1206: My Holiday, by Pete, Age 32

I am still on holiday, or “vacation” as you crazy Americans call it, and I’m having a great time. A significant proportion of this can be attributed to our gracious hosts Mark and Lynette, whom I’ve been looking forward to coming to visit again for the past several years. It’s a bummer not living near the vast majority of my friends, most of whom live in various parts of North America and a few of whom live even further afield than that. This means that the opportunity to actually spend some time with people who mean a lot to me is something that I will seize whenever possible.

The other part of the reason I’m having a great time is simply the fact that I’m on holiday with absolutely no commitments or worries right now. It’s a thoroughly pleasant feeling to be in a position where I know I can just enjoy myself without having to think about getting work done, or live up to any responsibilities, or anything like that. It’s a feeling I haven’t had for quite some time, so I’m taking full advantage of the opportunity while I can.

Today has been a lazy day. Andie has been feeling a little under the weather as a side-effect of being a bit ill shortly before we left, so we took it easy for the day. Most of our time has been spent sitting around playing video games, watching TV and generally just hanging out. Some people may think it’s a waste to come three and a half thousand miles to do things that I’d do at home anyway, but combine the opportunity to relax without responsibilities with the chance to hang out with friends I literally haven’t seen face-to-face for years — despite talking to them most days thanks to the Intertubes — and that sounds like a thoroughly good time to me.

I’m a very easy guest. Provide me with a couch to sit on, something to look at and occasionally someone to talk to and I’m happy. I never feel obliged to be doing stuff constantly, unlike many other people I know. (That’s not a passive-aggressive thing — it’s simply the fact I know different people like to holiday in different ways.) I’m very happy just sitting around relaxing and doing things I enjoy with people I like rather than always being on the go, trying to cram as many “sights” into a short period of time as possible. To me, that way lies madness; I go on holiday to chill out and relax, not to be stressed out trying to mark things off on an imaginary, arbitrary checklist.

Basically, all is well in the world, and the holiday period is progressing pleasingly slowly. By the time I return, I should be ready to face whatever the future has in store for me.