Working in Hong Kong is very intensive than in other countries. Nevertheless, people who work at a typical Hong Kong-based company are often entitled to 12 or even fewer days of annual leaves. Every year, netizen posts the “Annual Leave Guide” to teach others to mix the annual leaves with public holidays so that their vacation can be longer.

People take leaves and travel outside Hong Kong to relieve stress during office hours. But according to my years of observations, their travels look much more stressful than working at the office.

Have you ever heard about your friend’s journeys like:

  • A 5-day itinerary from Taipei – Taichung – Chiayi (and they thought it was Tainan) – Kaohsiung
  • A 6-day itinerary from Osaka – Kyoto – Gifu (and they thought it was Nagoya) – Tokyo
  • An 8-day itinerary from the Netherlands – Germany – Switzerland – Austria – Germany

One of my friends frequently rushes to the airport right after work on Friday and travels to Japan. Then he returns at midnight on Monday and directly goes back to work. I’m not a fan of being these types of travellers. If I were them, I would feel more exhausted and wouldn’t get recharged before returning to work.

There is a misconception that you have to get more to be fulfilled. But the truth is it doesn’t apply to everything. Imagine that you are cramming all the tourist attractions into a day. You wake up early at 06:00, have a quick breakfast and then rush for the earliest bus available. You stay at location A for 30 minutes and go to location B for another 30 minutes. You repeat until you return to the hotel at 22:00. Do you remember what happened in location A? Did you enjoy the moment in location D? You probably have forgotten everything.

In March, my girlfriend and I will visit Japan for 8 days, with 5 days in the Hida region, Gifu, and 3 days in Nagoya, Aichi. During the research, we found that there are lots of attractions in the Hida region. Staying in the Hida region for 5 days won’t be enough to visit them all. We discussed whether we should add one or two days more in the Hida region instead of Nagoya. Our decision was not to alter. By extending the staying duration there, we might travel to more attractions. But there could be snow hazards, putting us at risk of missing the flight back to Hong Kong on the final day. As Japan won’t sink in at least ten years, we can visit the Hida region again and further explore there.

A random walk from Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine to Dazaifu Government Office Ruin

Try accepting the fact that you don’t have unlimited time. Reduce the number of attractions (or cities or even countries) planned. You will explore deeply the places you are going to visit. Leave part of your itinerary empty and allow randomness. You will find your journey more interesting and exciting.

Less is more.