Mini-Vacations

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Do you take mini-vacations? You know, weekend getaways. Temporary respite from the hustle and bustle of your life. Maybe a full body massage or spa treatments might even be considered mini vacations. Lol. What are they anyway?

Mini vacations are shorter in duration than real vacations. This could be anywhere from a day and a half to three days. Usually done during the weekends, and not too far from where one lives. For those in Metro Manila for example, this could be a short drive to Tagaytay, Laguna or Batangas, for some fun under the sun, or for a weekend retreat. For many of us who have limited time and budget, this is normally enough to de-stress and prepare ourselves for yet another stressful week in the workplace.

Sometimes, mini vacations tend to leave you wanting for more. More time so you can rest at home after your trip, or more money so you can buy another night of vacation. But it can also leave you in high spirits, looking forward to the next mini vacation. Because they’re mini, they may be easier to plan and easier to save up for. They don’t cost as much as a four-days-three-nights vacay at Bora or Palawan. And there’s no need to burn money for plane tickets.

So why do I bring this up? Because sometimes Alfred and I both feel like our weekends are wasted. We don’t get to do as much because we don’t have the same days off work. It’s really more of a time constraint, but also, we don’t really have the money to spend on extravagant weekends.

I feel bad that I passed off a chance for a mini vacation last week with my former team. They went to Batangas and I saw their pictures and am really envious of the fun they must have had there. They probably stayed up the night gathered ’round the fire (and in fact I saw photos showing this). Here in the Philippines, you’d only find a need for outdoor fireplaces when you’re right at the beach (and they were), or if you’re up in the very cold mountains (Sagada comes to mind); otherwise fireplaces are useless because it’s naturally hot anyway.

But I had to miss it, I wasn’t really feeling too well that weekend and I also had my period. Still, it was a chance to unwind and I didn’t take it. 🙁

It doesn’t look like there will be mini-vacations for us in the very near future. After all, we’re saving up. So I guess I’m just going to have to be a little more creative in finding the perfect activity (and destination) that will fit our time and budgetary limits. 😉