Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“I don't know, Hannah. Are we sure we want to do this? We could just save our money and
go to the beach a few more times. You like the beach, right?”
Hannah was having trouble believing what she was hearing. Here they were, having put
so much effort into learning about the Netherlands, and even going so far as to start learn-
ing Dutch, and Mark just couldn't bring himself to enter nineteen digits into the computer
and click “purchase.” Hannah started to pull away, not so much to punish Mark, but be-
cause she had to be alone. She was so hurt. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she
didn't want Mark to see them. She wanted him to go because it was a chance for them to
share something special together, a chance to do something different after so many years of
stagnation. The last few months had been so wonderful, with the promise of something life-
expanding and new in front of them both, but that promise was evaporating, and Hannah
didn't know where to turn. She stood up, turned her face away from Mark to hide her tears,
and announced, “Sweetheart, I'm going for a walk. I need to be by myself right now.” And
with that she left, as quickly as she could. She was out the door before Mark had even fin-
ished processing what was going on. And somehow, when she left, the apartment felt espe-
cially empty. Something very alive had left the room, and Mark suddenly felt the weight of
how alone he was
.
“Why was she so upset, and why did she have to leave like that?” Mark wondered. “Wasn't
I just being reasonable? She likes the beach. What did I miss?” And as Mark sat there by
himself, he thought back to all the fun they had had together over the past three months,
making Dutch food together and experimenting with their newfound knowledge of the
Dutch language. Hannah had been so much fun to be around, and even their phone calls
had taken on an extra dimension with their attempts to speak Dutch. The idea to go to
the Netherlands had been Hannah's, but Mark had to admit that he had been enjoying the
change. He did feel a new energy in his life, whether it was from Holland or from Hannah,
and now that he was alone, he started to wonder if he wasn't making a serious mistake.
Didn't he love Hannah, and didn't he want to share something special with her? Why was
he so reluctant to buy the tickets? Of course he could get the time off work. He hadn't taken
his full vacation time once in the past four years, and everyone on his team knew he was a
hard worker. What was he worried about?
And then he realized that he was afraid. This was new territory for him altogether. Sure, he
had gotten bored with the ho-hum of his life, but it was the ho-hum he knew well, and this
trip to the Netherlands was outside his comfort zone. And the way Hannah was planning
the trip, they weren't going to be able to float along on the surface once they got to Ams-
