Two weeks of travelling together and we've adopted acronyms when we speak. Photo / AFP
My 2016 started in Latin America.
Mexico and Colombia. Cartel country. From the high plateaus of the Andes to the warm wet of the Caribbean Coast, I've bussed and flown and stayed up late with my mates for so many nights that beating them in gin-rummy is almost getting old. Almost.
Two weeks of travelling together and we've adopted acronyms when we speak.
An I-F-D is an ice cream-free day.
An A-F-D applies to booze.
An E-A-D is a term usually reserved for the loser in gin-rummy and probably best left to your imagination.
Needless to say, there haven't yet been many I-F-Ds in 2016. Two, at last count.
Most people hit up the farmers' markets in tropical countries and try the exotic fruit but in Colombia I've been more interested in testing the local double-scoop produce.
The tally for A-F-Ds in 2016 is potentially even worse. Does mint count as a vegetable when it comes in a mojito?
Every cold beer tipped to a Caribbean sunset and every lick of a guanabana ripple only adds to the looming anvil of truth teetering above my summer holiday: This is about to end.
We all know the feeling: Last call at the Annual Leave Saloon.
Oddly, I'm a bit excited to start work. If only to steer my body through a few I-F and A-F-Ds. But I know from previous experience that all it will take is 48 hours at my desk and I'll be about ready for another break.
It's a good problem, but a problem nonetheless.
How to beat the back-to-work blues? Perhaps you'll subscribe to the notion that the only way to stay positive post-holiday is to immediately plan your next.
I think a better solution isn't to simply look forward to my next holidays but to find a way to take more holidays. Zip up your suitcase and check Expedia for cheap flights. It's time we moved to France.
Jack Tame is on NewstalkZB Saturdays, 9am-midday
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