It happens to me quite often now although it used to be even every month or two months. The plan is usually as follows: to buy cheap plane tickets half a year in advance and six months later, pack up and set off to the unknown. To escape the daily routine, which allows us – especially in winter – to recharge our batteries for the next few weeks in Polish darkness. Three days are enough to return with a fresh head, new ideas, inspirations. Spain, Portugal, Malta, Italy, and – in more favourable months – Hungary, Germany, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Denmark or the Polish seaside, mountains, forests. No matter where; what matters is the project ‘change’. I much prefer a few times in my own way than once and big. All-inclusive is definitely not for me. Instead of a hotel, I opt for an apartment in the city centre to feel like a local for a while. Add to that small, cosy restaurants and cafés, and you get my definition of happiness. I usually spend my time walking instead of paranoiac sightseeing with a guidebook. I am not one of those people who have to tick off every castle, palace, or church. I much rather prefer coffee with a view, wandering around towns and cities, good food, and a nice time.
I love the smells, tastes, and colours of southern countries. Light sandstone elevations, oriental spices, and the sunshine, which is very hard to find in Poland from November to March. The climate has changed radically, and we have the rainy season or – in recent years – even something like a polar night in winter.
People like to relax in a variety of ways – sport, music, dance, fighting at stadiums, riots in city centres, compulsive shopping, mountain climbing… My way to cope with stress is changing the climate zone, eating local food and drinking good wine. Three/four days are enough to reboot myself. After covering several kilometres on foot in the sun, I can come back to work with new energy. Only sometimes I think that there are so many interesting places to visit and so little time to see them all. Just a first world problem.
