by J Mock

Created on: June 21, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

We all have notable memories of past vacations and their place within our history. To determine or to prioritise in a degree of favouritism is a most difficult task when considering the importance each memory holds upon a person.

I find it difficult to place my vacation memories in any particular order due to the fact that each holiday involved a different meaning.

The first and only holiday with my parents, before they separated, is limited to a handful of photos and one vivid view of myself playing contently on a beach with my bucket and spade. My mother talks of this time and comments as to what we did as a family, but due to my young age I can only reply that 'I do not remember.'

My next vacation was not until a few years later when I was eleven or twelve years old. My mother had a new partner and he was going to take us on holiday to the south of France. So from having one vacation for one week at a local beach side resort, I was now going abroad for the first time, for two whole weeks.

I have fond memories of this time, travelling down through France, from Normandy to St. Tropez. Along the way we visited several notable towns and places of interest, from the Bayeaux Tapestry to Le Monte St Michel.

The plan was for one week travelling by car and one week staying at a caravan park sited right on the beach. I still do not know how we managed to pack four people and two weeks luggage into a small family car, but we made it all the way down through France.

One memory of the caravan park was that each new visitor had to register their names with the attendants, along with a photograph, and you received an identity card that entitled you to stay on the site. I presume that this was to prevent any unwanted people from wandering the site.

When it came to myself telling the staff members my name I replied in broken French that my christian name was James, by which they replied instantly with 'Ah, James Bond, James Bond', after the film character. So from then on, whenever they saw me walking around they called me James Bond. I never realised the name 'James' was that unusual in France.

The next notable time away was a school trip. As I was studying Leisure and Tourism, the school decided it would be a good idea to visit Rome, in Italy to study the effects of tourism on city life. This would be my first trip away, without any direct family.

Two main memories live on from this vacation. One would be seeing the Roman architecture that surrounds the city, and two would be the fact that there was no age limit for purchasing alcohol. So imagine thirty plus children wandering into several local shops and leaving with countless amounts of beer and wine. This made for interesting days and very amusing evenings.

Finally the most recent memories lie with taking my own children on holiday with my partner. Our first trips away as a family. As they are all still quite young we do not venture too far away, but we have an endless store of photos of the children playing on beaches, climbing cliffs and generalised holiday moments that hold special thoughts. The first paddle in the sea, eating ice-creams on a sunny terrace, who can build the best sandcastle. So many memories and hopefully many more to come in the future years.

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