I have been back at work the last two days after the most wonderful, soul-enriching holiday. I couldn’t afford to travel overseas – or locally for that matter – so it was a stay-at-home vacation that turned out to be one of my best – ever. 

I began my holiday in a plight of regret. Regret that I hadn’t spent enough time with my ouma, that I hadn’t booked more leave, that I hadn’t planned a fabulous getaway, that I hadn’t saved enough money to go on a fabulous getaway. So I took it upon myself to wake up each day without expectation, to abandon the pervasive anxiety I invariably feel and live each moment with positivity, serenity and a renewed sense of adventure.

My goal was to embrace the average, only to realise that my average is someone else’s amazing, that my local hang-out is someone else’s holiday highlight, that my city, the city I live in and love every day, is the city that people have spent thousands to come and visit. That the city of Cape Town is an avid traveller’s dream.

My leave from work began on the 21st December, three days earlier than expected as I had to help my mom during a family emergency. I felt exhausted, resentful of the many cars and people that were flooding our roads, shopping centres and beaches. I was irritable, I was emotional, I was sad and I was lost. But in the 10 days I had off, after sleep and rest and time outdoors, I became a different person. I was laughing – a lot! I was chatty and friendly and excited to be spending the festive season with my closest friends and family. I was happy, really really happy. The holiday was more than a break, it was about rekindling lost joys, such as surfing and hiking (somehow, in my ‘career quest’, I’d lost the girl who loved adventure). It was about investing time in my relationship. It was about waking up with no plan, reflecting on my life, finding contentment in my own company and ridding myself of stress.

Thank you to the many people who helped make it wonderful.