For the first time in over 3 years, Dennis and I are talking
about taking a vacation.
We want to take a trip somewhere that we would find fun and
relaxing. We picked some dates and made
the commitment. We came up with a budget
that we felt we could spend. Then I started
researching for a place to go.
I know the kind of things we enjoy doing. I know how we have managed our energy and
interests on outings before and I thought I had a good plan. We loved our last vacation when we went to
Boston for 5 days in 2011. We saw the
Alcott house, the Mary Baker Eddy library, toured Concord (bookstore, UU church
where Revolution planned) and the Gropius House. It was eclectic, quirky, some planned and
some not and we had a great time.
Other things we have enjoyed doing together have been things
we stumbled across like touring Old Town, and the Sheriff’s museum in San Diego
(and staying in a charming place called the Padre Inn), the Railroad museum in
Temple, the airplane museum in Galveston, the Mayo Clinic museum in Rochester,
sites where “Homicide Life on the Streets” was filmed in Baltimore, and the
Cryptology museum in DC.
We like interesting stories and places that we can learn
things – historical and personal. Our
favorite kind of trip is we find a place that we can park for 5 days or so as a
home base – comfortable so we can hang and rest between outings. Then we go see some of these interesting
sites and eat out and just do touristy things.
With all that in mind, I found three perfectly lovely places
to visit. Places that appealed to our
interests and had all the elements of visits we have enjoyed in the past. Still, something was holding me back.
I sought advice from friends about where they thought would
be fun. And all the suggestions sounded
like fun. We kept discussing the places
I found and I researched more places.
Anything that came into my head that sounded interesting, I checked into
it.
I just couldn't bring myself to finalize any plans or settle
on a particular place or agenda. The
worst part of it is that I couldn't put my finger on why. What was holding me back. I now have 5 places and lists of things to
see and do that would make a splendid trip.
And, here I sit.
Today, I realized that I had based all my assumptions about
what we enjoyed on experiences in the past.
When we did those things, our day-to-day life was very different than it
is now. And that matters. Vacations are, at least for me, about getting
away from your daily existence. We live
in a city now and have constant noise and smog and traffic. Having registered that today, I realized I
don't really want to go be in the center of a city with constant noise, smog,
and traffic. I want something more
beautiful and quiet.
It's from that place of "not knowing" and being comfortable there, that we see the answers emerging, personally and professionally. Beautifully written.
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