So, it is time to pack again, I know poor me. As I begin to pack I ponder what to call this trip. As I have pointed out before; I don’t think it is a vacation, because it has to be a vacation from something. No work means no vacation… I like to refer to this time as a mini retirement or an extended holiday… anyway back to the question at hand, or more accurately the question in my head. Even if I was working the second part of the trip to Florida was an adventure. I believe that a vacation should be more relaxation then effort. More in the way of, you go somewhere different and relaxing, you stay there for a spell and you come back all refreshed and ready to get back to the grind. The second part of Florida I did not stay in one place more than two days and drove about 1,000 miles… This would be clearly in the adventure category, especially considering the backpacking portion of the trip.
Now, what about Paris? I think that it has some indicators of being a vacation (except for the work thing, let’s consider this more from Marlo’s perspective). We are flying far away and staying in the same place for a week; Vacation. BUT, it is in a strange new land and we have to fly and go through customs and they speak a foreign language; Adventure. Oh yea, the learning French thing, that did get the attention necessary to be much help at all… I guess I need to find some motivation. Anyway I have to switch back to Spanish now because Mexico is our next foreign destination…
Also in discussing our Paris adventure (or vacation) we thought that since we were going to be there for a while, we might as well check out London. It really is a day trip. Unlike the Easter Island idea. We can take a train through the chunnel, and make a day of it there. We are even thinking about riding in the cliché double decker bus! Now it seems more like an adventure… hmmm…
Now in May we go to Mexico. One would think that would be a simple vacation (assume there is some work to be vacationing from), but no. We are not just flying to Mexico and hanging out on the beach. We are doing not one, not two, but three all-inclusive resorts in the same trip… I sense a pattern here.
It is funny after my Florida adventure it felt really good to come home, to a place where I could really relax and not have to think about where I was going to stay, how to get from place to place or anything else. Having a wonderful woman to come home to was even better.
So regardless if it is a vacation or an adventure… someone once told me, “If you are not happy at home, you won’t be happy in Paris…” Well I am happy at home and in Paris, and in Florida, and in Mexico, and in Peru, and in Chile, etc, etc, etc.
So, back to packing. We are going to do carry-on again, because we can. We are leaving the 6th and returning the 12th. There is something about an overnight flight on the way over. Does that mean we gain a day on the way home???
More later…