Ever since I completed my degree and travel guide four years ago, it’s been a dream of mine to travel for work. Covid put that on hold for a while but this year I finally got to start my career in the travel editorial industry, and a major perk of that is getting paid to see incredible places.
In November, I got to do my first work trip. Off I went to beautiful Ghent, Belgium’s picture-perfect city. Often overlooked by big brother Brussels and chocolate-box Bruges, Ghent sits pretty in between them. It was once upon a time one of Europe’s most important ports, but is now a university town, full of intimidatingly cool bike-riding students zipping along canals and past original Flemish design. A mix of old and new, medieval and modern; a combination that shouldn’t work as seamlessly as it does. The young energy and cool vibe breathes vibrancy and vitality into the historic city, preventing it from feeling stale, while the preserved architecture honours the heritage and maturity of Ghent.
This juxtaposition was successfully mirrored in the 4-star B&B that I was here to provide some personal opinions on. A 17th Century mansion with a history so rich and significant it is classed as a listed monument, naturally I was the girl for the job… I was eating (and reviewing) breakfast in a room adorned with original 18th Century murals, in baggy jeans and second-hand reeboks. But even though I probably stood out like a sore thumb - that 25 year old woman staying on her own, furiously making notes and tasting all the jams just to make sure no detail is missed - it was hard to feel like I was working. A surreal realisation hit me more than once while here, that I had achieved what I had been working and pushing towards for so many years, and it was just as great as I always imagined.
The B&B is owned by a pair of interior designers, who use their love of art to bring personality to their stately home. Quirky pieces of modern art have been smartly paired with antique furnishings, which helped to make the grand house feel less like a museum and more like a contemporary city escape. I got to sleep in a room that was once two interconnected rooms, known as ‘Le Chambres des Amoureux’. That second bedroom is now a massive bathroom, big enough for a royal or two. And the bedroom featured a four-poster bed with actual drapes and satin sheets. Safe to say I slept well after my days wandering through Ghent.
And that is mostly what I did. I don’t think there’s a huge amount to do in Ghent; there’s definitely a lot of history to learn and architecture to admire, but I found it’s one of those places where all you need to enjoy it is to simply absorb the atmosphere. I was there mid-week and the evenings were still bustling, and even though the temperatures were pretty firmly set in single figures people were still embracing the alfresco drinking/dining scene (something I love about mainland Europe, and wish we placed more emphasis on here in the UK) well into the night. Simply walking down the cobbled lanes and having a beer or mulled wine beside the canal was enough entertainment, watching the world go by as normal.
I went on my own this time, something that I came away with mixed feelings about. I love travelling solo; anyone who knows me knows I think it’s the best thing you can do, for your self-esteem, for meeting people, for seeing places on your own terms. It’s really incredible. I haven’t been able to do any trips alone since I returned from New Zealand in 2019 (again, thank you Covid) so I was itching to get going again. And as soon as I got on that first tube to St Pancras that sense of excitement and anticipation hit. Tinged with nerves because I was there in a professional capacity for the first time, so I didn’t exactly know what to expect, or rather how much of my time would be expected by the hoteliers, but I was finally getting away to somewhere totally new again, a feeling I and my itchy feet live for.
I fairly quickly felt the downside to travelling alone in this context, though, something I knew would happen - you don’t really meet people in hotels, especially 20-somethings in fancy B&Bs, so the fact you’re there on your own is somewhat magnified. Part of the joy of solo travel, as I’ve said above, is meeting so many like-minded, travel-mad people who are so open to getting to know everyone they come across. In a hotel, people tend to be there to have peace and do their own thing. And for two days in beautiful Ghent I was fine with that; being forced to have time on my own, really on my own, felt like a bit of a mental reset. The last few months, ever since the summer, had felt hectic and non-stop (all good things, but draining nonetheless), so to be able to physically step away from that into a quiet bubble, away from everything and everyone I know, and just be with myself felt like the flick of a switch in my brain. A sigh of relief. Any longer than a couple of days and I think I would have started to miss that human interaction, but maybe I would have found it when I needed to, who knows. And there is something special about discovering somewhere new with someone else, a shared experience that can’t be relived or repeated.
There are swings and roundabouts to it all, but in a nutshell I had a total pinch-me time in Belgium, and I’m glad I did it alone on my first ever work trip. Maybe I’ll let a lucky pal tag along for the next one, just need to consult the list…