ahhh summertime. most folk are on vacation and have checked out of life for awhile. i was having a conversation with my friend the other day about just that. it's interesting to me that so many folks feel that they have to travel- and sometimes far away- for a break. for me- my apartment is my haven. it has always been my comfort when i need to escape from the world. now, there's a school of thought that says- well, if you stay home then you'll just do household chores- and what fun is that? i guess i just figure that household tasks have to be done and that it won't take you all day if you plan- but that's not the point. i guess i wonder what it is about our large homes that are beautifully furnished that we are so anxious to get away from. i think about it from time to time because i get annoyed at not having more room but of course that leads me back to- you have too much stuff.
very circular. anyway, my rambling point is- i realize that in our culture that ramming around on vacation is the way to go. fly to the bahamas and beach yourself on the sand and all that. but why can't we change that? my inlaws flew here to see my husband and me. they used the vacation as an excuse. we took them to local attractions. now, depending on where you live- there are probably more or less things to do- but one thing that i have a feeling runs across the board-- locals don't use what they have. they go away. i lived in elmira most of my life and i never went to their museum or parks or whatnot. i moved here to binghamton and decided to change that. and so we have- slowly.
if you want to go to see the maya ruins, by all means go. but do you have to plan a huge trip every year? how about every other year? i wrote about my pangs of conscience at the sirens this week. it really bothers me that people go about their lifestyles without a thought- one thought- beyond throwing a can into a recycling bin. while recycling is important- we have to start substituting things into our lifestyles to replace our bad habits. i don't begrudge you your trip. i just know that when i was a kid i didn't know folks who took a vacation away every year. folks went camping or to visit relatives or stayed home and had bbqs and what not. maybe we should take advantage of our 1 week a year to reconnect with our families. instead of checking out of life for awhile, maybe we should reteach ourselves how to embrace it. just a thought.
2 comments:
betmo, I'm anti-vacation, myself, only because, in my life experience, it seems, vacations have always been more stressful than they were worth. In fact, our last attempt at a "real" vacation (about 5 years ago) turned into a total disaster. So much so that we never made it out of our home state (car broke down a week before the trip. Then when we got the car back, two days before planning to leave there turns out to be more problems with same vehicle. Because he had to spend some of our vacation money to pay for a rental for the days we were car-less, we couldn't afford to take a rental on our trip and definitely no money to tow two grown-ups and three kids on a plane for a two week vacation...in fact, that money had to be spent on groceries since we didn't shop prior because we didn't plan on being home...)
SSG Dizzy complains that we never go visit family, but I just remind him of the last trip we planned and he drops the subject. I'm as happy as a clam curling up in my own domicile and letting the kids splash in the kiddie pool and watch SSG Dizzy BBQ.
As a military brat, I have traveled the world. Even when we lived overseas, we took summers to visit family stateside (sometimes two times a year *Christmas). But, I grew out of the "world traveler" meme when I was 13. I just grew tired of packing/unpacking, including the hassle of going through airports and bus stations, etc. Then, you get to your destination and it's pure hell for two weeks (or longer).
I know I have some issues dealing with bad things that happened to me, personally. Like the time we got stranded in California, on our way back home in Germany and had to live in a homeless shelter for two weeks because we got bumped off of our MAC flight (discounted military flight) and we had no money to buy full-price plane tickets to get back home (they considered my mother AWOL from the Air Force because of it).
Ever since I got back to the Mainland, in 1984, I have had ZERO interest in traveling (I haven't even been on an airplane since then). I'm happy as a bug in a rug snuggling up with a good book or movie or maybe seeing local attractions (I love the Colorado mountains). Just thinking about all the planning that goes into talking about vacation gives me a headache.
The way I look at my neighbors vacations? Time off from them messing up my gorgeous yard and their kids screaming until long past dark and their loud music on the weekends...indeed, a vacation for my neighbors is a nice vacation for me ;)
Signed, The Dizzy Hermit
Ah, I work in the travel business. I know that there is travel that is destructive, and travel that is instructive and renewing. We can make choices.
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