{"id":153,"date":"2025-09-10T10:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/Everest\/WordPress%20Project\/viable\/?p=153"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:17:44","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:17:44","slug":"travelling-with-friends-makes-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/?p=153","title":{"rendered":"Travelling with friends makes fun"},"content":{"rendered":"
The sound of a car horn pulled me from my sketchbook\u2014where I\u2019d been adding details to Lila\u2019s yellow dress in the sunset drawing\u2014and I looked up to see Nikos\u2019s old blue car pull into our driveway. Marisol was leaning out the window, waving wildly, and Lila was already running toward them, Shell at her heels, her yellow dress fluttering in the breeze. \u201cTravelling with friends makes fun,\u201d Lila had said a hundred times in the weeks leading up to their visit\u2014and as I watched her hug Marisol tight, I knew she was right.<\/div>\n
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Nikos climbed out of the car, grinning, and held up a paper bag. \u201cBanana bread,\u201d he said. \u201cMarisol insisted we bring your favorite.\u201d I laughed, taking the bag\u2014still warm\u2014and leading them toward the porch, where lavender plants smelled sweet in the morning air. Shell was already sniffing Marisol\u2019s shoes, her tail wagging, and Marisol knelt down to scratch her ears. \u201cLook at you!\u201d she said. \u201cAll grown up since the last time we saw you.\u201d Lila sat on the porch swing, her yellow dress pooling around her, and pulled Marisol down beside her. \u201cWe have so much planned,\u201d she said. \u201cBeach picnics, village markets, a day trip to the old lighthouse\u2014oh, and we\u2019re making banana muffins tonight, just like old times.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The next morning, we packed the car with towels, the six-pack towel (of course), a cooler of banana smoothies, and Shell\u2019s purple leash, and headed to the lighthouse\u2014an hour\u2019s drive from our beach house, perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Nikos drove, singing off-key to Greek folk music, while Marisol flipped through our memory box (we\u2019d brought it along to show them the new seashells and the pressed rose). \u201cYou two have been busy,\u201d she said, smiling at the swatch of yellow fabric I\u2019d added. Lila nodded, squeezing my hand. \u201cTravelling with friends makes fun, but coming home to make memories? Even better.\u201d<\/div>\n
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When we reached the lighthouse, we climbed the stone steps to the top, Shell trotting beside us, and gasped at the view: the ocean stretching out to the horizon, blue and bright, with seagulls circling below. Marisol pulled out her camera, taking photos of Lila in her yellow dress\u2014\u201cYou look like a sunflower against the sea,\u201d she said\u2014and Nikos and I leaned against the railing, watching them. \u201cRemember when we first met?\u201d Nikos said, grinning. \u201cYou were staring at Lila\u2019s curls so hard you dropped your sketchbook.\u201d I laughed, shaking my head. \u201cAnd you were trying to impress Marisol with your fishing stories\u2014even though you\u2019d never caught a fish in your life.\u201d He laughed, clapping me on the back. \u201cTravelling with friends makes fun because we get to laugh at the old stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd make new stuff, too.\u201d<\/div>\n
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We spread the six-pack towel on the grass below the lighthouse and unpacked our picnic: Nikos\u2019s banana bread, my banana smoothies, and a container of Lila\u2019s famous banana muffins. Shell curled up beside us, munching on a puppy treat, as we talked about the past\u2014Marisol and Nikos\u2019s wedding plans (they were thinking of a small beach ceremony next year), our time at the gym with the ivy bench, the harvest festival where I\u2019d given Lila the red mask. \u201cRemember when you two saved that wilted rose?\u201d Marisol said, pointing to the memory box. Lila nodded, smiling. \u201cWe pressed it, just like grandma taught me. It\u2019s in there, with all the other good stuff.\u201d<\/div>\n
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That evening, we drove back to the beach house, stopping at a village taverna for dinner. We sat outside, under strings of fairy lights, and ordered grilled fish and lemonade, while Shell lay at our feet. Lila was still wearing her yellow dress, and the lights made it glow, like she was lit from within. Marisol raised her glass, grinning. \u201cTo friends,\u201d she said. \u201cTo travels. To the people who make life sweet.\u201d We clinked our glasses, and I looked at Lila\u2014her curly hair, her bright smile, the way she laughed at Nikos\u2019s jokes\u2014and felt my heart full. Travelling with friends makes fun, but doing it with the person I loved? That was everything.<\/div>\n
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When we got home, we added a new item to the memory box: a photo of the four of us at the lighthouse, Lila in her yellow dress, Shell sitting at our feet. Marisol wrote on the back: \u201cTravelling with friends makes fun\u2014but travelling with family? Even better.\u201d<\/i> We hugged them goodnight, and as Lila and I sat on the porch swing, watching the stars, Shell curled up in our laps. \u201cToday was perfect,\u201d Lila said, her head on my shoulder. I kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of lavender and her hair. \u201cIt was,\u201d I said. \u201cBecause we got to share it with them. Because travelling with friends makes fun\u2014but only if you\u2019re with the right people.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Love isn\u2019t just about two people. It\u2019s about the friends who become family, the trips that turn into memories, the little moments\u2014like laughing at Nikos\u2019s off-key singing, or sharing banana muffins at a lighthouse\u2014that make life worth living. It\u2019s about Lila, in her yellow dress, smiling at me across a picnic towel. It\u2019s about Marisol and Nikos, who\u2019ve been with us through every step\u2014from the gym to the beach, from ivy benches to lighthouse views.<\/div>\n
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And as I held Lila close that night, listening to Shell\u2019s soft snores, I knew\u2014there would be more trips, more laughs, more friends to share them with. Because travelling with friends makes fun, but travelling with the ones you love? That\u2019s forever. Exactly how we wanted it.<\/div>\n
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The sound of a car horn pulled me from my sketchbook—where I’d been adding details to Lila’s yellow dress in the sunset drawing—and I looked up to see Nikos’s old blue car pull into our driveway. Marisol was leaning out the window, waving wildly, and Lila was already running toward them, Shell at her heels,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[15,16,27],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=153"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":635,"href":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153\/revisions\/635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xsslovedating.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}