before i left for sri lanka, i wrote a quick list of the eight things i was most looking forward to during my eight-day holiday, so as a final post i thought i would look back and see how my experience lived up to my expectations.

explore a new place. i didn’t see as much of colombo as i probably could have, but i definitely explored a lot of galle. i also met some friendly locals, saw some cool buildings, and ate a lot of great food. i would love to make it up to the hill country on a future trip and do one of those sunrise treks, but i think i did enough this time around.

seafood. we only have to look at the photos in my food roundup of galle to see that this one was a rousing success. i ate my fill of prawns at every opportunity, and they were all delicious in their own way.

catching up on reading + writing. well, i got this one half right. i finished three books during my trip, which was great, but i didn’t get around to writing very much. and i’ve still not gotten back into it since i’ve returned. maybe one of these days…

unplugging. i’d say i did pretty well with this. i didn’t even carry my laptop with me, and i generally only connected to wifi once a day to upload photos to a shared album so my parents and friends could see what i was up to. i checked my email every other day to delete unnecessary ones so that i wouldn’t come home to 500 unread emails, and i only read one or two that were time-sensitive. otherwise my phone stayed in flight mode, and i stayed blissfully unaware of what was happening in the real world.

train travel. i got to take two train rides, so i’d say i did pretty well with this one. i took advantage of the connectivity between colombo and galle and got to ride along the coast between the two places. it was lovely being back on a train, and i hope i can take a train journey somewhere in india soon.

staying in a hotel + pampering myself. check and check. i loved bookending my trip with stays at colombo courtyard, and on my return trip i treated myself to a massage as well. it was lovely to enjoy a big comfortable bed, to watch mindless television, or to curl up in a comfortable chair and read. this was a highlight of the trip for me.

meeting new people. galle was great for meeting people, as i would hang out in the common room of pedlar’s in the evening and chat with whomever happened by. my particular favourites were a german guy and a british girl, and it was nice to spend the evenings chatting with them and sharing a laugh.

a proper holiday. YES. i managed to do all of the things i set out to do – other than the writing – and it was exactly what i needed at the time. i had been so stressed with work, i was getting over a weird virus, and i desperately needed to recharge my batteries. spending my days wandering the fort and my evenings chasing sunsets was so refreshing for me, and it was absolutely the best holiday at the best possible time.

and now that i have finished writing about my sri lankan holiday, i guess it’s time to begin planning my next one… 🙂

xx