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Why Bother Taking A Vacation?

Why Bother Taking A Vacation?

Going away from home for a vacation can be a nuisance. There is the task of securing someone to water the plants, put the garbage out and collect the mail. Bags need to be packed and reservations made and changed and made again. Just getting out the door can exhaust a person and make them wonder if leaving home is worth the effort. Yet, once your arrangements are made, your keys are in your hand, and you lock the door behind you, your vacation has begun.  

Eat, Read, Sleep, Repeat

Vacationing means we get to vacate the old and leave it behind for something new. The regular routines of our lives are suspended and for a while, left until we return. While taking that break from our normal lives we might choose to stay up later and sleep in a little longer. We may try eating different foods in the region we visit and eat a little more than we normally would. Beach-side, poolside or riverside might offer the perfect space and place to  dive into the book you have longed to read all summer. Holidays can be a present, an opportunity to see, taste, hear, and feel something new in the place we have chosen to visit. 

Yet, enjoying our break from the norm requires us to break away from our norm. Though we mostly know what to expect from ourselves and others when residing on the home-front, taking an excursion lends itself to the unexpected. Accommodations may not be up to par, a connecting flight might be missed, or the weather turns foul. Finding satisfaction in the unforeseen is one of the greatest challenges when vacationing. Remembering that almost anything is possible and that no matter how well we plan, the unplanned is possible. 

While vacationing, unless visiting a deserted island, we will encounter other people who may feel like strangers. Even when staying within the borders of the United States, different regions have different cultures, customs, and languages. What may normally be acceptable and easily tolerated in one place, may not be so in another. Packing our common courtesies along with us wherever we visit is a good way to make a friend out of a stranger. And a friend may be just what we need if and when those best laid plans of ours go awry. 

Why bother taking a vacation? It is worth it because it gives us the opportunity to practice our flexibility and friendliness in new places. 

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