Untimely reminders of good times

I’M in desperate need of a holiday.

And my bloody phone isn’t helping.

This time 12 months ago I was living the life in New York.

Bagels. Times Square. Pizza. Statue of Liberty. NFL. NBA.

For a couple of weeks I was doing what I pleased. Eat. Drink. Sleep. Repeat. Sure I put of a few kilos, but that’s what travel is about, isn’t it?

Fast forward to now and I am stuck at my desk waffling on in my weekly Take Two column.

Talk about a change in fortunes.

Every morning for the past three days I have been waking up to notifications from my phone.

Google Pixels are pretty smart, apparently, and I’ve been getting a daily reminder of what I was up to 12 months ago in photos.

They even have put them into a collage for me to share on my social media accounts.

Then once I’ve swiped that away and log into Facebook I am confronted by even more memories on there. Talk about a slap in the face. Even as I write this I’ve paused and looked at the computer screen for five minutes, my mind drifting back to those times hustling my way through the crowds on 7th Avenue. Am I burnt out? Absolutely! It’s been a long 12 months. I’ve seen Geelong’s season start well and finish in disappointment. I’ve lost my money during the Spring Racing Carnival. And there’s been plenty in between that saps the life out of you. Now, I’m not expecting to head over to New York again at the drop of a hat, but surely I’m due a little bit of a break.

After a long year on the Geelong Addy sports desk, even a weekend away in Colac would be welcomed ... heck with my finances at the moment a quick stay at the Colac Motor Inn would be luxurious.

The good news for me is that I have a couple of weeks off coming up towards Christmas.

The bad news is that I’m not going anywhere. It’s going to be a staycation. There will be no Statue of Liberty, Radio City Christmas Spectacular or Times Square.

But there will be lots of pizza and even some bagels.

So for now I guess I’ll just look back through my photos and continue to give myself travel envy.