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Two contrasting mindsets emerge while on vacation, and each person embarking on one has a choice to make. It is a choice that will shape the mood, nay, the entire essence of the trip.
One can choose to be on the move, seeing the sights and being active, or one can elect to remain idle, content to spend their days lounging poolside or in a beach bungalow.
I have no problem with the people who want to be on the move all of the time, but when you have a group of people on vacation together, and there a couple people in the active camp and a few people in the lounge camp, things can get dicey very quickly.
I am of the belief that vacation is meant for relaxation. Please note that I mean this only for domestic travel. When embarking on an international vacation to Europe, Iceland (very hip right now), or South America, by all means go nuts. See the sights. Expose yourself to new things and jump at opportunities to see something you’ve never seen before while abroad.
But when I’m in Florida, Mexico (I don’t consider this international travel), California, or anywhere else where the sun is shining and the water is a desirable swimming temperature, I don’t want to be bothered with anything that is going to interfere with my pool/beach time. Golf is probably the only thing that would tear me away from lounging, and even that would probably be a one or two time thing over the course of a one or two week vacay. I want to swim, eat chicken tenders in my pool chair, go out to bomb ass dinners, and drink cocktails in that order.
Hiking, 6:00 a.m. yoga classes on the beach, and these “day trips,” as they are so eloquently called by the people who participate in them, can go to hell in a hand basket.
Nothing sours my mood quicker than someone in my domestic vacation squad that has a fucking itinerary set for each day. The entire point of vacation is to get away from set schedules and plans, and yet it seems that in every group there is at least one person who just can’t stand the horror of extended lounging.
The sighs and moans that come from the “active” group – the ones that have read every Rick Steves book on the planet – when I suggest getting daiquiris and hitting the pool from 11:00 a.m. to 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. are enough to make me vomit. I cannot stand when people start suggesting outlandish activities that take me away from laying down in a pool chair.
Take for instance, my latest jaunt to Southwest Florida. Marco Island is well known to be a destination for people in their twilight years and young families. I stuck out like a sore thumb whilst out to dinner each night with my folks amidst a crowd of 60+ year olds and parents chasing their five year olds around, attempting feebly to get them to eat anything other than chicken tenders and french fries.
I was perfectly fine spending my days dozing in and out of sleep in a pool chair, jumping into the pool and lazing about on a noodle once every hour or so. I even made the daunting .2 mile trek from condominium to beach a couple of days last week. I did the same thing I did at the pool, just replace pool chair with large beach towel.
Now I’m really not in the business of calling people out, but I overheard a lot of idiotic conversation at both beach and pool that was making my skin crawl.
Husbands trying to convince their wives that they should leave the comfort of the pool to visit the fucking Everglades for the day. Couples three or four beach towels away from me discussing whether or not they should leave saltwater heaven to go shopping at a fucking strip mall on the mainland.
It is insane to me that there are people out there who don’t know how to properly vacation, and maybe it’s time we start making these activity obsessed individuals enroll in state sponsored classes that teach them how to do a week in Florida properly. This idea that one has to be on the move doing shit all of the time while in a tropical locale is vile, and it’s an insult to beaches and pools everywhere. R-E-L-A-X..
Image via Unsplash
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jduda@grandex.co
I would tell you to just @ Will’s girlfriend next time, but then she probably wouldn’t let you share her blouses
FITYMI with the haymaker
If you want to relax, go to a beach. Any other vacation, such as a ski trip or a trip to Europe, deserves action and gusto, with a relaxation day thrown in for good measure. Just my two cents.
Absolutely. If it’s a beach vacation then I’m all for lounging and throwing back coronas, but I’m not spending a grand on plane tickets to Prague just to relax around the hotel.
He excludes international travel in like the first paragraph
Even domestic travel would be boring to me if we sat around all day doing nothing unless you’re at a beach. Would you want to visit NYC, NOLA, the Grand Canyon or any other cool place in the US and just sit beside the hotel pool the whole time?
This is exactly how I vacation. I need time to chill, not be social for a bit, and drink fruity drinks out of swizzle straws.
I am 100000% on board with this take
I mean, I don’t see why you can’t have a healthy balance of both.
This is America. Pick a side.
I usually just make a list of breweries to visit while there. But that’s a much as I’m willing to do.
There’s an abundance of pools/resorts/lakes within a few hours’ drive of me so I don’t see a need to go to Mexico or Florida to do something that I can essentially do here on a given weekend. For me, vacation is for exploring, sightseeing and doing activities that I can’t do during my 9-5 (9-9 now) grind.
The only thought that should go into vacation is how far back I need to set up my beach chair so my feet stay wet but my cooler/boombox don’t float away.
We went to Estes Park for the weekend to stay at a B&B (we had a cabin-style duplex). Other than a 15 minute hike Saturday morning and picking up lunch and more liquor, we spent two whole days drinking in the tub next to the fireplace. I’m so glad I didn’t plan anything else.
Estes Park is prime for a relaxing weekend up in the mountains. Props for the location!
Estes is 45 min away from me and that is doing it correctly. Nothing more relaxing than a sweet mountain location, hot tub and drinks.
I understand where you’re coming from but I think the vacation duration has a lot to do with it. I begin to get quite stir crazy on days 4-5 and want to go explore the town or just do something other than sit and drink by the pool or ocean. I also need at least 2 days at home before venturing back into the real world after a week away.