Summer is upon us – today (June 21st) is the official first day. Even if I didn’t know what day the summer solstice occurred I would know it’s summer because my daughter is on summer holiday and the temperature outside has broken triple digits several times already this year. Summer is typically the time when people around the country load up the proverbial station wagon and take off on their family vacation. In less than a month, I too will be taking my family vacation to the beach-side locale of Seaside, Florida and I can promise you that I am already looking forward to the break from all things for a week in July to relax and recharge my batteries.
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But this isn’t a post about Seaside, it’s a post about relaxing and recharging your personal batteries – a very important part of my make-up. I know my wife will disagree with me on this but I love to travel. Wait a minute – scratch that. I actually hate to travel … but I like being in other places. Traveling sucks. Getting from point A to point B is terrible experience for me – my body does not respond well to the airplane environment and because the overwhelming sense of nausea I experience, I do not like looking out the window while flying. But once I arrive, I recover very quickly and I am ready to go experience “stuff”.
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I have been very fortunate in my life to have been able to travel for pleasure a great deal and other than the “point A to point B” part of it, I find being in a foreign and unknown environment very relaxing and stimulating at the same time. I love the idea of a beach vacation and as a result have been on many, but the truth is that I find them rather dull. The idea of sitting on a beach and, well, just sitting there is not stimulating enough to be relaxing. For me, and I would imagine this is true for many of you who have managed to read this blog with any regularity, if my mind doesn’t have something to do, it will make trouble for me by focusing on things it shouldn’t – like work issues, the very thing I am trying to forget about. Because I am such a results oriented thinker instead of a process oriented thinker, for me to truly relax and recharge, I need to have something to think about that requires enough brain power to keep me from thinking about other stuff, but not enough to keep me from enjoying my break.
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As it turns out, my daughter is wired a lot like me in that she does better when there are several short activities (or maybe that’s because she’s a child). Our trip to France last summer went great and I was able to haul my entire family from one place to the next – all day long – with no complaints other than the occasional “I’ve got sore feet”. Putting my daughter on my shoulders took care of her and stopping at a Cafe took care of my wife and me. See? Everybody wins.
For some, sitting somewhere peaceful with a good book is the way to go – something that is low effort, serene, and calming. I’m just not wired that way and most people who do what I do for a living are more like me than not. We travel to places to see and do things. Don’t get me wrong, I like to mix in a little swim up bar (okay – a lot of swim up bar) but I need something else to keep me occupied. Visiting new places, meeting new people, experiencing something out of ordinary – out of my ordinary, is my definition of a relaxing vacation that recharges my batteries.
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I´m thinking surf should work for you.
It´s a great way to relax while concentrating on something else.
If I had the knees I would definitely be out there. As it is, next time I find myself with the opportunity, I am going to sea paddle. (I’ve got the abs for it…)
Those are great photos. I feel the same way; my mind always has to be thinking.
Those are great photos. I feel the same way; my mind always has to be thinking.
Thanks – most of those pictures were taken with good old fashion film and I had to take a picture of the picture last night on the bathroom counter. Thanks goodness for digital photography now (thanks Industrial Revolution!)
Partially, your problem is mine. And partially it isn’t. I am a very tunnel-visioned person. When I’m working on something, the whole world goes away. It was that way when I was writing novels (two I couldn’t publish), and it’s that way with cabinetmaking projects. Hell, it’s even that way for blogging! I used to sit in the study for hours working on a passage, then finally sit back to take a sip of coffee—to be shocked to find it was ice cold! Now, when I’m working on a project for the house, I obsess about every detail of it. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, going over every detail, checking every dimension, because by then I’m memorized all of them without even trying—those numbers just immediately hard-wire themselves into my feverished brain!
But, on the other hand… I still enjoy just sitting back and reading a book, something I do every chance I get! For me what works is putting things in slots. This is the work slot; this is the relax slot. And over the years—excepting only the middle-of-the-night anxiety attacks—it seems to have worked well for me.
You nailed it Bob. When I’m getting away if I don’t stay busy my mind and conversation gravitate towards work.
I think that’s why it’s so fun to vacation with our kids. They really do just forget about everything else.
My daughter will turn 7 this summer so she is at an age where exploring is a great deal of fun. Kids definitely change the tone of the activity that’s for sure
I can’t relax; have to work harder so I can raise $250,000 to buy your blog!. lol
Lol, now that’s funny!
You hit the nail on the head with “I hate to travel but I like being in other places”. The airplane experience is horrible. Well with the exception of that one European trip where we got upgraded to first class because coach was filled.
We like “to do stuff” so the beach is boring but we do throw in a cruise every once and a while. But the best trips are to Europe. Being out in “the boonies” where no one speaks any english is our favorite……wait, forget Europe….. we could do that by going to Dallas.
Doug
I have to admit, while beach vacations can get a little dull, our trips to Hawaii have been great. There are so many beaches and no shortage of trails to explore and coves to swim. It has worked out great simply because we can spend an hour at one beach and then drive 10 minutes and get something completely different.
(I’m going to take a flyer on the english + Dallas comment … hits a little close to home – ha!)
Hey, Redskins fan here. What can I say!
Doug
I’ll leave it at that – being a Redskins fan is punishment enough for anybody.
My sister and I went to a Mexican beach vacation once. We got so bored we came home early. My dream vacation? Traveling in Europe and going to every stinking museum and cathedral in sight! I love it. But then, my BA was in medieval history, which makes me weird by definition. If I know you, you’ll be drawing plans in the sand. Be sure to take pics of those plans. And let Katie dunk you a few times.
only a few? Kate looooooves to climb on Dad’s raft and tip it over. Again and again and again and …..