I am writing this in retrospect, as we are now 2.5 months in rather than 1 month in - it took me that amount of time to decide the format that I wanted to use to track this period. I will say that I have effectively established a bit of a journalling or noting habit since then - regardless whether the words are useful or of any account, it has been useful for centering and reflection so I am pleased by the habit..

But enough rambling - on my first day of unemployment or ‘funemployment’ (15th January!), I woke up and took a (late) walk around. My family had just moved at the end of 2024, and my first two weeks of 2025 were spent busily wrapping up at work so I had not had the time to properly explore. I took a walking path nearby and watched some dogs play catch across the field. I remember feeling like the place was crowded for a Wednesday morning / early afternoon. The peace was disrupted by a cyclist riding on the shared pedestrian / bike path in prone position - he was moving quickly and shouted for pedestrians to clear the way. A maid was nearby with a young toddler - she appeared to have headphones in and took quite a while to notice before pulling the young child out of the way of the bike. The cyclist, upon eventually stopping, felt the need to come back to scold the maid for her carelessness. Who is right and who is wrong I find it hard to say - another example of the challenging uses of our limited shared spaces? As a caregiver more attention should have been paid to the child on such a path, but at the same time should cyclists also ride so quickly on shared paths knowing their posturing does not allow them to stop in time for any pedestrians? Beyond that the first day was uneventful - I stopped at a coffee shop for a quick bite and to read in a new environment - a habit I have not since continued very much as I find it awkward to take up the space with the presence of wait staff and other guests around - perhaps I have not yet found the right coffee shop for it to be a relaxing ambience.

In general, it actually did not take long to get used to the absence of work. There was of course some general anxiety around how I spent my time but it was not as bad as I expected.

Week 1: I spent a couple of days on “physical repacking day” where I organised my new room. A few more days where designated as “digital repacking days” where I sorted through my digital life and old photos - a task still very much incomplete. Together, these provided a good opportunity to look back and attempt to make peace with frustrations and unhappiness with my past. Fun fact: I also uncovered an old video from the UNLEASH event back in 2018, where I saw a few folks dancing salsa in the NTU Wave which they turned into a makeshift dance floor for the night - the few moments that sparked my eventual curiosity in social dancing!

Week 2: Threw in the completion of some errands including heading over to JB for shopping, and also finally decided on and purchased a new crop sensor mirrorless camera (after about 12-13 years with my previous Canon 600D). Also participated in some (not a lot of) CNY prep by heading over to the grandma’s house for making almond cookies. My level of usefulness may be limited but what I can control this year is ensuring my presence for CNY preparations and festivities. + More settling in of new rooms and new house —> my IKEA glass doors for the bookshelf are in!

Week 3: CNY celebrations and socialising for real! Happy to have had friends and family over to our new place as well, and to see the elderly so lively during this period. You know my grandmas is doing well when she has the energy to tell people off.

—> In this week, the 30th and 31st of Jan (Day 16 and 17 of funemployment haha) stood out the most as I panic researched on trips on the G adventures site given their travel sales ended on 31 Jan. Stayed up to late hours even for this! On the 31st of Jan, I placed a freehold on a free different routes and categories of Africa trips (which meant the price would be held for a few days) heading to different trips and routes before heading to sleep at 2am. Thanks to a discussion with Kalyani over dinner on her previous G adventure trip, I eventually made the decision on Windhoek to Cape Town, 18-39s tour.

The rest of Week 3-4 was spent dealing with my panicking self + planning + packing and repacking, reflecting on what I wanted out of this gap, reflecting on my panic over the trip, and also designating the remaining days to complete outstanding items before the trip. I even had a reading day (spent reading + find other books to read on the trip and areas to explore), a travel prep + meds day (Hep B vaccine + yellow fever vaccine for future trips + malaria meds). At this point what I remember of the 2 weeks pre trip was just anxiety, panic and obsessive research for the trip.

Underlying all this, I tried to focus on my health and exercise (barre 3 times a week). My resolution for this gap without a plan is that: I can go through this gap with nothing to show for it but I need to at least be fit and healthy. Both for my own personal sake but I suppose also given the judgements of others LOL. Ending off with three broad guiding themes for this break:

1. Adventure: Wonder & Wander. Getting things done is better than getting things perfect

2. Health

3. Family and Relationships

In retrospect, it looks like a very structured, well flowing and productive first month, so it is funny to recall the moments of anxiety and what am I doing vibes. I am still trying to find the balance between going with the flow and being unstructured, and my need to structure things (which seems apparent in this recollection). But all in all, am pleased that I’ve aligned well to my also newly discovered 3 guiding principles, and I believe it set me up very well for my travel, which started exactly a month after my last day at work.