Montenegro

I was intrigued to say the least when I found out that we'd be spending our holidays in the nation of Montenegro. Straight away I had to reach for the atlas (I didn't have a smartphone at the time) to see where this mythical place was located. That turned into a wild goose chase as I later discovered that the country had only been formed a couple of years earlier, rendering our atlas out of date. Once I absorbed the initial shock of spending a week in a place I'd never even heard of before, I reminded myself that I would be joining six of my friends for what promised to be an unforgettable trip abroad.

And so it proved. From the moment we got to Montenegro it was bliss. The scenery. The weather. The friendly locals. Whoever organised this as our destination knew what they were doing. It was unparalleled. After the first day I told myself never to go to a major international city because you don't get paradise like this in New York, Paris, Rome or Shanghai.

We visited some sublime mountain tops and spent a day in the capital city, the name of which I have forgotten - thank heavens I wasn't the tour guide. On our last full day in Montenegro my friend Jonathan told us of a beautiful beach which was very close to our accommodation and every single one of us voted in favour of a visit.

Shauna noticed that I was the only of the group who didn't bring a rucksack with them to the beach. I didn't even realise I hadn't brought one. Why would I need a rucksack at the beach? We took a half-hour walk along the seaside upon our arrival and when that finished I observed that two of the guys were getting undressed in preparation to test the warmth of the water. The hardy pair didn't wince upon contact with the water, which was encouraging indeed. "This is way warmer than at home!" Paddy cheered.

One by one we all made our way in for a swim. Now I knew why I was the only one without a rucksack. While the others all dressed down to the bare essentials, I was still in my white T-shirt, red and white striped jumper and blue jeans. I slowly made my way into the sea, feeling the warm water (yes, the guys weren't fooling us) filter in through my shoes, drenching my socks in the process.

Gradually I felt the wetness move up along my body, my jeans getting heavier and heavier until they were fully underwater. Then the water wrapped itself around my jumper until, at rib height, I lurched forward and felt the force of H2O up to my neck. The weight of my clothes was inescapable but I didn't care. I was breaking the mould.

It wasn't lost on Shauna, who cried "Oh my God she went in with her clothes on!". The guys all laughed, with me giggling along. Better still, Daniel took his underwater camera. We submerged ourselves completely as he whipped around to capture each of us for a matter of seconds. On the video (which unfortunately we lost afterwards due to some technological screw-up) you can pick me out in an instant. The red of my jumper was a giveaway. At least Daniel also took some photos and they remain. I've included one of me underwater.

After a few minutes we made our way back to the seaside and dried ourselves off with towels - well the others did, I let the early autumn sunshine act as my drier. More than one of my friends asked me why I swam in my clothes. I told them I wanted to try something different and they complimented that. I was weighed down on the walk back, though!

It was the perfect way to end an epic holiday. Sadly I've never been back to Montenegro since but one day I vow to return. It was a truly magical week with some very special friends - and one memorable swim!

xxx