Use Your Remaining PTOs Before the Year Ends! – Travelling to a City I did not Plan to See (This Year)

The year is almost over. How many leaves do you have left? Yes, year-end targets are on the horizon which means your PTOs will expire (if that is a thing with your company). My previous company only carried ten leaves from the previous year, or you lost them.  So don’t waste it! 

End your 2023 on a high—personally!

At the will of a friend, I booked a trip to Taiwan that I did not plan for in 2023. 

At that whim, I am happy  I ended the 3rd quarter with a bang! 

I started the year with plans to be in different places each month. But by the 2nd quarter, I was tired of balancing work while bouncing around from one place to the next. 

Staycations and weekends at home lined the weeks of the 3rd quarter. Gladly, a trip to Taiwan was on the horizon— a great way to be excited before the end of the year. 

Nothing is written in stone yet, but I am excited for the last three months of this year (even if nothing goes as planned or hoped). 

Here are a few things about taking a trip you never planned that may encourage you to book a trip before the year ends (on a whim): 

1. The Unexpected is Better Than The Expectations

I never really thought about traveling to Taiwan. 

My brother has regular work trips there and never comes home with anecdotes of what a great country it is to explore and discover. 

I didn’t even know I previously needed a visa to visit this country in the past. But due to the pandemic—for a limited period—they opened their borders to certain countries, exempting them from the requirement (check out the details on their website here). 

After booking the tickets in May, the trip totally slipped my mind.  The reality of what I’ve done only dawned on me a few weeks before the flight. 

Suddenly, the stress of putting together an itinerary, anticipating work demands for a leave plan, and the fear of the unjust local immigration lived on my mind, rent-free. 

Luckily, I had a brother who went there just this year with his wife and a friend who loved to travel to figure out what I could do there.

As our ballet teacher said, it’s pretty much a Chinese Japan. And it was a pleasant surprise! The transportation, level of luxury, and urban development were far beyond my expectations. 

Taipei is smaller and simpler to navigate than Tokyo, and I enjoyed hopping on and off their MRT as if it were my nth time there. It took me the last day to realize they had a line system when entering the car! I am sorry if I unknowingly cut in line!!  All jokes aside, going around the city was easy and fun!

The people were kind and approachable to talk to. The food, although mostly noodles left and right (and not as popular as the Japanese cuisine we see everywhere) was an experience one should not miss either! 

2. The Last Minute Planning

Not last minute per se, but I only sat down and looked at the tourist destinations of Taiwan two or three before the flight. 

We know other countries for their landmarks. Hong Kong is known for Disneyland, and so is Toky. Korea is known for its food and scenic K-drama locations, and Singapore is known for Sentosa.  I was not familiar with Taipei. 

So I had to look from blog to blog, travel site to travel site to see what interested me and where we could go with the limited time and locations we would be in. I asked friends and my brother to figure it all out.

Night Markets were their most popular attractions, aside from Taipei 101 (once one of the tallest buildings in the world). And who knew that the lanterns released to the sky for good fortune were a popular tourist activity here? If you are a fan of Studio Ghibli, you can also visit the city that is said to have inspired the design of the film Spirited Away.

Three or so weeks before the flight was the only time we sat down and agreed on what we would do when we were there.

But as a procrastinator,  I booked the tours and a pocket wifi and only studied how we could make it to our hotel (luckily, their train system is notch, great for novice travelers) a few days before the trip. 

Even with the last-minute preparations, we found ourselves enjoying each messy destination! 

3. Do not Take that Laptop to your Next Destination!

I brought my laptop because I only wanted to take two days off work. The 3rd day (the date of our flight back home) was a working day for me. Since our flight was early, I hoped to work while at the airport, waiting for our bus back to Baguio and on the long bus ride home. 

Luckily, under the new Team Leader, coverage when you are on leave is more consistent. Unlike my trip to Korea, no emails were waiting for me, no pending tasks, and no urgent requests demanded my attention.  Even if I had to work while traveling, the day did not stress me out.

All I had to do when I logged in was catch up on the things I missed and address the new concerns that came in that day. I did not have to take the rest of the week to catch up on EVERYTHING, which I was incredibly happy for! 

Even if  I logged into a great workday,  it took away the fun of spending time with a friend I barely got to meet. It also made a night for deep rest before getting back on the horse a night with racing thoughts of the tasks for the next day.

If you can, leave your laptops behind and log off. Seriously. The year is almost over, and we all deserve a long break from the demands and worries of work. Step away and do not look back until you have to!

4. New Habit: Give yourself an Extra Day Off to Catch Up 

Because the 3rd day of my leave was a catch-up day, I clocked into work the next day without the overwhelming stress of 50-plus notifications on one App and another on Slack or other apps/emails for my work. 

I entered the workday knowing what I needed to do—not having to dig through all the matters that came up when I was gone before I could finally find my footing. 

This 3rd supposed vacation day allowed me to breathe. I still filed it as leave but let everyone know that I would be able to start responding to email, and coverage for that day was not as pressing as the days prior. 

This catch-up day pushed my brain back into the work routine without the needed commitment to it (heck, I was still on vacation anyway). All my clients knew I was still away. No one expected me to complete any pending matters.

No one ever told me this was something I could do. It is better than a hard stop from work and a jump start that leaves you with some vacation hangover. A catch-up day is new to me and a great way to mentally prepare myself for the world of being an employee.

If you think that could work, give it a try! We all need to ease back into the workday and not dive in headfirst like a maniac!