A good friend of mine makes the distinction that some getaways are vacations and others are trips. Well…not as if this isn’t a decadent problem to ponder “gosh…as I sit sipping umbrella-laced drinks, is this a vacation, a trip, or a dream?”
I decided to craft my vacation criteria and in doing so found the life lesson. As always, once I listed my holiday must-haves, I found that I could easily explain to my husband why cave diving in a remote village will never be considered a vacation AND I could do more to make daily life feel like a vacation.
While the results will never tip the scale of important world issues, and with the vacation tan fading, here is the reminder that even the creation of an assessment brings clarity to life.
| Not Present |
Somewhat Present |
Mostly |
Always |
|
| Achieve a state of relaxation within 8 hours of arrival | ||||
| My schedule is without deadlines | ||||
| I have the time to do something that I don’t make time to do at home | ||||
| Each day contains a minimum of two interesting new experiences | ||||
| Eye candy experiences are readily available (shopping, museums, nature) | ||||
| Activities consume mental energy and repress the issues of daily life | ||||
| Family and/or good friends share the experience | ||||
| I learned something new | ||||
| I greet the day anticipating a new adventure |
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
As I sit in my office with a view of the Mark Hopkins Hotel and the DeYoung building in downtown SF, listening to a conference call discussing Omni-channel strategies, eating multi-grain Fig Newtons and sipping hot ginger peach tea I bought at the Farmer’s Market last week, looking at a picture of Bob and me from 1972 or so, I am thinking that work can have many elements of a vacation, too.
Great point! It really is a matter of perception in the end. Cool description – thanks for sharing.
-Mark