I can’t believe how fast time flies and before I know it, it’s already more than half-way through 2018. I haven’t really accomplished anything that I had planned to accomplish this year. I haven’t done any traveling. It really is a slow year when it comes to traveling but then it was actually part of the plan. But I think I still need to go somewhere, at least to tick something off the list before the year rolls to its end.
I would attribute this to the major change in my work environment. Before this I was doing some kind of research project, which was also part of my pursuit for a Master’s degree. The research project required me to be all over, mostly traveling from KL to UTM Skudai in Johor and back, and sometimes spending many many days in the far corner of Kapit in Sarawak which I enjoyed very much in the beginning until the excitement kinda wore off. I’d rather explore new places than coming to a place too frequently until there was nothing more to explore.
Doing a Master’s can be very very lonely at times
So when my contract with the research ended in late February (there was a possibility of an extension but I refused as I thought I have had enough), I was thrown back to an 8-5 office routine. After 5 years of not really attached to that routine, I was quite surprised that I fitted into it without much problem. In fact I got adjusted to it almost immediately. But of course when something major like this comes to life, other readjustments have to follow suit. I can no longer go on a holiday without having to put my work into the equation. With my office work keeping accumulating like day by day, there is no way that I can just put them on hold without considering how they would backfire at me if I do. In the end they still need to get done.
But that is it. Basically there is a major change in my work environment – or rather work system – that affects my travel plan and all. But I feel alright with it. I think things will gradually fall back into place and I’ll be able to do what I love doing so much, which is to travel. And I guess at this age (ahem!) I need to take a few steps back and re-look at my priority in life. Sometimes, we tend to walk straight ahead, probably with a head held high, that we forget to take a pause to look around and that’s when we miss a lot of things along the way. Even more scary is the fact that they might have missed them forever so .. yeah, I really think I should re-look and re-arrange my priorities in life, whatever they might be. Heh.