On Friday I’m taking two weeks off from work. It’ll be the first time since I left the university that I’ll actually have to full consecutive weeks off. So what to do for two weeks? I wouldn’t mind just being at home doing nothing in particular, but that would mean I’m still available for work-related stuff and based on experience, work will bite me in the ass if I’m having time off and is available.

The only solution that will actually work for me is to get the hell out of Oslo, out of Norway, out of Europe, out of this time zone and out of cell phone coverage.

Getting to another time zone and out of cell phone coverage shouldn’t be too hard. To lose coverage is perhaps the easiest thing to do, one can simply turn off the phone. My problem is that I feel I have to be available whenever it’s possible in case the shit hits the fan. And the further away I am from the office, the higher the chance of just that happening gets. That is, of course, a totally irrational thought, but it still feels that way.

Anyway.

The route for my trip, very little else has been planned. I figure I’ll cross whatever bridges need to be crossed when I get to them. On Friday I’m going to Cairns via London and Hong Kong to visit Klas. I’ll arrive in Australia on Sunday and will spend one day in Cairns waiting for him to return with the Pro Dive boat some time on Monday. We haven’t got a thing planned, but I’m sure we’ll think of something.

After six days down under I’m leaving the following Friday for Canada and will go back the same way I came, via Hong Kong and London. Going all the way back to Europe probably sounds like a stupid move, but round trip tickets from Europe to both Canada and Australia were cheaper than one way tickets all the way. In London I’ll meet up with Hans Olav and after a long stopover we’ll fly directly to Montreal where Gine will join us.

In a time where I’ve been preaching about energy saving, it feels wrong to fly this much and if there was another alternative, I would go for it. Boat would be one, but with the speed of boats I would have had to jump ship long before reaching Australia to get back to work in time.

The next time I go on vacation, I’ll travel by another, more environmentally friendly alternative. When I get my next vacation flying might be banned for all I know.