I’m on PTO this week. Six months in, it’s time for a much-needed recharge. I’ve done everything I can to prepare, including informing everyone who might be impacted by my absence from work, and pretty much anyone else, too, just in case.
Invariably, the question that I get is “Where are you going?”
They tend to get a puzzled look in their eyes when I say “I’m not quite sure. I’m just going to point my motorcycle somewhere and go. I’ll come home each night. Lather, rinse, repeat.”
I also started my vacation today with a heavy session at the gym.
Vacation, for me, isn’t necessarily about travel, it’s about limiting decisions. When I wake up in the morning, the only decision I need to make is where I’m going that day. Once I get there, I need to find food on the way back. The rest of the time is focused on riding the motorcycle. Supposedly I’m making as many or more decisions per second than a fighter pilot, but those decisions are instinctual and instantaneous, and they generally don’t affect anyone but me. The decisions I make at work tend to take longer, rely less on instinct, and have broader impact.
Vacation, for me, isn't necessarily about travel, it's about limiting decisions. Share on XEven the research I tend to do for my “where am I going today” options, while they take longer, are more instinctual and still have smaller frames of impact. (Me, and whoever I’m going to buy lunch from, generally. Sometimes even an entry fee somewhere.)
I’m also not one who can sit still. The idea of lounging about on a beach sounds dull and tortuous to me.
So enjoy your vacation your way… and I’ll enjoy mine.