One of the best ways to become more productive is to take a break

I have recently taken some time off work which felt amazing. Now, it's not the first time I am going on a holiday, so what's the fuss?

Working without a break in Q1 of 2022 and going through a lot of stressful projects was a little challenging. I knew it was not going to be easy and as Easter was fast approaching, I went ahead to book a 2 weeks break for the family. Now, I am terrible at arranging holidays in advance. This was not too bad. Booked my flights exactly 2 months before Easter. Add to the big holiday plans the C19 mess we are going through and arranging a break for a crew of 8 makes it a tad more complicated. Planning in advance surely helps but also the many unknowns builds up in the stress pool of the brain.

Never mind all that. Here come the good bit. Counting down the days! Kids were super excited about it and each day their excitement grew bigger and bigger. We found last minute help from our amazing neighbours to look after our pets and we were all set. Headed to Gatwick airport, parked up at long stay and took off to the skies.

A rather bumpy flight with a shaky landing at the Istanbul Airport did not bother much. Holiday spirit baby!

We discussed how great the acoustics are at the new Istanbul Airport. It indeed is strange. Like the sound gets sucked, in a similar way to noise cancelling headphones, you feel like you are floating while walking around. Anyway, once we left the huge place we made it to our parents home and enjoyed quality time together.

We then headed to Antalya for the second part of the holiday.

Here is a photo I took after a long hike to the top of an ancient city known as Termessos. It's located near Antalya, Turkey.

Termessos was built by Pisidians. It sits at an altitude over 1000 meters. One hell of a city to conquer. In fact, Alexander the Great failed to do so and likened the city to an eagle's nest. I've seen many ancient cities and I got to say this is one of the finest. The atmosphere is just spectacular. Imagine sitting there at the theatre.

Termessos had an amazing defence thanks to it's location. While hiking up the mountain for hundreds of meters, we truly felt it. Only reason the city was abandoned was due to a big earthquake that struck the city and demolished aqueduct destroying water supply.

Was it a tiring holiday? Hell yes. Crossing a cold river by foot with kids, hiking up and down for miles on bumpy and rocky ancient roads, swimming during a rather cold weather (for Antalya standards) in April (about 22C),  riding a hyper roller coaster that goes 120km/h spins and twists giving you no contact to your seat for 30 seconds (which felt like an hour), rocking hard listening to live music at Antalya bars and more.

A holiday that was a true holiday. Full of memories. Full of action.

Now, why am I writing all this? I truly feel that we get carried away too much with business. Responsibilities. Work. Tasks. Deadlines and more.

Forgetting to take a break and worrying too much about everything is what I believe ruins us.

I need to look back and remember this holiday. Photos are there to help me. Words are here to capture it.

Enjoying life as it should be is a great way to become a happier, more productive and positive person. I am back fully refreshed.

Of course as we arrived back I realised I left my car with parking lights on. So the battery was flat. Had to go through the struggle to be rescued at long stay car park which is arguably one of the loneliest places in London. Thanks to breakdown cover, I got it all sorted and we made it home safely.

Looking forward to the new trip already. Reminder to self, just book it. Go explore and enjoy more.