What I will do this summer

A certain breed of Finn greets midsummer, arguably the biggest national holiday in these parts, with gleeful melancholy. They can be heard to bleat that the days get shorter from now on and winter will soon be with us.

No, no, no! Midsummer is when summer begins. I'm still psychologically tuned to the British school holiday cycle, where work goes on into July and breaks for August. The best is yet to come.

So what will I do with my hard-earned days and cash this time round? Well, big plans are afoot. Last year I went west. This year I go east.

First up, towards the end of July, is India. It is maybe not the sort of place that I would normally consider, and maybe not the sort of place one should go alone. It will be the monsoon season: hot and damp. I've got my visa and have started my vaccinations. The malaria tablets come with a warning of possible psychotic episodes. Which may be handy when suffering from stomach cramps and being held to ransom by a taxi driver in the middle of the Thar desert. But two weeks doing the Golden Triangle of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur, plus other bits of Rajasthan, sounds so exotic, so unique, who could say no?

Second up, after a few days of recovery time in Helsinki, is Japan. I have amazed myself by going for a second destination that is likely to serve severe culture shock. Normally the flights are hideously expensive, but I stumbled on a package that includes the travel and six hotel nights for about half the usual price of an air ticket. It was a sign. It was to be mine. A week in Osaka. My August meditation will be Nipponese.