Which of the three will it be?

As today is Easter and the weather here in the Netherlands is letting us down once again - I don't know if it's on purpose, but the chances of having a white Easter were this year bigger than those of having a white Christmas - I'm planning my holidays. That is, virtually speaking, as I'm suffering from a chronical lack of money on my much-loved bank account. I'm saying "much-loved" now I have downloaded this app on my smartphone which helps me to check on it every single minute of the day, I repeat, every single minute. Unfortunately, all the checking doesn't help to grow a money tree.

So last week, when I posted this, my Blue friend commented that I could go to Bora Bora to get rid of my paranoia. "Bora Bora?" I hear you thinking... Exactly the same happened to me too when I read this post, because, honestly, Bora Bora?? I thought it was just one of those imaginary places on this planet Earth, made up by my Blue friend. However, he told me that it really exists, so I decided today that it was time for some research. And indeed, it exists. Let me show you this picture, just to give you a tiny impression:

 
Not too bad, is it? But then I thought, maybe there are other pulchritudinous islands on our planet, so I wanted to check them out. I don't know why, but I'd like to visit an island once in my life - and then of course preferably far, far away, therefore the Wadden Islands don't count! - so I'd better find out something about the hundreds - what do I say, thousands - of islands we know about, only to find out that the choice is just way too big. So I decided to limit myself to islands beginning with a B - no real preference, just because Bora Bora has two B's, I guess - and as far as size is concerned, I wanted to limit it to a hundred square kilometres max. Bora Bora's size is a mere 30 square kilometres. Then I thought about Bermuda. You know, the well-known island forming part of the cursed Bermuda Triangle. So I decided this could also be a fabulous holiday destination, as it's an island starting with a B, having a surface of about 53 square kilometres. Now check this picture out:

Well, I wouldn't be too bad-tempered were somebody to send me there, even though you have this thing with the Bermuda Triangle. However, then I was a little bit left without further inspiration, so I googled "islands beginning with B", and I found a whole bunch of them. Try it out for yourself if you think I'm fooling you. And how could I choose only one more to make the list complete? (You know I have something with the number 3, don't you? That's why there have to be exactly 3!) So I took my antique but still reliable secondary school atlas and had a look at page 112-113, where you can find a map of the world. Bad thing about this atlas is that it doesn't even know Bora Bora, can you imagine?! Good thing is it does show Bermuda. As Bora Bora has to be somewhere at the margin of the right-hand page and Bermuda is almost at the margin of the left-hand page, I decided I should look somewhere between these two to find another island, preferably meeting my requirements of course. And believe it or not, but the map showed a small island, of which I'd never heard before - neither have you, I assume - apparently belonging to Norway, called Bouvet. As I don't believe in coincidence, I knew immediately that this was the island I'd been looking for. So Mr. Google served me well once again, and this is what I discovered:

- It does meet the requirements: it starts with a B and its size is only 49 square kilometres. 
- It's an uninhabited, volcanic island, located in the South Antarctic Ocean. 
- It must be very cold out there, and there must be lots and lots of snow.
- Would there somehow be an airport? Or would I have to go by boat?
- I think I'd better not go there... especially in comparison with the two islands I mentioned before...

This is what it looks like:

However, I've always been fascinated by snow and ice, and I love to take a stroll when it's snowing, although I also have to admit that snow on the day before Easter - as was the case in Holland yesterday - is a bit over the top. Still, it's worth considering going there, because "uninhabited" sounds great to me! No people nagging on about my thesis, no people scaring me when they drop the words "job" or "future", no people hurting my feelings, no people whatsoever. Just me and my island... No thesis, no problems, but also, no Internet, so no blogging... Well, I could give it a go if only I installed electricity and Internet on the island. I don't really mind the cold. I mean, I can deal with it better than with the heat I'd find on the two B-islands I mentioned before. By the way, why does Mr. Google only show me pictures of alluring beaches and deep-blue oceans when I search for "uninhabited"? Surely there are other uninhabited places on earth, without the paradisiacal look?! 

However, I have come to my senses. No way there is enough money on my bank account to go to Bermuda or Bora Bora, let alone to go to Bouvet and install electricity and Internet over there! Still, nothing is impossible. I know for sure my Blue friend and his beautiful wife will one day visit Bora Bora and send me loads and loads of pictures. I mean, he can have it. Maybe he doesn't have the money (yet), but it will come. He already has a gorgeous tan, so that can only get better. And his Bollywood wife will be most pleased to lie there on the beach, go for a swim every once in a while - but watch out, for there are sharks over there! - and have a good time with her (by then) de-grumped husband. 


Therefore, France it will be, 2 weeks in the Provence once again. It's already way too expensive for my poor piggy bank, but sometimes you just have to think about other people too, and if they wish for you to join them, who am I to say no? Especially when there are people involved that you really love... Anyway, I'm already having this discussion with myself over which books I should take, for I have lots and lots of choice, because of the so-called hole in my hand...