Relax

Just so that everyone knows: I'll be down south in Bacolod City for a few days after the first of May. I'm not normally the type of person who takes a lot of vacations, but in this case, I'm gladly passing by for the sake of two college friends -- they're finally tying the knot after a ten-year courtship.

I suppose that I could go on and on about any number of things here -- the packing, the flight reservations, the matter of picking up a hotel room in a place that's not exactly one of the country's prime tourist spots -- but I won't. I've had too many things to worry about over the past few days, and I'm not about to invest an excessive amount of thought into this trip. I'm just going to spend the time relaxing and trying to work out the kinks in my soul.

Maybe I'll read a bit. Maybe I'll write a bit. But whatever I'll do, I'll try to relax.

I've noticed that it's remarkably difficult to relax nowadays, for some reason. If you're not scrambling to finish your office work, you're probably stressing out over your vacation plans. If you're not speaking out in response to the Olympic protests, you're probably railing at the government's useless actions in the face of the rice crisis. If it's not the heat, it's the sudden bouts of rain; and if it's not the fact that summer's half over already, it's the fact that the monsoon season is coming up.

Boy, that day trip to that spa sounds pretty good right now.

That said, a makeshift reunion weekend spent with old friends sounds just as good, if not better. But then, that's why I'm headed over there.

The good news is that I've been preparing for this for the last couple of months. From what I know, people normally prepare for a vacation about one or two weeks before the departure date. My work schedule, however, pretty much dictates that I need to announce any substantial vacation plans some time before the actual leave -- so I've actually been squirreling my preparations to and fro for the last two months. Interestingly enough, it's done wonders for the stress; with most of my needs already on hand, I don't have much left to do apart from packing my overnight bag.

Now, with the exception of work, I get to sit back and wait for the big day to come. In a sense, relaxation should start a few days before you get on that airplane and buckle your seatbelt.

I'm not expecting to write any blog posts during my stay over there, but there's the possibility that I might, and I asked specifically for a LAN connection in my hotel room just for that purpose. Still, you might expect me to be silent for the first week of next month.

Hopefully around that time, I'll be lying on my chest on a bamboo table somewhere in the south, getting some cream-and-oil variant slathered on my back. Or sleeping. Sleep is always good.