You know you’re on vacation when you are stuck in a tiny seat, feeling like a sardine. You know you’re on vacation when a spider is crawling toward you, and you don’t know if it’s friend (harmless) or foe (poisonous). Or you can’t understand a word anyone is saying, so your ears are on overload from listening for one familiar sounding word. You hate heights, but you always end up on the side of the car with the sheer cliffs dropping off into a seemingly never-ending abyss.
You know you’re on vacation when you find yourself watching foreign dances, music, and customs and you’re either confused (because your ears are on overload), shocked (well, it is something you've never seen before), or delighted (by the beauty, wonder, and uniqueness of it). Or maybe you are soaking up stunning sunsets with palm trees or spectacular mountain ranges that reach as far as you can see. Maybe there's even an itty bitty, tiny wenny mountain climber looking like a spec on a sheer cliff face, that someone has to point out to you because you'd never guess that spec was a person because you've only ever seen it on a TV screen up close.
You know you’re on vacation when your taste buds are being challenged daily, because you HAVE to try the local cuisine (but you don't want to know what's in it); and some of it you love and some of it – not so much. But you try to muscle your way through it, because you want to experience it ALL.
You know you’re on vacation when your back hurts when you get up in the morning because the bed is not your bed. Or you are even more tired than usual because you have been running all over the place, getting in the sites, climbing hills you might never try to climb because you are “here” so you must. And you expose yourself to all kinds weather – wet, cold, roasting, sunburn causing heat, pelting hail – to see all of it. Extraordinary sights and even dangerous situations – we simply can’t miss out on the best spots.
And then the days are spent. You are refreshed, but exhausted and you get to sit in an airport for at least two hours, get to sit in those tiny sardine seats for who knows how many hours, possibly have to do it again once or twice more between flights and then at the end of the flights you may have to drive a few hours. Or, if you did not fly, you get to exhaust yourself even further with a two- to five-day drive back home. You finally walk into your front door – part of you wishes you were still on that vacation, viewing, climbing, swimming, and part of you is happy to be home. Just so you can get back to the grind. But at least the grind is not looking so bad after a proper break from it.
Is it all worth it? You bet. New places, new vistas, new memories, visiting family or friends or meeting new people; it’s all great stuff. If you ever have the opportunity to go out in the world and experience a new place, take it. Even if it’s only once. The wonder and joy (and lessons!) of it outweigh the hassles that come with it. A day may come when you can’t do it, so jump in while you can! If you can’t do it, then feed off of someone else’s photos and stories and experience it secondhand. This world is an amazing place.
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