I’d been on the road since half six that morning, inching through the usual M4 hold-ups, when the satnav finally announced we’d reached Alban Road. Naturally, just as we turned into the little cul-de-sac, the passenger window decided to pack up halfway down, letting in a blast of salty air and the faint smell of chips from a nearby takeaway. We pulled up laughing, me trying to coax the glass back into place while my partner hunted for the cottage key under the doormat.

The house itself looked exactly as the photos had promised: a neat, white-rendered semi with a pale blue door and a small patch of garden where a couple of deckchairs already waited. Inside, everything felt warm and lived-in. The living room opened straight onto a kitchen that still smelled faintly of toast from whoever had been there before us, and the back door led to a tiny yard with a view straight down the lane toward the dunes. We hadn’t even unpacked before we were both standing there, shoes kicked off, listening to the distant wash of waves.

A short stroll later—barely five minutes—we reached the beach at Llanelli, the tide out and the sand still damp from the morning. Gulls wheeled overhead while a few families pottered about with buckets and spades, and I felt that familiar mix of relief and mild embarrassment that always hits after a long drive. The mishap with the window had somehow set the tone; nothing grand or dramatic, just small, ordinary hiccups that somehow made the place feel more ours already.

Back at the cottage we made tea in mismatched mugs and sat on the little patio, watching the light fade over the estuary. It struck me, not for the first time, how often I plan these trips down to the last detail and then forget that the best bits are usually the unplanned ones—the stuck window, the wrong turning that led us past a field of ponies, the way the evening air suddenly felt softer once we’d stopped rushing. Alban Road hadn’t tried to impress us; it had simply let us arrive, slightly dishevelled and properly ready to slow down.