I don't even know where to begin with this post, it's going to be one of the hardest I'd of ever written. This country holds an incredibly special part in my heart, and it forever will. Never will I look at Faro and not think of my father.
This trip was one filled with heartbreak, anger, tears, randomised happiness and moments of extreme sadness. I came to Faro to escape life in the UK as an act of desperation, I needed to just run away and leave everything I knew and which felt familiar to me, throwing myself in the deep end in a country I had never been to before, which I spoke none of the language and didn't know the first thing about the location I had chosen. I needed to do this to make myself factory reset - the reason being 2 weeks prior my father died unexpectedly, he was in hospital however we were informed he was going to be discharged on the up and coming Monday, he never made it past Sunday afternoon, this news absolutely destroyed me, even now 9 months down the line it still feels like it happened yesterday, anyways long story short - I needed a break, I never got to say goodbye to my father, the last I saw him was Boxing Day 2021. One of the last things he told me was to travel, to live the life I love, doing what I love and learn to love myself and find true happiness within and forever follow my heart. This is something I will forever do. So, due to the family being so spread out over the country a none attendance cremation was put in place, so I decided to do exactly what my dad wished for me, and booked a trip to ensure I was out the country for the day of his cremation, this is how I ended up in Portugal.
I remember arriving at NCL airport, saying ill see you soon to my mother then walking myself through to departures, going through security and bag check - getting stopped and searched and not even just a basic search I get a full blown search as per usual, does anyone else get this every time they travel? It seems to be a regular thing for me. so frustrating haha, anyways - I decided to take myself for a drink at one of the bars, I got my beer sat staring out the window to the runway and just cried a little. I don't even know what I was thinking, my mind was just so full of everything, I then heard the call out for me to go to my gate - boarded and took off with no problems, and suddenly I just felt at peace, I felt calm and relaxed, I was 30+ thousand feet in the air and I felt relief, I put my hand to the window and just slowly exhaled, Approx 3 hours later I landed safely into Faro, going through immigration and out to the taxi rank I ordered an uber to take me to my hostel which was on the little island just off the main island called Praia de Faro which was about a 10 minute drive from the airport. I arrived late in the night, so it was reasonably cold, it also meant I was checking into my hostel late.
I stayed at Faro Beach Life Hostel, which I absolutely LOVED!. Recently I have found out this is no longer around anymore I'm gutted. The hostel was a very basic one, but it was a popular one, everyone there just made you feel apart of the group, it was like a second family but without the disagreements and a lot more in common! haha It had a water front location, you could rent paddle boards from reception also. It was a short walk across the road to the beach, and a little shop which you could get fresh breakfast from, it also had its own communal kitchen area, and a BBQ. I stayed in a mixed dorm, there wasn't a day that the hostel wasn't at full capacity and this was during march, I was so shocked to see how many people travelled during the colder months.
I got the ferry across to the main island town during the day, this was cheap and ran every hour. You could also get the bus or even an uber if you wanted too. The old town was full of random shops like any town centre but in these beautiful historic buildings, there were orange trees just lining the streets with fresh fruit on them, it was like something out of a movie. It had a large variety of bars and restaurants to chose from, I had a habit of choosing places which had a lot of locals in, as I always find that the best way, you can always tell a good place if the locals love it. I ate in some beautiful places, which I have left reviews about on my reviews page.
The beach is a beautiful golden sand, it was a bit windy and cold when I was there, but thats to be expected in March. It was still warm enough to go for a walk along, and even sit on for a while to read a book or just look out to the ocean listening to it crashing down on the shore line. I spent a lot of my time doing this, reading one of my many books I tend to take away with me, this time around it was " The Power of Now" a very ironic book now when I look back at it, considering I went there as a grieving daughter. I decided before coming out that I was going to something special for dad on the day of his cremation in order of remembrance, so I printed off the last photo I ever had with him, wrote dad a letter on the back of it, climbed into the freezing cold sea, and when I was ready I put the image into the water to let dad float away, I was shocked I didn't cry but I was actually happy - then moments later I was swept off my feet completely by a massive wave. I was soaked from head to toe, colder than cold! but all I could do was laugh my head off, thinking that was definitely dad who caused that haha. I then walked back to the hostel to shower and warm up. Later that day I had dinner with the hostel and they took me to go watch the sunset on the beach - still one of the best sunsets ive ever seen, the pictures I took dont do it any justice at all. The next day I was leaving early morning.
I was absolutely gutted to be leaving, If I could have found a flight back home for a reasonable price I would have happily extended my trip and made more memories and friends. A Massive thank you to the staff and guests of Faro Beach Life for making me feel so welcome and apart of the family.
I don't really know what to say about this beautiful place, it has such a personal meaning to me and I thought that was best to explain to yourselves, its been an emotional write but it feels good to be able to share my experience of how this country helped me, its helped me start the grieving process for dad in a healthy way, and I got to keep my promise to dad - that I'll keep travelling as much as possible, living my best life always.
This blog post is dedicated to my Father, Grant Lang Darren Kester, who may be gone but will never be forgotten. I love you always, My rock, I'll forever strive to make you proud.
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