But Courtney Duncan cannot wait for her visa to come through so she can set off in defence of her world motocross championship.
The 26-year-old rider spent Christmas in a managed isolation and quarantine facility.
There was trifle, so the world did not end. And the six weeks she had back home in Dunedin and Palmerston was great.
But the three-time world champion is a racer, and the racing is in Europe.
"I’m actually waiting for a visa to arrive, so it could be any day," she responded when asked when she was heading back to her base in Southampton.
"I feel like I haven’t been home for long but, looking back, I’m just grateful that I got home. It has been a really cool six weeks back here."
She has been back on her motorcyle and training since early January. But she has also done some mountain climbing and had a couple of training sessions with the Highlanders.
Despite leaping high into the air on her bike, the scramble up Silver Cone exposed her fear of heights.
But getting to the top made it all worthwhile. And that is the plan in Europe: get back to the top.
Duncan is in her sixth season of the circuit and, despite winning the past three titles, remains as hungry and motivated as ever.
"At this point in my career I’m still at the gym, I’m still riding and I’m still chasing like I’ve never won one before.
"I’m still excited about the opportunity and I do have that opportunity to be a four-time world champion. How can you not get out of bed and not want to chase that?
"I know it is going to be hard. The girls are going to be chasing me and gunning for me.
"There will be a lot of added pressure."
The season gets under way in Italy early next month and finishes in Turkey in September.
She is hoping she will be able to return to New Zealand in June and July during a break in the schedule.
There are a couple of new tracks in the series this year.
"There are some deep sand tracks, so that will be interesting. It is a spanner in the works.
"It is not my favourite or strongest surface. I wasn’t brought up with it and have not had a lot of experience, so it is a little bit more difficult than the hard tracks.
"But that is no excuse. I just need to be better."
