Postcard from Tenerife

Tenerife at sunset

I planned to kick off this post with an actual postcard from Tenerife, but I couldn’t find one that adequately summarised the relentless bla that I experienced. I stayed in an average hotel, on an average beach and ate average food. So instead of travel recommendations, let me tell you what I learned: 

1. If one of your themes for 2024 is connection, don’t take a solo trip to an island off the coast of Africa. Why did I do this? I was in desperate need of sunshine and my travel dates were limited and inflexible. For my American readers: Tenerife is to Brits what Florida is to New Yorkers. It’s a sun run. That’s all. A place to sit in the sun and have a margarita. It’s not meant to be - nor was it - a profound cultural experience.

2. What I accomplished: I walked along the beach for hours and hours and hours. Did I think I would eventually find a charming part of this island? Yes. Did I do so? No. But there was a lot of sun and sand and that’s not nothing.

3. The most interesting place I found: Library Reading Up, a used bookshop in Adeje, for which I was truly grateful because like a dum dum, I left my kindle at home.  I picked up Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld and Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson.