Holiday

How often do you go on holiday? Do you like taking one long holiday or a couple of short ones? Do you prefer a holiday in a city or at the beach?
Vocabulary
  • To go by smth (phrasal verb) — to base an opinion, decision, or judgment on something.
  • Option (noun) — one thing that can be chosen from a set of possibilities, or the freedom to make a choice.
  • Valid (adj.) — that can be accepted as being true or reasonable.
  • To go up in smoke (idiom) — Something that goes up in smoke fails to produce the result that was wanted or comes to no practical result at all.
  • Borders (noun) — the line that divides one country from another.
  • Journey (noun) — the act of travelling from one place to another, especially in a vehicle.
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Questions and answers
Maria: Rory, how often do you go on holiday?

Rory: Well, if your observation at the start of the podcast is anything to go by, not often enough! I’d like to go on holiday more often, actually. And I think that’s one of my goals for this coming year.

Maria: Do you like taking one long holiday or a couple of short ones?

Rory: I suppose probably the latter, because you can distribute your holidays throughout the year, whereas if you take one long one, then you don’t really have an excuse for taking any other ones, do you? Between now and I don’t like being away from my work or my routine for too long. I get a bit nervous. So I prefer not to take a long holiday

Maria: Yeah… You prefer controlling everything…

Rory: Well, I like everything to be orderly. Why? Why does it have to sound so bad? You make me sound like some kind of control freak… I just want everything nicely done.

Maria: Yeah. Because you don’t like being away from work for a long time, so…

Rory: Yeah, but that’s partially because I like my job, and the other thing is I like to make money, so…

Maria: He is a workaholic! A workaholic! Do you prefer a holiday in a city or at the beach?

Rory: It’s an interesting question because I think for me both options are equally valid. I guess it depends on more who I’m with. So if I’m with someone that likes going to the city, then we’ll go there, and about with somebody that likes going to the seaside. Then we’ll go there, for example. But we’ve I’ve gone to a lot of cities recently, I suppose, so maybe a seaside holiday is what’s called for just now.

Maria: When did you last go on holiday?

Rory: Um, that would have been at New Year. I’ve been working since then. I was going to have a holiday in May. I was just going to go back home to Scotland for a little while. But that, sort of, went up in smoke with the virus crisis.

Maria: When will be your next holiday?

Rory: That’s a good question, I think… I think it’s likely to be in December because it looks like the borders won’t be open until then, at the very least. And then, of course, if I’m working, then I can just go and leave the students. So I think it’s probably going to be the Christmas holidays, actually.

Maria: Why don’t you just take a holiday somewhere in Russia?

Rory: Well, right now I’ve got nobody to go with… And I suppose it’s better to focus on being productive right now. And the other thing is, like I say, I’ve got to focus on being productive and I’ve got to… Well, I can’t just leave work, can I?

Maria: No, you can’t! You should stay and work. Slave away night and day. What’s the best
holiday you’ve ever had?

Rory: Well, up until recently, I thought last Christmas was my best holiday. I got to see a lot of my friends and family. And I got to introduce my… Well, I got to introduce my former partner to my family. So that was fun. And we had a really nice time. We did lots of different activities. So that was the best holiday. Hopefully there’ll be more like that in the future.

Maria: Sweet. Do you go on holiday alone or with someone?

Rory: My last few holidays I’ve been… Well, actually, no, my last few holidays, I’ve made the journey alone. But when I was actually on the holiday itself, I was with someone and we met people while we were there. Generally, I think whether it’s for the holiday itself or when you’re making the journey, it’s nicer being with someone, you can chat to them and enjoy yourselves.
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