Travel Bits: May 2017

Recovering from a trip. Is there such a thing?

Of course there is! For one, if you travel between continents, there is always the issue of jet lag to take care of when you are finally back home. And if jet lag is not a problem for you, there will always be chores to do. These usually include household chores that piled up while you were away enjoying yourself on that sun-kissed beach or skiing on the slopes of that snow-capped peak. Besides the domestic chores, there will also be office work to chase when you get back to office after those days away posting your beautiful vacation pictures on social media to share with family and friends.

Little Venice, Paddington, London, UK (2017)

So while a holiday can be an invigorating experience and fun, there are the before and after of the trip to consider. I have wrote about the "before" in a previous blog post on my Travel Bit series (click the link here to read more The to-do-list before embarking on a trip.......). Thus, I will focus on the "after" in this post.

Take myself for example. I just returned 8 days ago from a trip to Helsinki, Tallinn and London. Yet, it was only yesterday that I could find some time to sort out the stuff I brought home from the trip. These include the souvenirs which I bought in all 3 cities, my credit card receipts to calculate the "damage" the trip did to my bank account, uploading those photographs from the memory cards and mobile phones to my laptop for processing and archival, counting and putting away the leftover Euros and Pounds for the next trip to Europe and the UK, cleaning and returning my now-cleared luggages back to storage and many other tasks; big and small, important and mundane.

Selling almond sweets in traditional clothing, Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia (2017)

And if you are wondering, I did my laundry immediately after I came home because that was certainly a chore that could not wait no matter how busy I was. I am obsessed with personal cleanliness! ;-)

And catching up on work was no joke. I basically have been hitting the pile of work that had accumulated while I was away and there are still lots that need to be sorted out and do. Working until almost 3 am in the wee hours of the morning everyday since I was home slightly more than a week ago was no fun at all.

But with all the chores and work almost done up and the recovery from the trip almost completed, both in terms of energy and finance, the travel bug is bitting again and I find myself thinking of places to visit next during my daily commute to work.

So where shall I head to next? Will it be another tour of beautiful cities similar to the one I just returned from? Will it be a relaxing read-a-book and bake-myself-in-the-sun kind of trip to Bali, Maldives or the Seychelles or will it be a slightly more physical trip to climb some peaks? A friend suggested over dinner that South Island in New Zealand will be a good option for my next trip. But I just goggled for more information on Indonesia's Komodo National Park. I think I know where I am likely to head to for my next vacation. :-)

Delicious and affordable dining, Helsinki, Finland (2017)