Instagram Life and Cold Water

A reminder that pictures never tell the whole story.

When we arrived at the house in the mountains, it felt good to finally stop. The drive was long and winding, and the area was quieter than anything we had seen so far.

We had already been on Gran Canaria for two full days. We had time to look around, and we had already driven through half of the island. The island is not big, so it was easy to explore. Our next stop was a small house in the mountains. We drove up winding roads, and I could not believe how beautiful the area was. It felt like we were driving to the very end of the island. When we reached the gate, I could not believe our luck. It was a lovely house with a pool and a garden around it.

I love watching the girls and seeing the spark in their eyes. They were so excited. And I was too. We settled into our rooms, unpacked our food, and the girls ran straight to the pool. The pool was small but perfect for splashing and cooling down. The water was clear and had a beautiful colour. The girls put their feet in and froze. The water was ice cold. They love swimming in the Scottish sea, and nothing is ever too cold for them — and yet. The pool looked great, but for an average person it was too cold to use. They took a deep breath and jumped in anyway. It looked funny, and the fun lasted only a moment. I did not put even one toe in the water, even though the pool looked tempting. In photos it looks perfect, just like many things do.

By seven in the evening it was already dark, so we sat on the covered terrace and enjoyed the silence. It was the kind of silence that makes your ears ring. The girls played darts with their dad for a little while, and soon we all went to sleep tired.

The next morning we woke up before sunrise and realised our mistake. We had left the bread on the kitchen counter. I did not think twice about it the night before. Breakfast was gone. The whole bread bag was moving. Inside were a million tiny ants. They were everywhere, coming from under the counter and looking for food. I was shocked. I had never seen anything like it.

We filmed it and took photos to send to the owner. We were not sure what to do. We threw the bread away, wiped the counter, and left for the day. When we came back in the evening, everything was calm. Not a single ant. Lesson of the day: never leave anything out. From then on, all food went straight into the fridge.

At first the ants terrified me, but after a moment it became more interesting than scary. There were so many of them, all working hard. We even spotted one that looked like a guard, checking everything around it. In the garden we also had tiny mice, and on the wall a small lizard we named Geko. Outside creatures did not feel so bad. We were living in the middle of nowhere, so it made sense.

The next day we saw something else — a big cockroach looking at us from the air-conditioning unit under the ceiling. That was too much for me. Michał dealt with it, and we did not tell the girls. It was big and scary, and I could not sleep well for the rest of the stay. Now it feels funny, but then it did not.

So why am I writing about all this?

Not to warn anyone and not to complain. The owner was kind and helpful, and she sent someone to deal with everything very quickly. In a place like this, creatures like ants, mice or lizards are normal.

But what stayed with me is this simple thought:

online, everything looks perfect.

A blue pool, a sunny terrace, clean rooms, a relaxing holiday. One photo can make everything look like a dream. But a photo is just one second. It does not show the ants, the mice, the cold water, the nerves, the surprises, or the moments when you wonder what on earth is happening.

Our house looked beautiful and it really was a lovely place, but there was also a whole story behind it — small things we do not see on Instagram, because we rarely show them.

And that is the point.

Most holidays (and most lives) are a mix of lovely moments and ordinary ones. Some are easy, some are strange, some are funny only later. A single photo never shows the full picture. It never tells the whole story.

Sometimes I think we all forget that.