Irony is one of those concepts many of us like to ponder and to define in our minds. Of course it differs from perhaps seemingly similar notions such as sarcasm and contradiction. Here is a perfect example of irony you may all consider as a perfectly defining example.

My last rant here entitled ‘Travelling My Way’ dealt with my own style of preparing and booking for a holiday. The main gist of my story was how I always make it a point of booking everything at the last minute, warding off any possible changes or cancelations which might occur if booking too early.

I boasted and revelled in my own perceived wisdom, how I got the entire holiday planned and reserved, flights, itinerary, sights, hotels, car hire, buses, etc., all within an hour and only three days before our departure. What an absolute effing genius I am! I thought I had it all worked out, holding on firmly until literary three days before, and finishing it all up with a proud rant on how to do it last minute, without the worry of having to change it.

Only the next morning when we woke up, my wife gets a terrifying phone call from her father, to return home to the far east of Russia urgently, as her mother had suddenly fallen into what was described as possibly a terminal coma!

I spent that day, the day after I planned and reserved everything, two days before we were meant to leave on holiday, and less than 12 hours after writing my awe-inspiring rant on how to do things properly in a fool-proof manner, cancelling every single arrangement I had just made only hours before.

I really daren’t say what conclusion I should come to. Should I have booked even later? Perhaps reserving it all via my mobile as I stop at traffic lights on the way to the airport? Do I go the other extreme and say that a sudden change can always happen no matter when you book, so might as well book early? Let us just say that I feel slightly less authoritative on the subject and a bit less qualified to pontificate on the best ways of doing things.

My only conclusion in this is one – this is what irony is made of!