17 Days (but who's counting)?
Here in America, vacation time can be fairly limited. 1-2 weeks per year for a starting salaried worker. Sometimes none, unless you can afford to take unpaid time off. I remember being in Germany and talking with a group of younger working people from Spain, England, Germany and other countries, and their mouths literally fell open when I shared how much (actually little) time off I had. They averaged 5-6 weeks a year, and could not imagine not having that time to refresh and recharge.
I am very fortunate to work at a place that provides time off, and since I have been at my workplace for a number of years I have access to more vacation days. That, and I have been putting aside a few days here and there each year, 'just in case' I had the opportunity to take a major trip like the one we are going on to Kenya in two and a half weeks. Now I am very glad I did.
Just having counted up the consecutive days that I will be away from home, work, and the regular routine, it comes to 17 days in a row. The last time I had that much free time was in the winter of 1994/1995, during grad school break. At which time we had no money to take a trip, but I remember it being luxurious to have the open time.
So I am wondering what this will be like: relaxing? stupefying? whirlwind? All of the above? I relish getting out of a routine, but how will it be getting back into it?
I am hoping I can put at least a sentence or two down for each of the 17 days and see the ebbs, flows, ups and downs.
But most of all, I am grateful to have this opportunity to travel for more than a couple of weeks, as well as remind myself there is more to the world than my own country, which, frankly I'm ready to take a break from for a little bit.
p.s. I just counted again, and not only are we traveling for 17 days, we are traveling IN JUST 17 days. That's just weird, but cool too.
I am very fortunate to work at a place that provides time off, and since I have been at my workplace for a number of years I have access to more vacation days. That, and I have been putting aside a few days here and there each year, 'just in case' I had the opportunity to take a major trip like the one we are going on to Kenya in two and a half weeks. Now I am very glad I did.
Just having counted up the consecutive days that I will be away from home, work, and the regular routine, it comes to 17 days in a row. The last time I had that much free time was in the winter of 1994/1995, during grad school break. At which time we had no money to take a trip, but I remember it being luxurious to have the open time.
So I am wondering what this will be like: relaxing? stupefying? whirlwind? All of the above? I relish getting out of a routine, but how will it be getting back into it?
I am hoping I can put at least a sentence or two down for each of the 17 days and see the ebbs, flows, ups and downs.
But most of all, I am grateful to have this opportunity to travel for more than a couple of weeks, as well as remind myself there is more to the world than my own country, which, frankly I'm ready to take a break from for a little bit.
p.s. I just counted again, and not only are we traveling for 17 days, we are traveling IN JUST 17 days. That's just weird, but cool too.
Comments
Post a Comment