Off to Southeast Asia!

"SURPRISE! You have 7 days leave that expire at the end of 2010!"

This is what happened to me last week. I had been saving up my leave days for a longer trip in the spring; I assumed leave days could carry over (also, it should be noted that I still think of years in academic terms. September is the new year for me, not January! so it didn't occur to me that this might be a problem). One might ask why HR did not tell me this during orientation. The answer would be that HR never gave me an orientation. So basically I don't know any of the policies of my organization.

Anyway, 7 days leave + 2 Sundays + Christmas holiday = 10 day vacation. And I had exactly one week to figure out where to go. I looked up flights to everywhere warm (hey, it's cold here in the mountains without central heating!) within and near India, and Bangkok was the cheapest flight (cheaper than Goa). So, there ya go. I'm going to Thailand, mostly to some islands for beach time and scuba diving. And Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, because, you know, I'll be in the neighborhood.

I leave tonight on an overnight bus from Shimla to Delhi, and my flight to Bangkok is tomorrow. Weeee vacation!!