"At home, I've been taught that if you've worked hard throughout the year, the least you can do is enjoy a good vacation."

BarcelonaMarc Balcells, director of the degree in Criminology at the UOC, and author ofArcheomafia: The Grave Robbers, admits he has a bittersweet relationship with summer because it's a critical time at work: "I have to mentally prepare myself and prepare really well, but I always fail. It's a time of exams, corrections, revisions, academic events, conferences, and I arrive at the holidays exhausted." He laments that he suffers from the teacher's curse; he can only take vacations in August, with the heat and summer prices. During the year, Marc and his partner take the occasional trip, but it's in summer that they take the big trip, an idea inherited from his father. A pastry chef by profession, he would get up at 5 a.m. year-round, working when everyone was celebrating: on Three Kings' Night, for Easter and the days leading up to it, San Juan... but in summer he didn't spare the expense. "He was happy taking the whole family on trips," he recalls.

They spent the summers of the 1980s in villas with swimming pools on the coast, until 1989 when the change came. From then on, his vacations were abroad, with the United States and Canada as his first destinations, followed by Southeast Asia and Egypt. "At home, they instilled in me that if you've made an effort throughout the year, the least you can do is enjoy a happy vacation," he explains happily. He doesn't need to go to 5-star hotels or have any problem staying in a simple guesthouse, but he wants to be able to take the trip: "It excites me and connects me with my father and mine." I child".

Among all these family trips is the summer of his life, his first big trip, to the United States and Canada, when he was nine years old: "I remember standing at the foot of the Twin Towers, looking up and thinking it was the most Martian thing I'd ever seen. Disney World was also spectacular, with Mickey and Pluto by my side." It was a long three weeks: New York, Canada, and three theme parks in Florida.

From those family adventures, he retains the same attitude he always has when he leaves, always with the eyes of a child, full of excitement, and willing to be surprised. He appreciates any opportunity to go out with his partner, even if it's places he's already been to: "I don't mind repeating myself, and I'm a slow traveler. I like to relax and refuse to believe I won't return to Japan, Indonesia, or California." He enjoys being away, immersed in another culture, returning to the most primal aspect of travel: curiosity and exploration, free from worries, having the opportunity to reconnect with himself, and spending quality time with his partner: "Afterwards, you realize that in everyday life, it's difficult to balance or be with him."