Vacation or Staycation?

 

I looked it up in a dictionary and read that a vacation is a period of suspension of work, study other activity, usually used for rest, recreation or travel. Now, the dictionary didn’t say how long the period has to be for a trip to be a vacation or how far. And, my dictionary, being nearly as old as myself, didn’t even have a “staycation” entry, so I had to ask Cortana on my computer. It turns out, a staycation involves doing things within driving distance from home, and sleeping in my own bed.

Well, we needed a break, but couldn’t get completely away from work for a “real” vacation.  We started off with an overnight with some friends to an old hotel at a village about an hour and a half away. Okay, we didn’t return home to sleep that night, but was it still a vacation? And, I took my computer and did some writing. Isn’t that work? Well, it’s something I love doing when I travel, and getting back to work on my next novel feels more like enjoying a suspension of projects than anything else. Most importantly, it was really enjoyable. The food was terrific, (always a big thing with me), and conversation with our friends in lieu of nightly television was wonderful.

The next few days, we couldn’t readily get away from home for other overnights. Lesley had writing commitments for multiple blog tours, etc., and our newly-seeded yard needed to be watered every night. Besides, with a little self-permission to go off our diets, (breaking from normal routine), we were able to come up with some great meals on our own, not to mention the pleasure of sitting on our back deck with a glass of wine, reveling in the fact that our stream bank project is finished. We also visited an art museum, went hiking and ate out whenever it suited our pleasure. On top of that, I got in my first round of golf for the season. Oh, and I got in some more writing on my next novel, Murder in Key Largo, (or Killed in Key Largo, I haven’t decided which yet), in my Bobby Navarro mystery series.

At some point, I asked myself whether Bobby would take a vacation. He rides all over the country on his Harley whenever he gets the chance, but that’s often a matter of taking the long way home. In the current work-in-progress he is actually attempting to take a vacation, but, what with becoming involved in solving another murder, can I really call it a vacation?

So, vacation or staycation? You decide. I learned something though. I learned how refreshing an afternoon hike, or visit to some local attraction can be. It was certainly worth the time away from most of our regular work. My hope is that we will do more of this in the months ahead. Your thoughts?

Comments

  1. As for me (I’m Lesley) I want more eating out, hiking and yard sales, less of that golf thing because he comes home crabby after a round!

  2. Vacations are far too stressful for me. A time of preparing for leaving, deciding plans, getting money ready, finishing extra work ahead of regular schedule. Then the vacation, avoiding calls from work, watching the cash bleed out of my wallet, worrying about what I’m going to have to deal with when i get back to work. All this is followed up with cleaning up the mess from being away.

    The weekend vacation on the other hand is excellent. Maybe a long weekend. Or just a random night away. My kids seemed to love it when i would rent a hotel for a night with a pool and just escape for a night. The lack of stress, the time not spent planning definitely reduces stress enough to equal a longer time away.

    Rose is graduating finally this year when looking into how to celebrate we considered Cabo, Peru, perhaps rent a house in jersey. we settled on something else….. I traded a jewelry job for a ski boat that needed a bit of engine work. We will spend the winter fixing it up together an rather than going away next summer we will spend as much time as possible water skiing and spending time on lakes and cruising the sound.

    The goal is to create a life you don’t need a vacation from for sure.

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