I was mailing with my friend Paul, whom I met in Tokyo, about the inevitable frustrations of coming back, being enclosed in an office, being in the same spot….

He answered in his kind way and proposed I organise maybe a few side trips, to have something to look forward to.

This opened a window and made me see things in a different perspective.

Not that the proposal was something new – it was what I had been planning before I even came back. In the past two months I have already embarked on trips to London (twice), Paris, and home.

I have planned another trip to Paris, two trips to London till October, one more to home for a class reunion and another one to see friends and family in Nuremberg.

On top of it the Madonna tour this fall will bring me another 13 (!) trips and flights to see her shows across nine countries.

Sometimes it takes the outsider’s perspective to realise how good things are.

True, Brussels has an almost ideal place as the European capital. Trains to Paris leave every 30 minutes and whisk you away to the city of lights in 1h20.

Your Friday afternoon beer in the Marais is totally feasible.

The same applies to London, where the change in time zones cuts the trip to London – station to station – to de facto 1 hour.

I love these trips so much – it’s hard to resist temptation. But I need to repay a bit of money first, so I actually turned down proposals for weekends in Barcelona and Germany in July – it would have meant that I’d be gone six consecutive weekends.

Hello, do I live in Brussels, or an airport?

I guess it’s a normal adaptation after such a long trip. I am infected with the travel bug. But as usual I am taking it one step further, and become excessive.

However, a mail like Paul’s puts it all in perspective again.

I have amazing travel opportunities, even back home in Brussels. Use them, enjoy them. But value them, and be thankful about it.

Life isn’t bad, even when ‘stuck’ in one place for a while.