Dear Diary,
I’m not even being dramatic when I say that literally everyone I know is on vacation right now. EVERYONE. The school WhatsApp group is filled with “Guess where I am?” messages, and every time I open Instagram, I see some classmate living their best beach life while I’m here — in my room, in my pajamas, eating leftover rajma chawal.

Neha is in Kerala posing with elephants and waterfalls. Aarav is on a houseboat, being all “sunsets and peace vibes”. Don’t even get me started on Isha — her entire story is just one long montage of her Goa trip. Sun, sea, pool selfies, and her new “vacay OOTDs” every five seconds.

And now… brace yourself… two of my classmates are in Europe. EUROPE, Diary. One is doing a “Europe in 10 days” trip — Eiffel Tower one day, gondola in Venice the next. I mean, I didn’t even know you could pack that much into one trip. The other one posted a story from Amsterdam today and just casually added “Next stop: Paris” like it’s no big deal.

And me? Well, I’m currently sitting on the floor of my room because my bed is covered in unfolded laundry. 

I won’t lie,  I’ve been feeling a lot of pressure. Not from my parents or teachers, but from social media. It’s like if you’re not on a mountain, beach, or some cobblestone European street right now, you’re not doing summer “right.” Every scroll just reminds me that I have no fancy plans. Zero. Zilch. Not even a weekend getaway.

At this point, even the fridge is judging me. Every time I open it for a cold drink or a snack, it’s like, “Back again? Don’t you have a life?”

BUT (surprisingly), something shifted. The first few days were full of boredom and FOMO. But slowly, I started enjoying the stillness. I picked up that novel Ma had been begging me to read, and I’m actually hooked. It’s like entering a whole new world — no passport needed.

I also tried cooking something other than instant noodles. Attempted banana pancakes (they looked like weird blobs but tasted okay-ish) and even helped Dad with his new chai experiment. Spoiler alert : we added tulsi, and now he thinks he’s a tea sommelier or something.

And Nani, she surprised me with a story about her childhood crush! Apparently, a boy used to cycle past her gali every day just to get a glimpse of her. Who knew Nani had her own little Bollywood romance?

Sure, I still feel a huge pang of jealousy when I see vacation posts. But I’ve realized that sometimes, doing “nothing” is kind of a vibe. I’ve had slow mornings, long naps, and random creative bursts. I even painted for the first time in months!

So while my summer didn’t include passports, flights, or photogenic brunches, it did include something kinda rare in this teenage life, peace. And that’s not bad at all.

Would I swap it all for a trip to Italy? Probably.
But until then, I’m learning to enjoy my staycation.

Till next time,
Your not-on-vacay but calm for the first time,
– Me

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