I dislike holidays

I truly abhorr holidays.

I dislike worrying about work and not being able to manage any issues that crop up during the week and not being in control of it. I have got the A-Team back in the office organized to do all that, and yet I have got so much uncertainties and anxieties hanging over my head.

I worry about Joel being alone at home. Yes, yes, he is 18 and old enough to turn the flat into a shag pad. Moreover, he's got his vacation job keeping him busy for half a day, followed by chores at home when he returns each day from work. However, I still worry like a control freak of a mother would.

Then there's my travel mate, David. On certain aspects, I do enjoy traveling with him. For example, he pays for most things throughout the trip and when he puts his ogre demeanor to good use, we do get perks like free upgrades.

One of the few things that annoy me about traveling with him is his insistence on getting a window seat during the flight. I prefer the aisle you see, being an obsessively frequent visitor to the loo to preen myself before, during and after the flight. However, my travel mate refuses to sit apart from me for fear that some big, burly and crass Russian tourist ends up next to him. So the self sacrificing wife that I am ends up squeezing in the middle seat, and annoying the other passenger next to me by stepping on his nuts a few times while climbing over him to get to the loo.

Then there's the differing interests. The travel mate's second wife after the car and myself is his Nikon. He takes it everywhere with him and needs to find a reason to brandish the thing throughout the trip. So I foresee endless visits to temple ruins that look alike while I'd prefer to chill in a pub over a $1 margarita which PH and wife have promised me is the highlight of their trip to Siem Reap.

I hope this week in Siem Reap is a restful one. Most importantly, I hope David gets the photos he's been after even if it means strapping a torch to our foreheads and heading to the Angkor Wat at 4am in the morning to stake his tripod by the lake. I was promised a spectacular and romantic sunrise, in the midst of hundreds of fellow tourists.