Travel Bug...

I've been bitten by the travel bug again. This is not good. It is almost March and the wheels at work are now on full swing after the December holiday period. I will not be able to take leave from work to frolic on any beach or stake out at any shopping mall or pig out at any quaint roadside stall. And did anyone mention we're deep in recession? What's wrong with me?

Along with the rest of the nation, I must be in the "when stressed, take a holiday" mood. Tonight's news reports of long snaking queues sighted at the NATAS Travel Fair despite the bleak economy. Or rather, because of the bleak economy. Too much doom and gloom in our own backyard, we therefore have to transverse across oceans to experience the same doom and gloom albeit in a foreign land.

Speaking of holidays, I'm happiest travelling alone or with a like-minded partner although of course, travelling with the brood gives you a different kind of happiness. It's just that once in a while, you long for the footloose and fancy-free feeling of being on your own, doing your thing, sleeping when you want and eating what you like.

My most memorable holiday was a trip to New York with a girlfriend to visit another who had settled there after her marriage. Since it was New York, we had packed our suitcases to the gills but with lots of shopping room to spare too. Let it be known that flight attendants are great at maximising space and still turn out like a million dollars. Did you know that a top/skirt/pants ensemble can be worn 5 ways? More when you throw in accessories and other knick-knacks.

For want of a better word, that trip was an immeasurable experience. We roamed the city, chatted with the locals, took all the subways, ate all the hotdogs, checked out the museums and galleries, went to Wall Street for a memorable picture with the famous bull icon and almost froze to the bone on the ferry to Staten Island so we could say "I've been to the Stature of Liberty". And never once did we feel that New Yorkers were snobbish or brusque or uncouth. In fact, some of them went out of their way to help us with directions and whatever else that we wanted to know.

This is how I like my holidays. No agenda, no time limits, no rush. Doesn't matter where the destination is.....just me and a good friend on the same page with the same wavelength. But that was a decade ago, I must qualify. It's difficult to be so free and easy when you're responsible for your kiddo, his dad and the suitcases. Hmmm, why does mum always have to be the one to remember where the shampoo's kept and where the keys to the suitcases are?? When my kiddo's grown, I will continue with my adventures because you can never get to see enough of the world.

Yes, I will. In a New York minute.