First time away from home! (Part 3)

I seem to have written War and Peace as usual about my experience at LFF, but there's still plenty to say about the rest of the weekend! So, with apologies, here we go again 🙂

The Saturday morning didn't get off to a great start. For some reason I woke up about 6am and couldn't quite get back to sleep despite feeling quite groggy after the excesses of the previous night. Eventually I found the News channel and watched the TV for a while, before getting dressed and into light makeup to go down for breakfast. On returning, I packed and then watched some of the the Olympics coverage. Come checkout time I put the suitcase and rucksack back in the car in a nearby carpark, then went off into town again to explore further.

In Primark I bought a denim skirt that I'd tried on the previous afternoon, but had then found a huge queue due to there only being one till in operation. I had a look in some of the characterful Victorian arcades, full of very nice high-end shops, but with nothing to really interest me. In the end I walked out to the nearest park and just sat there in the intermittent sunshine for most of an hour, generally quite tired and my head still a bit fuzzy, now just through the lack of sleep rather than any residual alcohol. I basically had to wait long enough to leave Leeds, that I could just drive straight to my next hotel 50 miles away to arrive at check-in time, with just a stop for lunch. Luckily this was going to work without overstaying the the time that I'd paid for in the car park.

Eventually I walked back into town via a different route, buying a couple of items in a charity shop that I came across in another little shopping centre. I'd chosen a route that would take me past some of the older, official buildings for a look at the architecture on my way back to the car. When I got to the Town Hall though, there was a big anti-Fascism demonstration going on, so I quickly left again. I'd ended up using the Ladies in the main shopping centre quite a lot already that day, and after a final stop there before getting back to the car, I found the demonstration was now marching through the centre, chanting very loudly. I've nothing against the people or their cause but it was just too much for my head, and I was glad to push through the column of people and get outside via another exit.

As I arrived at my next hotel in Warrington, two of my friends from A2OC were also just parking up. We greeted each other just like normal, complimented each others' cars and went to check in all together. I was pleased to see the reception hung with Pride flags and posters, and having given my name again as Fiona, I was treated as much as a woman as my GG friend was. Once in my room, I put the kettle straight on and ran a deep relaxing bath, during which I made good use of the nice Bayliss & Harding shower gel in the dispenser 🙂  Again, shave and back into light make-up and just time to relax in front of the TV for a while before meeting up for dinner in the restaurant.

I must have started to drift off, because I found myself waking up when a text from my friends arrived on my phone! I was soon down in the restaurant however, and the three of us had a great chat over dinner. In the course of conversation I took them through the major highlights of my story culminating in my coming out, followed by my trial period as Fiona and eventually my decision to stay this way. My GG friend works in a theatre where there is a very high representation of both the non-binary and the neurodiverse elements of the population.  She was particularly understanding of everything, but her partner was also completely at ease being seated at the table eating with me.

After my dinner had gone down, it was definitely time for an early night. On the Sunday morning I had to be shaved and in a full day's make-up, in time for the start of the breakfast service, because we had to be at the car show 20 miles away by 9am.

The A2 convoy in to the show was its usual enjoyable self, seeing nothing but the same model in all sorts of colours both in front and in the mirrors. We did end up being slightly late arriving, but mainly because there was an hour's queue of show-traffic to get into the grounds, and plenty more behind us!

I'm pleased to say that all my other A2OC friends also treated me just like normal, the only thing was one couple who aren't frequent visitors to the forum didn't know about Fiona and wondered why I was wearing a wig, blouse and skirt. It just took a re-introduction to sort things out. I had longer chats with a couple of people who I'd last seen in male mode with my ex-partner at the previous show just three weekends ago. They were also thoroughly understanding and supportive, even though they'd also known and got on well with her.

Many owners of other models at the show, and a lot of the visiting public, seem to remember the A2 and have a long-held background interest in the model. Plenty of people stopped at our club stand to chat with us. My garage-queen example attracted its usual attention, which I was as happy as always to engage in conversation about, and show the interior and engine bay. I'm pleased to say that not one person seemed to take the slightest notice of my presenting as a woman, despite my baritone voice that just wouldn't pitch higher with still being slightly hoarse from Friday night. I had a good look round the show too, including all the stalls. I was treated everywhere as a woman, I was addressed as 'my darling' and similar rather than 'mate'.

By the end of the day, although there were some lovely and rare automotive examples that I'd not seen before, for some reason my camera hadn't come out at all. Maybe it was the intermittent drizzle, maybe cumulative tiredness or the majority male-oriented vibe. On reflection though I'm just not as much into cars in general, as the A2 in particular, and specifically the warm friendship and social scene within A2OC. The more I think about it, this was actually true before I even ventured out in public as Fiona for the first time earlier this year. It's another way in which I was already changing before I even realised it.

I finally arrived home about 7pm after a 3½ hour drive. I was very tired, but in its different events I'd had both an exhilarating and a validating weekend, just being myself throughout - my real, feminine self. I'm filled with quiet optimism and confidence for the life that I've now chosen to lead, because it really doesn't seem like anyone else sees it in any way other than positively, if they even have any opinion about it at all. I'm not going to shove it in anyone's face, and they're going to just let me get on with it, and that's exactly how it should be 🙂