things i learned from an unsatisfactory vacation

last week (or in the middle of December, depending on when i upload this) i went to [redacted] for an almost week-long trip. i was excited to be out of the country, and to travel, and to explore the world: get some consistent fresh air, complete my rings, experience local coffee/food/culture, and maybe get some shopping in.

...it didn't turn out so great. there wasn't much to see in terms of local coffee/food/culture, and the ones that existed, most of the group wasn't interested in and i was too pussy to travel alone. thus, we were stuck in the apartment-mall complex that we stayed in on a lot of the days. it also didn't help that most establishments opened at 10AM - dissuading us from going out early.

here are some things i learned:

1. to travel, get out of the mall
   
   • like... touch grass. go outside. get nature and sunlight and fresh air. it never dawned on me until now that malls don't have windows and are mostly artificially lit - spending upwards of 5 hours in a row in one is a bit hellish.
2. utilise grab as much as you can!!
   
   • in a sense that... you can go anywhere you want. you are ABLE to. take in the sights and go where you thought was too inconvenient to walk to.
3. create an itinerary!
   • i feel like my brain shoots blanks whenever i wake up in the morning during my vacations. i'm constantly bogged down by decision paralysis, where if i can't decide what to do, then i'll spend all my time thinking about what to do without actually doing anything. an actual concrete plan would help with that.
4. visit museums and cultural sites
   • this might be self-explanatory.
5. read books during the flight and while waiting in the airport
   • again, maybe self-explanatory. my main reason for this is because it lowers mobile data spending.
6. online check-in!!
   • i didn't get to do an online check-in for my departure flight, and ended up with seats at the emergency exit door. minor inconvenience but i had to store my bag in the overhead compartment - not ideal for me as i need my eyes on my things at all times.
7. wear comfy shoes and get comfier backups
   • i planned on wearing one pair and bringing an extra pair but i didn't get to because i didn't have space in my luggage. this was a bad decision because the shoes i wore turned out to be extremely uncomfortable after a few hours of walking. it genuinely ruined my motivation to do touristy things. i ended up buying some shoes.
8. don't buy 13 panties
   • "who would by 13 panties?" me. i bought 13 panties. i didn't even realise the number until i counted at home. but yeah don't fixate on buying a certain thing
9. take pictures of anything
   • this feels like a given but i realised i didn't take many pictures during my trip except for like... pictures of food, even though i brought my instax. take pics of other memories too - even the little ugly ones.
10. bring glue for journalling
    
    • this one is just a personal reminder. i couldn't journal much because i couldn't stick my ephemera in.

this list is a bit haphazard because my sadness took over before i finished it. end of year sadness sucks. life sucks. this vacation kinda sucked