Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Vacations

I need a vacation.   I am envious of my husband, who works in the public school system.   One week for spring break, two weeks for winter break, almost an entire week at Thanksgiving, the whole summer off, and a bunch of days in between.   So not fair.   Although I guess if I had wanted that much time off I could have been a teacher.   But I didn't.  Which was my choice.  My husband's job is stressful.  It is.   So, I try not to lay a guilt trip on him for all the time he gets off.  But I still need a vacation.  A real vacation.   We have a few little trips planned . . . but they're little ones, and they're not really "vacations."   They have a purpose.   And, in my opinion, time off for a purpose is not really a vacation.   We're taking a few days off next month to visit my mom and dad (normally this would be a vacation, but my dad is not well, so that is the "purpose").    And then I'm going to tag along with my husband for a couple of days in March.  He has a conference in Seattle.   And even though he's the one who'll be busy with the conference and I'll have a couple of days to myself - - it is a purpose, hence, not a vacation.   And then a few months after that we'll take a couple of days to pick our daughter up from college.  Purpose.  

Am I wrong to want a vacation just to . . . vacation??   I don't need a "dream" vacation.  I don't need to see the Eiffel Tower or lounge on the beautiful Hawaiian beaches . . . or do anything that takes us far away or costs a lot of money.  I just want to get away for a week, just me and my husband, and think of nothing else but enjoying ourselves!   I don't know.   Maybe I'm being selfish.   Maybe I should just be happy we have jobs and that we are able to pay our bills.   And I am happy about that.

But I still need a vacation.        

10 comments:

  1. When It storms and snows around here, I'm ready to Flee this town too. I am looking at Allegiant Air almost daily right now. I want to FLY! No road Trips for me... Sorry your father isn't feeling well.

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  2. I don't think you are crazy or selfish at all. Once a year I get to go out and see my sister and mom for a week. I don't do anything I don't want to do. Most nights we just sit and read or do word puzzles. We all read different books or do different puzzles. If one of us thinks of something to say, we say it. Other times it's quiet. One by one we drift off to bed. It's heaven. Pat does that for me. He stays with the dog and my son who is still in school and Tiff.

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  3. My last vacation was to help my daughter after the birth of her son, that was December 2010. I need a vacation; yeah, one that I don't need to care for someone else or march to their drum...I understand, and I have a week next month that I will attempt to do something to the beat of my drum.

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  4. I think you should go on a vacation. Have a little fun. But only for a little while..or else you'll be needing a vacation from your vacation. Trust me. It happens.

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  5. I'm not sure I've ever taken a vacation with no purpose. You'll have to tell me what that's like should you get the chance. :)

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  6. I'm currently putting our vacation from summer 2010 in a scrapbook, and I am overwhelmed with the urge to go! Anywhere, I don't care, as long as we see something different and leave the dirty dishes behind!

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  7. IMHO, you are absolutely NOT wrong to want a vacation without a purpose. All those other things you mentioned might be nice (visiting the 'rents, hanging in Seattle, collecting the college kids) but hey are NOT vacations. They are more obligations or convenient escapes. A vacation is a time to breathe and not be obligated to do or be anywhere. It does not have to be far away or expensive - just full of unallocated time. How hard it it for you to get time off work? What if you and the little mister took a getaway to someplace within two hours of where you live? Just to breathe..... sounds great to me.

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  8. Sounds great to me too, sebtown :)

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  9. The trip Annie and I took to Ireland this summer, was the first vacation of our thirty plus years together. Normally, what we did twice a year, all of the years we taught, was to head two hours up Highway 101 to Eureka (EUREKA!) where we would collapse in a dive of a motel for three days/nights to just wander this "metropolis" of thirty thousand people. Eureka even has a mall. No purpose, except maybe grocery shopping, or logistical errands that could be attended to incrementally. Bliss.

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