Don’t worry, I’m not writing this while on holiday.
Right at this moment1, I am in Vietnam, having just arrived from the Philippines. Presumably I’m having a grand old time. It's my first holiday overseas since 2018.
At the time I’m writing this however, I'm at home, less than 24 hours from my flight. My bags are packed, my visa and passport is ready, and I'm almost completely ready to go. The one notable missing item(s): the unruly stack of unread books I always expect to be able to read while on holiday.
I do this all the time, whether I'm taking an extended holiday overseas or a weekend roadtrip away. I pack all the books I've been meaning to read, download all the movies and podcasts I haven't watched yet, pack the same stack of fifteen facemasks even though I'll be gone for five days and only have one face.
I'm trying to win at vacations, a completely normal thing to try to do. After all, if rest is productive and productivity can be maximized, why can't we maximize our rest?
I know part of this impulse is because I'm an adult now. I don't have someone else planning and budgeting my holiday. I have to be my own Vacation Mom, and I only have so much free time, so I want to make sure my time is as nourishing/adventurous/inspiring as possible.
What must-eat things do I need to try? What tourist attractions do I definitely need to see? Did you see this travel hacks video? What about this one? Am I writing in my journal enough? Am I taking enough photos? Am I being unplugged enough, but also plugged in just enough so I can document how much fun I’m having?
Listen, I certainly don’t go overseas all the time, and there’s definitely things I should make time to do. I should eat the foods I want, see the family I want to see, go to the places I want to go; I shouldn’t restrict my joy. At the same time, I also don’t need to beat myself up if I spend some time just chilling with some cousins instead of doing every bit of sight-seeing I listed on an itinerary.
It’s weird and futile to get better at being on holiday, a thing that has too many uncontrollable variables, but I think it’s possible to get better at taking time off. Doing it more often. Not waiting until burn out hits. Not putting pressure on myself to “make the most” of my time off. The only way I’m not doing so is when I treat ‘taking time off’ like another job I have to do.
I don’t know how this holiday has gone. I hope it’s gone well. And right now, checked in with my bags packed and ready, hope is all I can really do. That, and read the… one book I’ll pack on my carry-on. Maybe two.
Thanks for reading! Have a treat.
In honour of me being in Saigon2, here is TET, a very cool game I found about trying to prepare a meal for Lunar New Year.
While our house is currently being house-sat by our strongest and most unusually violent friends at the behest of our landlord
Using my partner's preferred term for his hometown