travelling

Unlike last year, I started this year without any trips in sight. It didn't however take long to have the first one in my calendar already. Heading to Latvia today for two days to kick off our new leadership program.

It's good time to head south at this time of the year. It's the coldest time of the year so some warmth is always welcome. Except Latvia isn't that much warmer anyway. And it hasn't been that cold here either this year. 

As always, it's nice to go abroad. But it's even better coming back home. I'm still half an hour away, but it already feels like being home. Can't wait to actually be there and see my family again.

This was a nice trip. It's always nice to see new cities and Amsterdam wasn't an exception. Looking forward having a chance going there the next time.

I arrived here at Amsterdam yesterday and the first impression has been nice. There is water everywhere surrounded by beautiful old buildings.

The city really loves bikes. You can see them everywhere, people strolling by with their bikes. It's almost harder to get around by foot as everything seems to be build around biking. Another thing I noticed is that there are a lot of electric cars, scooters and other means of transportation going around.

This was my fourth time visiting Dublin. And like all the previous times,  didn't get out of the city this time either. Except on my way to and from the airport.

There is a lot to see outside Dublin. Many things I would really like to see. But there is never enough time to arrange a trip there. So far, every time I have been in Dublin has been because of some event.  And during those events, there is hardly enough time to go around and see some of the closer attractions. And there are many of those as well.

It's been three long days. Feeling a bit tired with all the walking around and spending most of the time on my feet. Surrounded by all the people.

And we are only halfway through. Still three days before getting back home. Feeling homesick already. There is still plenty of time not feeling the sorrow of this experience coming to an end.

It has been great none the less. Still plenty of time to enjoy our stay. It has also been enough already not feeling bad if we would miss out the rest. It has been all worth it.

It seems like a nice, sunny day outside. So a perfect day to take a moment off from the convention and head out to the city and do some sightseeing.

First stop will be the Marsh library. A nice little place I found accidentally last time I was here. After that we'll just see wherever we happen to end up. There are plenty of things to see, but nothing "must see" before we head towards the Trinity college and it's much bigger library where we have a reservation for a tour so we don't need to stand in yet another queue.

Yesterday was the first day of the Worldcon here in Dublin. It's nice to be both at the Worldcon and Dublin again. Maybe even more so about the Dublin itself. It's always nice to be here. As I have said before, it's one of my favourite places abroad.

We have an early departure ahead of us tomorrow morning. There isn't much time in the morning so everything needs to be as ready as possible before going to sleep. 

I've got most everything packed up already. Packing most of the things is easy, despite the feeling I must have forgotten something. But preparing for the trip is no longer just about making sure you have everything you might need during the trip packed up and with you.

The schedule for upcoming Worldcon programme was just released today. After a quick skimming through it seems there will be a lot of interesting sessions to attend.

But the whole thing is 150 pages long! Just going through it with a though will take couple of days.  It's a shame it was published this close to the event itself. There is not much time to go through it all properly to make sure we won't miss anything important.

No matter how close or far, with family, friends or alone, it's always nice to get back home. Another weekend away is now behind and we are back home. Even if it was just a few days it's still nice to be back.

There is nothing wrong being away. Usually, it's really nice. Seeing new places or old friends alike. Spending some time with family and relatives we don't see too often. It's nice indeed.