Business travelling - the truth

This year I have a lot of travelling to do. In a way I love it and at the same time I get a bit exhausted when I have trips right after the other. Not all trips are for fun, a good number this year are for work. It's exciting to go to new countries, get to meet new people and at times feel important and needed. However the reality is that in most of these occasions I don't visit new countries, the people I meet are not very interested to socialise and I'm stuck having dinners by myself. To top it all off I have to spend a week in a tiny hotel room away from my loved one. And many times instead of feeling important you feel stressed and overwhelmed by the amount of work you have.

All this sounds very negative but somehow I still love the work travel. I have learned a long time ago not to feel shy of going to a restaurant by myself. Moving to 2 different countries on my own might have something to do with it. I'm a food lover and usually I focus on that. Also I really do feeling like a proper business woman, dressed in a suit and required to travel across countries because my work is needed elsewhere. The good thing of visiting the same place multiple times is that you can meet up friends on a regular basis on the bosses' expense. You can also get to know the city and know where you should hang out and possibly manage to slip in a few hours shopping - a task which always brightens up my day!

And all this makes me feel lucky that I managed so much in my life, mostly because my parents were always reminding me how important proper education is and that if I wanted something in life I should work hard to obtain it.

A trip to my island

It has been around 10 months since my last visit to my island, the tiny rock in the Mediterranean sea that I love so much. This has been the longest span of time in between my visits to Malta. I think it's time for me to taste pastizzi and Twistees.  We're off to a couple of weeks to Malta to get to see my family, practice being an auntie, enjoying my mother's food and to spend some time at a beach where the sea colour is blue rather than green!

So I will leave you with some of the views that I will get to see in the next 2 weeks.

You can get the recipe for home-made pastizzi from here.

Home Sweet Home

I'm back home after 2 weeks of vacation in Malta. Two weeks that flew by quickly, as all vacations seem to fly by. I'm looking forward to having my routine back. As much as I love traveling and do have a chronic travel bug, I also love my boring life in between holidays very much. After a few weeks of vacation I always start missing home cooked meals and cuddling up in relaxing evenings in front of the TV. Pity that this routine includes a 6am wake up call and a 40 hour work week!
 
[Image Credits: Dreams Time]

Vacationing with the in-laws

Summer in Holland was here last Saturday but it seems it was lost in transit. It has left us all once again and might or might not make an appearance again. I learnt long ago that if I want a natural tan I have to make plans that take me out of here. Coming from a Mediterranean island makes this easy. I can get my tan just by visiting my parents. I cannot even call a trip to Malta a holiday; it’s a child duty to her parents!

So in a month I will be doing my duty and going for a fortnight in Malta. Only this time there is a difference. My in-laws will be joining my boyfriend and me. The timeless question is will the in-laws and my parents hit it off? Or will it be like a scene just come out from the film Meet the Fockers where all hell breaks lose when the in-laws meet the parents for the first time?

There’s going to be a culture difference, an age difference and also a language difference. However I’m sure they will get along well. And if they don’t I’m sure they will pretend to get along well. In the end they will only be together for 10 days.