Oh. My. God. It’s already Tuesday? The Monday post-vacation-bulldozer must have knocked me unconscious!
See, this is what happens when you take a vacation. First you leap tall buildings in a single bound to get ready. Then you plow through the airports (and customs in my case) carrying both your own and your children’s “necessary” electronics. You arrive at your destination long enough to toss and turn sleep on a concrete comfy bed and eat enough food to gain ten pounds, then pivot and dodge back through the airport in reverse. When you return to home sweet home, you wade through mountains a week’s worth of laundry and try to get all your toiletries back in the right place.
Whew. All done.
You think.
Until you go back to work.
AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
All I could think yesterday was, “Can I get a do over?”
Don’t get me wrong. Mexico was lovely. Even on the day it rained I was fairly relaxed. (All except for the aforementioned brick I slept on and the fights I had with their Wi-Fi.) But, MAN! Going on vacation with two young kiddos is a helluva lot of work!
So, you can understand why I’ve been spending a lot of the last twenty-four hours comparing the past week with my traditional Christmas Eve through New Year’s Staycation stretch. (AKA – The week where Rhenna does nothing but sit in her pajamas and read books.) Perhaps next year, the family should consider a summer Staycation? It would certainly be less costly, though the kids wouldn’t have a fresh stash of loot from Santa to entertain them.
What’s your preference for spending precious time off? Vacation or Staycation? If you prefer to travel, where do you go? Beaches and sunshine? Cool, white-topped mountains? Any techniques for dealing with the post-vacation workload?
8 Comments
marilyn
July 9, 2013 at 3:31 pmI love beaches and mountains, hate cold weather. Love to go other places but hate the getting there. Some of my favorite getaways have been renting a hotel room in Tulsa to share with my bestie from Texas. Yeah, I live fifteen miles from the hotel. Once we met about halfway and rented a log cabin in the woods on the shore of Beaver Lake. Wonderful fun, too. Also enjoyed visiting and sampling at Girls Gone Wine. Great relaxer!
CJ Burright
July 9, 2013 at 4:44 pmI’ve learned to take a vacation from my vacation – an extra day off just to sleep in at home (nothing like your own bed, huh?), do laundry, catch up on all the crap. Of course, that doesn’t prepare you for the dragons to slay at work…
susan
July 9, 2013 at 5:50 pmMountains! Mountains! Mountains! Cool or cold, I love to get high. *wink* Some of my absolute favorite people live in the mountains. (Hear the banjo music playing?)
Patting my foot just thinking about it. 🙂
Susan Jaymes
July 9, 2013 at 6:37 pmI tend to stay home on my days off from the day job. I’d like to take a vacation but all the preparation leaves me exhausted. I don’t know how I would travel on top of it. I do go to my brother’s ever year for a weekend with my mom. He has a pool and it’s almost like a resort where I get taken care of. Of course when I get home it’s catch up time.
Suzanne Vince
July 10, 2013 at 2:36 pmI know exactly what you mean. By Tuesday you’re like, “what vacation?” I’m with CJ, I always take the Monday after off just to lie on the couch in my jammies and catch up on sleep. I try to get the bags unpacked and laundry done on Sunday (always try to come home Saturday) so I can do exactly nothing. I try to keep up with my work email while I’m gone which helps tremendously, but it still doesn’t take long to forget that you’re supposed to be relaxed and refreshed.
kim cleary
July 11, 2013 at 3:28 amWhen I worked full-time I always allowed at least a day to unpack and reestablish non-holiday mode. And I kept up with e-mail etc with a daily log-in.
Now, I love short breaks in self-catered accommodation that welcomes dogs! I’ve enjoyed some great farm stays, coastal cottages, mountain chalets, and country town stop-overs. The best thing about a short break is it doesn’t take too long to prepare … or tidy up 😀
Gretchen Wing
July 14, 2013 at 10:23 amI agree with CJ and Suzanne: gotta build in that extra day! I’m there right now, even though I’m at home: I’ve had so many guests, I feel like a tourist on my own island. But for MY getaways? Any old where. My happiest of happies is the top of a granitey, wildflower-filled mountain, but sometimes a plain old night in a B & B fills the soul too.
Kim Richard
July 15, 2013 at 7:41 pmJust ask my husband…I’m on vacation everyday!