My holiday from hell: I stood on a sea urchin and felt stabbing pain – and outrageous fury
Why This Matters
Key context: <p>A misstep in the shallows led to physical torment and fraying tempers. Before this, I had been an angry teenager. Now, I was incandescent with rage</p><p>It is worth acknowledging, with the benefit of post-pubescent hindsight, that any holiday with 14-year-old me probably had the potential to become the holiday from hell. My self-esteem would have been at its lowest, my anger that “nobody understands me!” at its highest. In the summer of 2010 I can only imagine that my parents, who bore the brunt of my adolescent rage, were at their wits’ end. Little did they know that taking me (along with my 16-year-old sister and 11-year-old brother) to a paradise-like Greek island would have the opposite of a calming effect.</p><p>To be clear, we weren’t at each other’s throats <em>all</em> the time. Before catching a ferry from the Athens port of Piraeus to the tiny Saronic island of Agistri, I remember enjoying plates of moussaka and pastitsio in Athens, after sweatily traipsing around the city’s ruins. And on the island itself, we bonded as a family over card games at a beach bar, and giggled together when, on a boat trip, our pony-tailed captain stripped off, revealing a flame-shaped tattoo protruding from his Speedos.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jul/10/my-holiday-from-hell-i-stood-on-a-sea-urchin-and-felt-stabbing-pain-and-outrageous-fury">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.
A misstep in the shallows led to physical torment and fraying tempers. Before this, I had been an angry teenager. Now, I was incandescent with rageIt is worth acknowledging, with the benefit of post-pubescent hindsight, that any holiday with 14-year-old me probably had the potential to become the holiday from hell. My self-esteem would have been at its lowest, my anger that “nobody understands me!” at its highest. In the summer of 2010 I can only imagine that my parents, who bore the brunt of my adolescent rage, were at their wits’ end. Little did they know that taking me (along with my 16-year-old sister and 11-year-old brother) to a paradise-like Greek island would have the opposite of a calming effect.To be clear, we weren’t at each other’s throats all the time. Before catching a ferry from the Athens port of Piraeus to the tiny Saronic island of Agistri, I remember enjoying plates of moussaka and pastitsio in Athens, after sweatily traipsing around the city’s ruins. And on the island itself, we bonded as a family over card games at a beach bar, and giggled together when, on a boat trip, our pony-tailed captain stripped off, revealing a flame-shaped tattoo protruding from his Speedos. Continue reading...
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