Counting..

..the days until I leave for my vacation. Which will be a complete relaxation fest, with as little planned as possible except for whatever it will take to avoid inconvenience. I truly do not understand people who work harder to plan and execute a vacation than they do to work for a living. The goal is to remain/become stress-free. Why invite trouble? Bookings, plannings, itinerarys, ticking the boxes, herding the family around like so much prodded cattle, all the while yapping at their heels that they may have forgotten the sunscreen/camera/tickets/passports. And scrambling to get to each destination on time and bustling through it, onwards to the next...all the while missing 80% of the fun while running in circles in total panic mode over each little detail possibly overlooked.

Hell, I'm mentally fatigued just typing that crap out. What nonsense. Why can't people just learn to relax and chill? What has happened to us? To our society? Why the constant need to be bombarded with information, sights and experiences until our overloaded brains just want to cringe and whimper and curl up into tight little fetal positions at the mere thought of the next days Joyfest of Adventures?? That wonderful haphappy List of Things We Absolutely Will Be Doing No Matter What Cuz Dammit I Paid A Fortune To Be Here And We're Gonna Have Fun If It Kills Us!!!!!

To all that foolishness, I say: bother me not. Give me a nice, relaxing visit with friends and relatives, with people I do not get to see often. To go to those places that I want to go to but never seem to have the time. Give me the time spent chatting over simple, everyday things, and enjoy the daily pleasures many of us so often overlook in our haste to get things done. Take the time to look around, see things you normally don't. The sheer luxury of taking your time to experience...whatever catches your fancy. Go to local places you never have time for but keep saying you should go to. Go to places that don't even look like they would interest you, but you will probably love the experience.

Half of us could have incredible vacations in our own cities and don't even realize it. Because of the mythological lure of distance and travel. It's the glamour created by airlines and travel agents....the mystique of Far Away Places!! Exciting...because they tell you it is. But it's your money and your time being wasted on hurricane season and language barriers, the frustration and exhaustion of travelling. How about using your time wisely and staying in your own country? How about the allure and mystery of finding things in your own city, how about spending money to support your countries own tourist attractions and restaurants and culture?

And does anyone even know what quality time is anymore? Perhaps only those of us who find beauty in dandelions as well as orchids. Who find magic in a conversation with a child as well as the celebrity. Quality time is a catchphrase that has come to mean "cramming as much into as tiny a time allotment as possible." This was never how it was meant to be. It does not mean running your children like pony express carriers in order to finish touring places they won't even be able to remember because it whipped past them so fast. Slow down, take it easy, and chill the hell out. This is my advice to you all as vacation season approaches.