it is fun and the shelf is extremely useful. My friend also got an electric bike. He has a very badly broken knee and it’s his first time on a bike in a long time.
I’m off swimming now so will finish this later!… Back again.
We cycled to the little house and then parked up. Two friends went to get the car (for our things) and I went with another friend to the shop.
We brought coffee and some other things like washing stuff.
I really enjoyed the trike ride. It’s not fast but it’s fun and it was useful for carrying extra stuff. It’s like a self propelled buggy :)
I have been cycling for years and years, so I can cycle well. However it’s still nice to take the trike and slow down a bit. It feels different and that’s a good things. It’s also bright red. Who can say no to a bright red trike! Add a trailer and I’d be wanting one at home ;)
After we got back I unpacked all my things . Then stared writing this then we went swimming.
Swimming was tiring. I had a nap after. I didn’t want to get to spaced out so I kept ‘trying to be more with it’ but didnt work very well and that’s annoying.
Will write more about swimming another day.
So that’s it for day 1 of holiday. It started badly but got better.
