An ode to the short break

You know what they say about power naps? those 15 minute refreshers in the middle of the day. believe me, they work. Go off to sleep for an hour or two during the day and you wake up feeling grumpy and disoriented (I do!) but snooze for fifteen minutes and you are up and ready to go face the world. Batteries charged, so to say.

It is much the same with holidays. My husband’s work schedule being what it is (not mine, I am ALWAYS ready to drop everything and go traveling – and fortunately, my work allows me to do just that), we have not taken a long holiday – and by long, I mean anything over four days – I am not talking several weeks here in the last few years. Yet, it is not as if we have never taken holidays – or feel even remotely burnt out (although I keep complaining about us never going on a “proper” holiday – whatever that means – you see, we have taken a large number of short breaks over the last couple of years.

Here is my ideal prescription : two to four days at a time, every two months. And you are raring to go – and the best part is you know your next one is not too far off! Unlike long holidays where, by the time you come back home and get back to work, you are already in need of another one. And you know how unlikely that is. Short breaks are well, short, can be quite inexpensive (although we would not recognize “inexpensive” if it came and bit us in the shins, neither of us – we are the spoilt “comfort holiday” types) and do not always need much planning. It’s worked for us – from a quick monsoon getaway to Matheran to new year’s at Goa all the way to wedding anniversary at Ranthambore…

Go for it! And if you are still not convinced, here is why I think short breaks rule :

It is madness to go anywhere near Goa during the last week of December. I know. But we did just that – but fortunately, we found an apartment that we could rent out alog with friends, so we had none of those ridiculous peak-season prices at hotels. Baga beach on new year’s eve was magical…

We also zipped off to Goa for three days in August in 2006 during the rains when everything in Goa is green and fresh…

[Goa on flickr]

Wedding anniversary at Ranthambore where I went and fell in love a gorgeous tiger… tigress, actually!

[Ranthambhore on flickr]

I also get to travel a lot on work – I managed a quick few hours at Konark one rainy day this February…

[Konark on flickr]

And then there was Fort Kochi one morning in January and Cherai near Cochin – right between the beach and the backwaters later in March, when I spent over three weeks in Cochin undergoing ayurvedic treatment…

[Kerala on flickr]

There was also this time when my husband and I were both in Delhi on work – we drove to the Shekhawati region. This is one (and perhaps the only) reason I envy those who live in Delhi – Delhi is the place to be for the short-break devotee – Rajasthan, the hills, Madhya Pradesh – everything is a weekend trip…

[Fresco-land Shekhawati]

Bangalore is great in this respect too – for ideas and inspiration, go read Anita and Arun. As for my immediate plans, Mandu and Hampi both beckon desperately… And both of them are just ideal weekend breaks.

Bombay is not too bad – but it just cannot compete with Delhi on this count. Matheran, Lonavala, Malshej Ghat… they are lovely during the monsoons – but there are few year-round spots. Any you would suggest?