A week or so ago, I had a painful and reluctant discussion with my new boss that literally gives me anxiety to think about: for the first time, I had to ask him for a day off. :-O Anyone who knows me at all knows that I absolutely hate to miss work under any circumstances. I was once carried out of the kennel with a kidney stone and my biggest concern was being able to return before we closed. I’m getting upset just thinking about it.

Luckily, I only requested that I miss one Friday in March and he of course was fine with it. He even jokingly responded with, “Why, are you going to Italy for the weekend?” to which I replied, “Germany and Poland.” He knows me too well already! Though the idea of traveling to Europe for a weekend seems insane and is laughable to some (ok, ok… laughable to most), I could not stress enough that, to me, it’s totally worth it.

As I mentioned, it pains me to miss even one day of work, especially now that I’ve just started a new job. I was even worse with school before graduating this past May; I’d have to be given a day or two left to live to even consider skipping class. In addition to my irrational FOMO, I don’t have a ton of free time; I have two jobs, I’m doing research, I have a 140lb puppy who needs my kisses, and I have a life. As I’ve been told repeatedly, though, my responsibilities will not dissipate as I get older. On the contrary, this is the easy time. Stai scherzando?! It gets busier than this?!?!?!

At 27, there’s still a ton I’ve yet to become sure about. I am beyond certain, however, that I will happily take what I can get. If a long weekend is my only option and the tickets are cheap enough, I’m there. No hesitation. If it’s too soon to request off, I’ll arrange so that I don’t have to; in February, I’m going to Austria for one night. Una notte. I will have 24 hours on the ground e basta. As I said, I will literally take what I can get.

I’ve decided to compile a list of pros to my insane[ly fun] short trips to support their awesomeness and to hopefully discourage any readers from committing me to Overbrook:

• YOU SAVE MONEY: When my equally crazy friends and I go to Germany and Poland, we’ll spend about $900 each TOTAL. That includes flights, hotels, a car, excursions, and food. That may seem like a lot for 3 days, but considering they’ll likely be 3 of the best days of our lives, $300 per day is worth it. In addition, had we decided to go for a week, we’d be paying $X more in hotels and food, and we’re not made of money!
• YOU DON’T DISRUPT YOUR LIFE: I cringe typing these words, but missing one day of work isn’t going to kill me. I won’t come home and have a ton of catching up to do, and the show will certainly go on despite my brief absence.
• YOU HAVE A LOT TO LOOK FORWARD TO: This may not be the popular opinion, but I’d much rather take quick, frequent vacations than spend all year waiting for one long one.
• YOU’RE SEEING THE WORLD: How much can you get done in one weekend? Well, you can galavant around Lake Como, tour the Piedmont vineyards, attend a food festival in Alba, climb a mountain in Switzerland, and still get over 7 hours of sleep (*note: we did all that on a 24-hours-on-the-ground trip). You can cross glaciers, see geysers, swim in thermal lagoons, go dog-sledding, and scale waterfalls in Iceland. You can ride horses in Ireland and tour its entire southern coast. You have no idea how much you can accomplish in a weekend’s time.

On Friday night, you can either go to sleep in your bed and wake up at home or pass out on a Boeing 747 and wake up in another country. I choose the latter.