Trailblazing SUMMERS

Life is for living! Three women share their extraordinary adventures – and what they learnt about themselves on the way

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'IT'S IMPORTANT TO TAKE TIME FOR MYSELF'

Georgina Fuller, 47, is a mother of three and lives in Oxfordshire.

As I struggle to keep track of the countless play dates I've arranged for my three children to keep them busy this summer and run around tidying up after them, I can't help but fondly remember the solo holiday I embarked upon last year. Free from the constant demands that come with being a wife and mother, I felt relaxed and liberated during my week alone in the Maldives.

I've always wanted to go there but having spent the past decade and a half chasing around after Charlie, 16, Eddie, 13, and Jemima, 11, there was a never a good time. Plus I knew we couldn't afford a family trip there. So when I heard about the luxurious Amilla resort running a menopause retreat for frazzled mums, I jumped at the chance. The prospect of spending a week on a tiny island being pampered rather than making multiple meals a day for the children, doing the washing and trying to meet deadlines for my job as a freelance writer was very appealing.

I'd been away once before without the rest of the family, to Malta for a friend's 40th, but this was the first long-haul trip I'd made solo. Taking the seaplane over the islands and having my own little room on stilts overlooking the Indian Ocean was something I will never forget, and it just wouldn't have been the same with three noisy, restless children – and my husband – in tow. I soon got into the swing of the slow pace and my days were spent exploring the island on my bike or swimming in the turquoise sea. I visited the meditation garden most days and walked along the shore by the coconut trees.