[EVE Online] Even Explorers need a Holiday

Filed by E

I told myself it was just a break.

Not a retreat. Not giving anything up. Just… stepping sideways for a bit. There’s no Winter Nexus out in j-space this year—apparently shattered wormholes don’t get festive snowstorms, which feels like a personal slight—so I let myself drift back to highsec for a while.

I’m flying my Endurance, quietly mining faded volatile ice in a system that barely remembers what danger looks like (Until Safety is in the system, at least). The ice glitters as the harvesters bite into it, soft and fractured, like the universe decided to be gentle for once. It’s a far cry from collapsing connections and living out of bookmarks and instincts.

I should feel relaxed.

Instead, I feel exposed.

There’s no cloak-and-wait here. No safes that only I know. Local chat scrolls by in plain sight, and CONCORD feels like a very strange substitute for situational awareness. I keep flicking d-scan out of muscle memory, even though nothing ever changes. Old habits cling hard.

Still… the Endurance feels right. Built for cold. Built to endure. The rhythm settles in—harvesters cycling, hold slowly filling, the quiet hum of winter NPCs minding their own business. For once, the universe isn’t asking me to be sharp or fast. Just present.

I catch myself smiling at that.

This is good. A pause. A chance to let the constant edge bleed off before I throw myself back into j-space, back into scanning chains and rescue pings and beautiful, dangerous emptiness. Highsec doesn’t feel like home anymore, but it makes a decent place to rest your boots and watch the snow fall.

I’ll go back soon. I always do.

But for now, I stay right where I am—mining ice, feeling a little exposed, a little safe, and quietly grateful for a softer stretch of stars.

Even explorers need winter holidays.