Escaping the winter

ENG:

For me, winter is taking fourth place on the list of my favourite seasons and therefore, I cannot say I hate it. Even more, I very much enjoy being warm in my fuzzy socks, drinking hot tea and staring out the window into landscape covered in heavenly white snow. I am also keen on cross country skiing, hiking, ice skating and other activities, as long as there is a winter twist to it, since I can sometimes get quite fed up with the every-day routines. So far so good. However, the problem occurs when the weather is cold, wet and rainy for weeks in a row. Every day feels the same and it seems as if winter is never going to end. There were plenty of days like this last winter and I decided that I am not going to repeat the same mistake this year. Keeping that in mind, November came and it was time for me to book a flight to somewhere warm and sunny. At first I was thinking about going to Spain or Greece, but I ended up buying two tickets to Sri Lanka; I managed to persuade my sister to go with me and keep me company! I think there is no better thing than to escape the winter and spend 13 days somewehere exotic, with plenty of sunshine, delicious food, different culture, adventure and nice people.

Beautiful Sri Lanka

At the moment, I am sitting in my school library and relaxing after third exam this week. It has been stressful and tiring but the thougth about the trip has been keeping me motivated. There are two more exams waiting for me next week, the last one being just house before the trip! Right this second there are only 6 days 3 hours 13 minutes and 41 seconds left until the plane takes off - I even got  a Days countdown app, which keeps me up with the time left until the start of vacation.

Countdown app

We already took care of most of the things (visa, travel insurance, hostels, guide book, I even bought my first authentic backpack because I am now a real traveler) so I guess we are almost fully geared up for our first trip to Asia! There are some last pieces we need to buy before we go like medicine, travel pillow, batteries,.. and most importantly, I have to get a haircut! :D

Thank you so much for the guide, Tadeja!

My excitement levels are literally through the roof and I cannot wait to board that plane, so I guess it’s best to end up here. Peace out!

 SLO:

Zima je zame 4. najlepši letni čas in ne bom rekel, da je ne maram. Pravzaprav skoraj nasprotno – opazovanje zasnežene zimske pokrajine s skodelico čaja v roki ter debelimi nogavicami na nogah je pravi balzam za mojo dušo. Tudi tek na smučeh, pohodi z gojzarji in gamašami, drsanje in ostale aktivnosti so pozimi pravzaprav nujno potrebna sprememba od ostalih letnih športov. Problem pa nastane, ko mraza, megle in kislih deževnih dni kar noče in noče biti konec. Človek lahko takrat samo išče izvirne načine, kako premagati nestrpnost in dolgčas. In na točno tak zimski dan v preteklem dnevu sem si zaprisegel, da naslednje leto del zime preživim nekje na toplem. Sprva sem imel v mislih vsaj kakšen grški ali španski otok, kjer bi se lahko naužil nujno potrebnega svežega zraka ter napolnil zaloge vitamina D. Ta opcija mi je bila tudi cenovno precej blizu, saj že nekaj časa poskušam privarčevati kakšen evro. Kljub temu sem na koncu (kot ponavadi) pristal v ekstremih, ter že sredi novembra kupil dve povratni letalski karti do Šrilanke, saj se je sestra prav tako odločila za dopust. Za spremembo od meglene zimske vsakdanjosti naju tako čaka vročih ter sončnih 13 dni, obogatenih z norimi dogodivščinami, dobro hrano, zanimivo azijsko kulturo ter navsezadnje ljudmi, ki s svojim skromnim življenjem lahko predstavljajo kritiko zahodnemu svetu.

Pravkar sedim v knjižnici ter se sproščam po svojem tretjem izpitu v tem tednu, ki je bil precej stresen in naporen. Ko pišem tole objavo, sem le še 6 dni 3 ure 13 minut in 41 sekund oddaljen od že težko pričakovanega vzleta letala - naložil sem si celo mobilno aplikacijo, s katero sem si precej olajšal računanje ur do odhoda. V teh petih dneh pa me čakata še dva izpita, zadnji le dan pred odhodom, zato pa bo zadovoljstvo še toliko večje.

Nekaj dni pred odhodom moram urediti ter nakupiti še zadnje manjkajoče stvari, večinoma sem poskrbel že za vse najnujnejše: viza, zavarovanje, rezervacija hostla za prvo in zadnjo noč, prevoz do letališča v Milanu, kupil sem celo svoj prvi backpack ruzak in tako uradno postal pravi popotnik. Manjka še nekaj podrobnosti za na pot, kot so geli za prebavne motnje, blazina za na letalo, baterije ter med drugim tudi obisk frizerja. :D

Skratka, še 5 dni, potem pa dopust kot se šika. EXCITED.