Hello and welcome to my Message of the Month.

This month we feature an interesting story that’s so much a part of every vacation seeker’s mind space – post-vacation blues. In our Q&A section, we talk to travel blogger Shama Ahmed about the various shades of post vacation blues, and ways to get over that empty feeling.

I’m sure you know what we are talking about here – it’s that dull hangover you might experience at the end of a vacation. Simply because we just don’t want the vacation to end.

So, what’s my own perspective on post-vacation blues? (And there’s some logical reasoning out here.) Each experience in life has a life cycle – which means there is a beginning and there is an end.  Even Sunday turns into Monday, and you will only see that weekend in your rear-view mirror.

While on the subject of not wanting good times to end, I recall moments from my nostalgia diary – moments that I just wanted to hang on to, if I only could.

• Many years ago, I was trading in my first car to buy a bigger, better model. The old car was sold and the buyer was coming over to drive it home in 30 minutes. We had so many pleasant memories linked to that car, including some wonderful long drives to holiday destinations. (I did not want those 30 minutes to end.).
• In my younger days, I used to travel overseas on work, and constantly looked forward to calling home. But with the frightfully high call charges, I would need to hang up in three minutes, or less. (I just did not want that call to end.)
• I still remember the imported box of pencils that I got, maybe for my fifth birthday. The box of ten was soon reduced to my last pencil in the box. And that last pencil soon became shorter and shorter each time my sharpener shaved off some wood for a finer point. (I really wanted to hang on to that last pencil.)
• I also remember the Kodak Viewfinder that a cousin let me borrow for a week. This was my first visual experience of 3D magic, and when the time came to return the ViewFinder, I felt really sad. (This too, was coming to an end.)

All this reminiscing brings me back to the vacation theme that I started the article with – I am now referring to my own timeshare plan. After all these years of happy timesharing, I realize that I have only a few more years left on my plan. And as time slowly begins to run out, I’m sure I will experience that empty feeling all over again. (25 years is a long time, but wonder if it can go on forever.)

Right now, I am coming to the end of my bowl of chocolate fudge – just have one spoonful left and in three seconds that bowl will be empty. (There I go, again...)

B. S. Rathor
Advisor & Member - Executive Committee