Agoraphobia and a Trip to Wales

A trip to Wales seemed just what was needed after hosting two pairs of students over a 5-week period. A few days without the children (my oldest daughter Carla had offered to look after them). Just Marie & me getting a little time to ourselves.

It didn't have to be Wales, of course. It could have been anywhere in the world...well, anywhere Marie's agoraphobia would allow us to go to...that is, somewhere we could drive to...which wasn't too remote... Yes, the choices were limited, but with a quite favourable weather forecast for the region, a trip to Wales, which is only a couple hours' drive away from here, seemed an attractive proposition. And it was to be south Wales, avoiding all the sparsely populated areas (and the problems which arose on our Scotland trip). Marie was in good form and was wanting to "walk somewhere" - a good omen, indeed. We were also able to spend some time with Jenna and her family before her imminent return to Ireland.

The weather was quite good, and Marie's agora- phobia was not as bad as it has recently been. She went into some bigger shops and took some short walks (6m in built-up areas and 3m in the open). She unexpectedly volunteered to drive a couple of times.

We explored the scenery of the Brecon Beacons, and the Black Moun- tains.





At the edge of the area is Caerleon, a former Roman settlement. Here we visited the Roman remains, including the Roman amphitheatre, claimed to be the most impressive in the UK.



Only I walked around them - Marie waited in the car. The fact that Marie could wait in the car showed an improvement in her agoraphobic condition.

So it was only a few days, but very enjoyable ones.

With no children and no requirement to get up at any specific time, it was like having a second honeymoon...