All By Myself

I don't necessarily have a great deal of things to say in this post.

See, I'm on a train at the moment - going from Southampton Central to Clapham Junction - going home after having just spent three nights in a Southampton hotel on my own.

I don't think I've ever felt so lonely.

Okay, I admit, I loved having my own space - a hotel room to myself, a working TV on which I could watch anything I wanted... I didn't even feel the need to lock the bathroom door when I went to the loo!

It was great to have that kind of freedom, I'd been craving it for a while.

And on the first two nights, it wasn't so bad - I had trips to the theatre to keep me occupied, and by the time I got back, it wouldn't be long before it was time for bed.

But last night - well. I'd gone to the cinema in the afternoon, then wandered around the shops for a bit, before heading back to my hotel. Then I went back out, looking for somewhere nice to have dinner. I wandered for a good half hour, being very careful not to get lost, and came across a number of decent looking places to eat, but never set foot in any of them. Sitting in a restaurant, eating dinner on my own wasn't really an appealing prospect, no matter how appetising the food looked. I didn't even fancy doing that in the hotel bar!

So I resorted to the takeaway option I'd relied on for the last couple of nights, and headed back to my hotel room with chicken and chips in one bag, and a load of junk crap from Tesco in another.

My Fabulous Fort

After munching dinner, attempting to make a half decent fort on my double bed, and then spamming Hollywood Ending during their MaximumPop Twitter takeover for half an hour.... Well.. That was it. I had about 3 or 4 hours to kill before bedtime and... That's when it hit me.

I'm a cuddly person anyway, love a good hug, me... But I can't remember the last time I wanted a cuddle as much as I did last night. It might have been where I didn't have anything to keep me busy like I had the last couple of days, but I just felt so alone.

Granted, I did find a film to watch on ITV2 which I hadn't seen before, and I may have taken the opportunity to finish off the bottles of Smirnoff Ice and Breezer I'd bought on my first night, but I really just wanted some company. It sounds soppy, and I probably should have made the best of it while I could, but it would have been good to have someone with me. Although maybe with their own separate bathroom.

As for the rest of the weekend, it was rather fun!

I spent the Thursday and Friday nights seeing three performances of Loserville the Musical at The Hub theatre, which was amazing. I had thought I wouldn't get another chance to see the show after it closed in the West End last year, so to be able to see it three times in two days was brilliant.

The cast really put their own stamp on it and brought it to life again. I admit, I did find myself singing along throughout.... And I may have been reciting some of the lines in my head as well.

"The race to crack communication between computers is the hottest thing right now!!"

Ahem.

I have to say, hearing Francis Weir's fantastic range of pickup lines, and seeing Marvin Camden's amazing bowling skills in action again was truly wonderful.

The whole cast and crew did a fabbity job and I'm really glad I got another chance to see the show.

I had the chance to buy some additions for my Loserville merchandise collection while I was there too!

On the way back to the hotel on Friday night, I saw this on the side of one of the houses, which I thought looked amazing:

I also managed to visit Southampton City Library this time, which I fell in love with. The building is so big and light, and the arrangement of the shelves flows so well. It might just sound like I'm a library nerd because I work in one, but it was honestly such a tranquil place, I loved it.

The number of times I got lost this weekend is insane. I think the navigation man on my phone was close to yelling at me at one point, especially when he had to keep repeating 'Turn around and proceed to the route!'

There are so many subways and underpasses in Southampton, which aren't made clear on the maps app. So when I asked for directions to the theatre from the hotel, I thought it was trying to get me to charge across the busy main roads in the hope I'll survive!

The parks, as well, there are so many, and after a while, they all start to look the same, which probably didn't help.

And my trip to the cinema - gosh, that was an experience! Not only did I struggle to find the place, and the ticket booth (which I walked right past in the first place), but I then found myself in a game of 'Hunt for the Seat', while armed with a Pepsi and a bucket of popcorn! I gave up and just sat in H11 instead of H9 - it was the back row of a very small room, where the entrance is at the back, rather than down near the screen, and where the seats aren't tiered that much... It was definitely odd.

In the time that's passed since I started this 'in the moment' post, I have switched trains twice, and am now on the final leg of my journey home, if you don't count the walk from the station.

I'm looking forward to being home, purely for the chance of a decent cup of coffee!

I know it won't be long before I'm wishing for another weekend away, once my brothers start driving me mad again and the race for the bathroom in the morning gets too much for me. The double bed, too, I'm definitely going to miss that...

Perhaps next time I could try somewhere new though: Newcastle, Bournemouth. Or just somewhere I'm less likely to get lost. Like Gillingham. (Although... Having said that...)