Vacation Highlight: Running Away

Tunis!

One of the hardest things about moving to a new city is not having the fallback options. You know, those things you do when you've got nothing else to do.

During the long weekend in August I had nothing to do. My friends were all out of town, and I was stuck in a city without any plans. Thankfully I work for an airline and was able to hop a flight to a random destination. Random destination in question: Tunis, Tunisia.

I wasn't expecting much of this trip. I was only hoping to escape the Dubai heat and put my feet on a new continent. Tunis, however, pleasantly surprised me.

Essentially right across the Mediterranean from Italy, the city is heavily influenced by it neighbors. And although it's an Muslim country, it's much less strict that Dubai.

The food was fantastic, the beer was cheap and the city was beautiful. Picture Roman ruins overlooking crystal blue water. Amazing.

See, ruins and water. 

This was the perfect short break from Dubai. The weeks since returning from Vancouver were difficult, with me questioning every life choice I've made to this point. But this weekend excursion was exactly what I needed to refresh and remind myself that though my choices have cost me a lot, they have given me many opportunities, including visiting a country I had never considered.

While I likely won't be going back any time soon, it's nice to know that Tunis is there, should I need another short break to a beautiful city.

Singapore Vacation Highlight: Flying

I’m not going to lie, the past few months in Dubai have been hard. The job isn’t all I had hoped, the city is fine, but not amazing, and I’ve missed my friends and family a ridiculous amount. When I landed in Dubai, I knew the first six months would be the hardest—no flight benefits and no vacation time to use.

But thanks to a lieu day and a long weekend, I was able to utilize my flight discount on a firm ticket and dart off to Singapore!

Above the clouds ...

I hadn’t been on a plane since landing in January, and while that isn’t a long time, when you spend every day looking at the airport terminal and hearing planes land and take-off, it makes you want to fly away. I, along with millions of others, will never stop being amazed at our ability to fly. To be able to spend hours above the clouds, while firmly based in science, is all kinds of amazing.

Little old me in Business Class

So I booked myself in Business Class for the outbound trip. It has been years since I have flown Business Class and let me tell you, it won’t be years until I do it again. The screen was so big! When I stretched out my legs my feet didn’t touch the seat in front of me—if you’ve ever met me, you’ll know that I have fairly long legs and this (not touching the seat in front of me, not the long legs) is quite the accomplishment, and quite rare. 

Also, champagne when you get on board and a really nice wine selection made the extra cost for Business Class totally worth it.

So with a quick nine-hour flight, including a short layover in Colombo, Sri Lanka, I was in the city-state of Singapore.

YAY air travel!