Holidays, always an important and essential part of my life. Even as a child, when most families just didn’t go abroad, we always went to a warmer country for two weeks a year. Be it with a tent or a caravan, my father had the same feeling I have that he just had to get away to the sunshine and different cultures. My mother often didn’t share that same enthusiasm, she was always a bit homesick. No matter if all her loved ones surrounded her in our home away from home, she still wanted nothing more than to go back. I’m so glad I didn’t inherit that trait from her, holidays are my top priority in life, and therefore a top priority in my finances. They dictate of course where I go on my holiday, but no matter how I go, for how long or how far, I enjoy each and every one of my destinations.
We’ve just come back from a 10 day journey to Boston, and while I was waiting for my flight home at Logan Airport, I was wondering if a holiday is worth all the hassle. That seems a bit of a strong statement, while I write about it now in retrospect, but you have to understand that I’m always a bit sad when traveling home again. So bear with me. First: the stay in Boston was wonderful. We had been to Boston two years ago for a couple of days as part of a longer trip, and we really liked this town. It reminded us of London (another firm favorite of ours), and we wanted to see more of Massachusetts. Nice hotel, good rental car and great food, plus we always enjoy each other’s company very much on these trips. Some families tend to have arguments when they are forced to be together 24/7. Not us, we have the best of times.
But in my somber mood I got to thinking if the great joy of the holiday outweighed the stress before and after. I’m sure we are all familiar with the pre-holiday stress. There’s your work, you don’t want to burden your colleagues with things that you should have finished before you leave. And you want to prepare them for things that might pop up when you’re gone. Then there’s your home: no matter if I go away for 2 days or for 2 weeks, I always feel as if my house has to be in order. Everything cleared away, all the dirty laundry done, the house cleaned. Then there are the sad goodbyes: to my mom who doesn’t like me being away, to my dog when I drop her off at the pet-hotel. And then there is making sure everything is packed, nothing forgotten. And lastly there’s the journey. Even if you can go by car instead of by plane, it still takes quite some time to get where you want to.
Then when the holiday is drawing to an end, there’s the journey home. Which always seems to take longer than the journey to our destination. Back home, picking up the dog again and doing grocery shopping, because of course every cupboard is empty. And then, worse of all, back to work. And back to all the problems you thought you had solved. Back to the treadmill, that’s how it feels on that first morning.
So, is it worth it? You knew of course what my answer would be: of course it’s worth it. Because when all is back to normal life again, I still have my memories and my pictures. And they give me a good feeling every time I recall them. And that is exactly why holidays are one of my priorities in life!