#151 Holidays in Way Out Places
Submitted by Reeny
Just as every EAW knows their street cred status by the remoteness of where they work, every EAW knows that the location of their next holiday is critically important.
EAW’s wouldn’t be caught dead sipping Pina Coladas somewhere as pedestrian as Bali, Greece, or Florida. No, that is for the masses of their friends, who take their two biological children to the same place every year for an annual holiday.
EAWs prefer somewhere a little alternative. Everywhere that features in Lonely Planet’s next year’s “Hotspot list” was probably an EAW holiday destination 5 years ago. Croc hunting in Australia’s Northern Territory? You should have been there 10 years ago. Rafting in Laos? It’s so commercial these days. Living in a Yurt in Mongolia for a week? Yeah that was nice, but make sure you try the local delicacy Yak Butter Tea.
Here are some pointers to consider when choosing your next EAW holiday:
- Does it involve more than 2 flights to get there — preferably, a leg involving a small plane, followed by hours in some kind of local transport, before finally hiking to the destination?
- Are there mountain passes to climb or perhaps a fast flowing river to cross?
- Have any of your friends already heard about it? (discount it immediately).
- Does the guest house you will stay at procure its power from a micro-hydro power plant, or approved earth friendly source?
- Is it an ex-war ravaged nation (or even better, still in the midst of a major conflict)? The more recent the war, the more street cred you get. I hear Libya has nice beaches!
Don’t be surprised when you get there and discover that Coca-Cola has already made it there, or that the locals are sporting the latest Nokias to call their relatives living in the US, using the mobile phone towers that were installed last year by a partnership between the UN and the Junglestan Communist Association for the Empowerment of Remote Workers.
Just realize that you obviously haven’t found the holy grail of EAW holidays yet.
Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like 
Ha ha
what you say if I’m going on a week end in a desert trip in the same country i’m working in right now ( a country who had a recent war, and where, you heard, there was nice beaches- but i find beaches sooo overrated anyway) ?
:-B
I reckon this may be one for the HQ-aid workers, if anything… More ODA to Timor is probably spent by EAWs holidaying in Bali then in-country. Many even source their bloody teak furniture from there!