Phamly holidays - never had one. We did little things that were big deals to a migrant Phamly raising three kids on welfare with no jobs and no car. I remember Dad Pham and Mum Pham took us to Moomba one year in Melbourne when we lived there. Well, they tried to. We took the train to the city but my parents didn’t know exactly where the festival was. They didn’t know enough English to get directions, and us kids were too young and useless to help find the way even though we did speak English. So we ended up getting lost and becoming exhausted in the city. Instead, we settled for lunch at McDonalds (also a treat!) before going home. Looking back it’s a bit sad that that’s about as close to a holiday that our Phamly got.

I’ve taken two holidays in my life. One to Japan in 2010 where my mystical friend who’d lived there planned everything, and one to Bali for a friend’s wedding in 2015 where my gays pretty much determined what we’d do. The trips were both short and sweet - about 10 days from memory. This year, I’ve booked a month long holiday to Europe in August/September with Little Sissy Pham +1, and I’m starting to realise I have no idea how to holiday.

Even though I come across zen because I don’t sweat the small stuff, it doesn’t mean I know how to relax. I’ve worked most of my life and when I was unemployed, I treated job hunting like a full-time job churning out applications, working on my folio or CV - no slacking off allowed. How will I deal with a whole month of just chilling and doing my own thing?

People always talk about loving holidays and travel, though I never quite caught the bug. But then, I change something in my life every 6-12 months, whether it’s job, home or boys - maybe that’s why I never felt the need to escape to a different country, because I’ve never been settled enough to get bored in Australia. And Mum & Dad never got us into the habit of traveling.

Guess we’ll find out what kind of traveller I am soon. Wish me luck! I have no idea what I’m doing.