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Every Christmas my girlfriend asks her dad for the same present: a designer handbag.
Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs – there’s more designer bags in her closet than there are designers still in the closet.
But this year she made the painful decision – albeit reluctantly – to ask her dad for something different: a plane ticket to Fiji.
I was thrilled that she was coming to see me, but scared she was now going to expect me to fill her insatiable appetite for handbags. Thankfully, the thought of escaping the cold Canadian winter seemed to make her forget all about purses, satchels and clutches.
On a frosty February morning, my dad drives her to the Detroit airport. Having never travelled outside of North America, she’s both excited and nervous to be flying to the other side of the world. But, as an avid reader of this fine blog, she knows from second-hand experience just how gruelling the flight to Fiji is.
She boards the plane, and two calendar days later, arrives in Fiji at 2:10 a.m. Sunday morning.
I’m eagerly waiting for her at the arrivals gate when she burst through the exit.
“I need a bathroom,” she squeals.
It’s surreal to see her face. Since returning to Suva I’ve been slowly counting down the days until her visit.
After finding her a washroom, I load her into a cab.
Although I tell her we’re making the four-hour drive back to Suva, I’m really taking her to one of Fiji’s finest resort destinations, Denarau Island.
When we arrive at the Westin, I tell her we have to catch a bus the rest of the way home. Jetlagged and exhausted she accepts everything I say.
Finally, when I open the door to our suite she realizes what’s happening.
We spend the next three days lying on the beach, swimming in the Pacific Ocean and eating great food.
But this isn’t my Fiji, and soon I’m eager to take her back to the Suva city life.
It still feels surreal that she’s actually in Fiji. I’ve spent so many days wishing she was here to share my adventures, and now she finally is.
Like many tropical destinations, this island is full of lovers from honeymooners to retired couples. Yet, the closest thing I’ve had to a significant other is my childhood friend, Hart.
And although Hart is a great travelling partner, paradise isn’t quit the same without the girl you love.