For my birthday, I took the week off from work but didn’t make any plans to go anywhere. Aside from my actual birthday, my wife was working throughout the week, so I basically had the whole time to myself—except for when she was working from home and we could grab meals together.

This isn’t the first time I’ve done this. I really appreciate these no-plan vacations. I get time to sleep, read a book (Children of Time), play tennis, or maybe just spend the day watching all kinds of videos on YouTube, most of them useless, but entertaining nonetheless.

I spent the first day cleaning up my blog. I got a new domain (enricopangan.blog) and a personal subscription from WordPress. I realized I was willing to pay the price to keep my blog ad-free and have an easy-to-remember domain. I also spent the day looking at old posts and tidying up categories and tags.

On my actual birthday, I spent the day with my wife. We went to our old neighborhood in Yotsuya to have lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in Tokyo. Then, we walked along Shinjuku-dori towards Shinjuku and spent the afternoon there. It was cool to see how much the area has changed in the four years since we moved. As we’ve gotten older, this is how we’ve been spending our birthdays—no more parties or gatherings with friends and family, just quality time for the two of us.

On the third day, I noticed a persistent sore throat. Not a good sign—it could mean I’d be bedridden for the rest of my vacation. I went to the doctor, and she confirmed it wasn’t influenza or coronavirus. She just gave me some medicine to help me feel a little better. It was a relief to know I didn’t catch the flu, though it still meant I had to spend the rest of my vacation at home. I passed the time reading a book and watching YouTube videos, occasionally dozing off—probably thanks to the medicine.

After a few days, I felt better, so I decided to play tennis. It was fun but a little tough because of the cold wind. Sometimes, I wish I were born in spring or autumn so the weather would be more pleasant. But alas, my birthday will always fall in winter—unless I move back to the Philippines or to a country in the Southern Hemisphere.

For the rest of the week, I read my book, watched YouTube, and slept. Not a bad way to spend my vacation, but maybe next time, I’ll plan better so I can be a little more productive. Living the bum life can get boring quickly.

How would you have spent your no-plan birthday vacation?