Routines

Whenever I am on vacation or even travelling I am losing it. My routine I mean.

Back in the old days in Princeton I would get up early, do some kind of exercise like running, swimming or aerobics (ok, not every day obviously), and have the whole day before me. After work, I would go to the green grocer or supermarket to get some veggies and cook dinner. Naturally, I would be tired by 9 or 10 pm and go to bed early. I do not really enjoy getting up early, but I do very much enjoy being up early. The early hours when the streets are not busy yet but the first people are getting up in search for a coffee and a newspaper are the best hours of the day in my opinion.

Planning my travels, I thought once I am in the right mindset of travelling without the distraction of work and deadlines, I would automatically fall into a new, optimized routine, a better version of myself so to speak, which would involve getting up early for the daily run, do some meditation and yoga before breakfast, and write a new blog before bed. I would eat and live frugally, therefore losing a few extra kilograms without even thinking about it, and have some great experiences and encounters during the days. I would stroll through parks, look at pretty buildings and discover hidden alleys with cute boutiques of local designers and hat shops. My skin would clear up due to my new healthy lifestyle. I would make friends with the locals in a pub who would know me by name (“That German girl”).

But of course, no matter where I go I am still my lazy self (isn’t there a saying about this?) who is struggling to get up early if there is no real need to do so. Who has been running only once in 2 months and has not meditated at all or done any yoga. Who has neither walked a lot nor eaten healthily. Who has had more cake and chocolate during the last month than in the whole year before that. Who is still the worst procrastinator and has not finished her final fellowship report which is due … today.

Travelling is not as I expected it to be. It reminds me more of the summer break during high school. It’s just hanging out and losing the routines that I had worked so hard for to include them in my days to make the most of life. Remember summer breaks? For me, it meant going swimming, reading comics, and after a few weeks, getting a bit bored. I realize that my expectations were ridiculous, but then, it is hard to have realistic expectations of something that I have never done before such as being unemployed and homeless - or travelling. And don’t get me wrong, I am having a great time. I just need to stop lazing around, because travelling is not summer break, and it is not about stopping doing stuff. It is about doing only stuff I enjoy doing - even if that means a bit of inconvenience such as getting up early.