Living & Learning: The Preciousness of Time

I recently returned home from a trip to Hong Kong where I attended an International Convention with friends. The trip was exciting and eventful with every last spare minute filled with an activity or social gathering.In all honesty, I came home feeling quite drained from it all. Although it was a lovely weekend, and I am grateful for all of the experiences I had with my friends as well as making new friends and exploring some of Hong Kong, I have come to the conclusion that weekend getaways are not necessarily for me anymore. This is a difficult pill for me to swallow, because, as a lover of travel and exploration, I used to pride myself on being able to hop on a plane at the last minute and jetset off to a foreign country for long-awaited adventure. This is also one of the perks of living in Asia, where international flights are reasonably priced and there are a variety of countries around me to explore. It seems though that as I get older, I become more high-maintenance, and I am learning to embrace that quality in myself. 

I may not be as adventurous as I used to be, but I am learning about the preciousness of time and self care in my life.

View of Hong Kong Island from Star Ferry Pier in Kowloon.

This does not mean that I am swearing off weekend getaways for the rest of my life, it just means that I have decided to be more particular in how and when I choose to have them. I think they can be a fun and exciting activity when certain variables exist in my favour such as rest time surrounding the trip, and a good balance of social and individual activities.

Some tips that I have learned are as follows:

1. When booking a trip for a conference or a special event, keep in mind that, just like a business trip, this will not be a good opportunity for tourism unless you book extra days around the event for that. So, do not go into it expecting to see all of the sights in your destination, because that can take you away from the original reason you are there in the first place. You can always return to the city for a more touristy experience in the future!
2. A trip spent with friends can be fun and exciting, but ensure that you also have some of your own space, both physical and time-wise. I was lucky enough to have my own room in an Air BnB during this trip but that meant that my two travel mates had to share a room which was unfair to them and I'm sure, made things a little bit more exhausting for them in the end. Time-wise, it is important to block off some time for yourself to do what you would like. I regret not having just taken a few hours during my trip to relax in my room which was what I truly wanted to do but felt I could not because of time constraints at the convention and confusing my wants with those of the people around me. 
3. A weekend trip can take rest out of your weekend, so ensure that your schedule in both the weeks before and after the trip offers up enough down time to make up for that. I am lucky enough to have a job where I have a fair amount of vacation, so I have realized that a weekend trip has to be pretty enticing for me to risk losing my prescious rest time over the weekend during a busy work month. Instead, I can simply wait to book my trip during my vacation time when I have adequate down time in my schedule around it.
4. Quality over Savings: Be willing to spend a bit more on things that will make the trip more comfortable and worthwhile to you. This was a hard lesson for me to learn because I tend to err on the side of cheap, especially when it comes to travel in Asia. It can be done in this continent for very cheap which is awesome, but what I am coming to learn is that my comfort is worth the extra money. On this past trip, I skimped on buying cheaper flights and a cheaper room when I ended up flying super early and late in the day, which meant sacrificing my sleep and money for transportation to and from the airport. I also had shared accommodations with friends which worked fine for me, but I felt guilty occupying one room, while they had to share the other. In retrospect, it would have been worth it to stay in our own rooms in a hotel and fly the more expensive flights later in the day so that I could get a proper rest the nights before and after the trip.

I think that in my sobriety I have come to value more the idea of how precious my time is. 

It is interesting for me to reflect on how my priorities have changed over time. Just a few years ago, I certainly was not prioritizing my quiet time over a new adventure. I think that in my sobriety I have come to value more the idea of how precious my time is. I have come to see that I cannot fully be present in the moments of exciting experiences if I haven't given myself enough grace time to be still and collect my thoughts. As an extrovert, that has been a difficult lesson for me to learn. My instinct has always been towards over stimulation, looking outwards for my energy and validation instead of inwards. I am still learning how to create this balance in my life, and this trip brought that lesson to life for me.  

For my next weekend getaway, I plan to book it with the 4 tips listed above in mind. And, if I cannot meet those requirements then, maybe that is an indication that it is just not the right trip for me! I am working on being ok with that, but I'm still a work in progress.