For as far back as I can remember, it’s been tradition for people to take a yearly vacation. Some stay a week. Others can afford more than that. Regardless of the duration, it’s mostly a once-a-year deal.
You head to some place you either love to go or have never been to before, excited at the chance to blow off some steam and just be yourself without the pressures of adulting.
… Why?
Since I left home at the age of 18, I’ve never subscribed to yearly vacations. That’s waaaay too many eggs in the mental health basket.
The best adventures I’ve ever been on were cobbled together at the last minute and had no specific intent or direction.
Granted, most of the time I had an idea of what I was doing and where I was going – but it was a very loose frame work. I didn’t have reservations of any type. I drove where I wanted to go as long as it was a reasonable distance. There’s always a hotel that has vacancy.
This plan only bit me in the ass once, but it was a good one. I almost gave myself frostbite in Sedona/Flagstaff in November because I didn’t factor in temp change due to elevation -but that’s a different story.
If you sit down and break up 7 vacation days into three to five day weekends when coupled with holidays, now you have adventure breaks all throughout the year. If one or two don’t go exactly as planned, you still have a few others to look forward to – and unless you live in the middle of BFE, there’s something new you can discover with a short drive out of town. Even if it takes a day to drive there, you can still have a good time and get back with less stress than when you left.
I’ve taken weekend adventures my entire adult life and never had a problem worth noting. I went to Disney Orlando one time with my s/o and had my bank card info stolen. I still had a good time, but the tourist trap prices were ridiculous.
Now more than ever I see the value in small getaways to mitigate the stress and anxiety over one large investment that’s not guaranteed, usually not cheap, and usually just a different form of stress management.
I’ve never been a fan and never will be. Of course there will always be exceptions – like visiting a foreign country or something like that which demands a longer investment of time.
I’ll always prefer to do my dishes every day or two instead of at the end of the month.
Off The Rails 