f4f3 | The Tyranny of Choice

So the catalyst for my new adventures in singledom was the girl giving me 12 hours notice that we weren't going on holiday on Friday. This proved to be not enough time for me to cancel the ferry I'd paid for, and has also left me with not enough time to organise a full week's holiday.
I spend about 3 hours on the 'net and on the phone to real live travel agent type people before giving up and realising that the only holidays available were eye-wateringly expensive, to places I didn't want to visit, or ghastly beyond belief. One of them was all three. My moment of clarity came when seriously considering booking a week in a hotel where they proudly boasted of a roster of entertainments which contained (and this is no lie) "Holding your breath contests".

So I'm now sitting on my sofa in Glasgow deciding what to do with myself. I've been busy so far - I was in Edinburgh on Friday night for two shows (Marcus Brigstock and Rich Hall, both excellent) so I could decide to make the most of having the world's largest arts festival on my doorstep. But going to shows on my own isn't much fun, and I can only be a third wheel to Mike and Marie for so long.

Last night I went to the new Simon Pegg movie, which I enjoyed, and then had cocktails at Oran Mor, which I also enjoyed, but that's not something I want to do for a week.

I think what I'm going to do is jump in the car and drive up to the cottage. The downside is that I'll be on my own, which is not really the best thing for me right now, but the upside is that I'll be alone in one of the world's most beautiful spots, with a choice of ways to explore them.

So, having gone through that exericse, I've now booked a B&B on Mull for Monday night, and one in Ardnamurchan for Tuesday. Route will be car to Oban, ferry to Craignure on Mull, cycle to B&B at Dervaig, (about 20 miles), kip, cycle to Tobermory, get the ferry to Kilchoan, cycle 30 miles to guesthouse on Ardnamurchan, kip, cycle to get the lochaline ferry back on to Mull, cycle back to Craignure and get the ferry back to Oban, drive back to the cottage or Glasgow.

Simple, really...

Haven't decided if I want to use my tourer (comfortable, panniers) or my new flash bike (faster, less comfortable, no panniers. Hmm- will take the tourer to the cottage with me, and I can decide in the morning.

So if I want to be on a reasonable ferry tomorrow, I better get moving tonight.