I admit, at times, I feel a little fickle when it comes to decision-making. So much so, that it really doesn’t take much to completely flip my opinion on a situation. For example, there have been many occasions on this trip when I’ve gone to bed with the idea that we are heading for place A to do activity B. After only a few hours of sleep (often depending on proximity to mosques) I’ve awoken with a complete change of heart. I guess this could be described in two ways. Either I am the kind of person who makes snap decisions on the spot, or, I have an uncanny ability to weigh up pros and cons and come to a considered decision whilst in ‘sleep-mode’. As much as I’d like to claim that the latter is taking place, I sadly think that is a little beyond me. (Hell, I can’t even talk while I fold bed-sheets; it’s just too complicated!)

I’m not sure if I’m making sense. Put it this way; Friday night I went to sleep planning our trip through China and the language barrier we are going to have to over-come. By early Saturday morning, I’d decided that I’m just too tired to tackle the People’s Republic. Luckily Dante is on the same page as me in regards to this subject. I suppose after several months ‘on the road’, I personally feel a little worn-down. Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying our journey, but I have to confess, that ‘fizzing’ sense of excitement that was once so evident in day-to-day life, can only be described as ‘simmering’. I asked myself this question;

“Alex, you have been to many exciting places so far, and done many things. But can you really ignore that little voice that keeps saying, ‘please, please, check into a hotel with clean cotton sheets. Have a really hot shower. Don’t go on scabby public transport for a bit. Don’t put yourself in the situation where a taxi driver tries to hassle you into paying more etc etc’. Do you really want to tackle the mammoth country that is China feeling the way you do at the moment? Do you want your experience of that magnificent place, marred by the exhausted feelings you have right now? Are you in the mood to be stared at by giggling Chinese school-girls? Do you know enough Mandarin to explain to a hotel-owner that there are cockroaches breeding in the toilet?”

Ok, so that was way more than one question, but still, these are the fears that started to surface. I really want to visit China, but I don’t want to do a quick whistle-stop to see the wall, then the terracotta army, then be off. I think it would be cool to ‘immerse’ a little more in the country. (It is huge after all). I suppose of all places, the very thought of China conjures up all kinds of mental images, colours and ideas. I would rather our trip not be an exhausted journey viewed through jaded eyes. Thankfully, Dante shares the same feeling, so we’ve both decided to take a break and then re-group.

“Take a break???!!” I hear you say, are we not already on a prolonged ‘break’? Indeed, that’s true, but after some worried concerns that perhaps we just aren’t cut out for a trip longer than 6 months, we had a look on our favourite travel forum. “We are feeling tired and just a tad jaded at the moment and need some rest – are we bad travelers? Should we just pack up and go home now?” is what we asked.

The answer was quite surprising. Apparently, we’re not the only travelers to ever feel a little ‘blitzed’ by all the moving around. We had a huge response from people all over the globe saying that it’s a very natural feeling, and the best thing to do is to literally ‘go on holiday’ from travelling. Sounds bizarre doesn’t it? But however bizarre it sounds, I’m already excited about our prospects. When considering where to go for affordable ‘holiday’ time, there are many options here in South East Asia. But southern Thailand seems the most appealing at the moment, simply because it will be new, and I have basic enough Thai to get by. So the plan? Next week, we head for one of the islands in southern Thailand, find a cheap but pleasant place to stay (one- on- one duels with spiders and rats do not count as pleasant), then do some writing, some reading, swim in the sea, maybe go on the running machine. Basically, just ‘be on holiday’ as it were.

All too often, I’m guilty of thinking too far ahead, and so is Dante. But for now, I can think of nothing better than lying down after a long swim and reading all those classics I always meant to read…with only the sound of the waves. Smug much? Yes I am. I’m about to have a holiday within a ‘holiday’.

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