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| A Cafe in Saint Martin |
I love hostels, tasting exotic food and drinks in a foreign country, and mingling with new people while sharing a local beer. I like the excitement of discovering a new place each day of my trip, indulging in the countries’ culture, learning about its history and present, and taking the road less travelled. I really do.
But something I’ve learned during the last 1 and 1/2 years (since I started on my full-time job) is that traveling this way, although rewarding and fulfilling, is not relaxing. After returning from these kind of trips, I have 2 memory cards full of pictures and a lot of fantastic new experiences – but am exhausted. I then spend the following week dragging myself from home to work and back and hope for the weekend to recover from my vacation.
But this summer, things will be different.
… I will wake up whenever I feel like it.
… I will get a perfect tan.
… I will watch the sunset from the terrace and toast with a glass of wine!
From time to time, the little explorer inside me needs a break. A day without schedules. A week on which my only calendar entry is playa. No museums. No city walks. No hiking. No road trips. No GPS. No sleeping somewhere else each night – just playa.
It has been so long I haven’t taken a real time off that I’m not even sure if I can make it. Maybe I spend those 7 days checking my e-mails every 2 minutes, reading books about the petroleum industry or learning french, so I feel like I’m doing something proactive. But I’m almost sure that as soon as the sand touches my bare feet, I’ll be somewhere near the Limbo.
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| Fernando de Noronha, Brazil |
PS: Watch out for the next blog posts to find out about my destination!
Do you also need a cultural break from time to time and enjoy a vacation doing nothing? Which is your guilty little travel secret?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh man – I totally agree about traveling. It's tiring! I always try and leave a little leeway for "break" days where I can relax. But beach vacations are my FAVORITE! I went on a cruise with my girlfriends last year, and we had a blast! Still tons to see and do – but there is always a lounge chair and margarita if needed.
I know what you mean – over the last few years I have gone on 1-2 week backpacking trips, and each time I do come back more exhausted than when I went. However I am simply incapable of doing nothing- I like the idea of going to a beach and chilling out with a mojito, but when it comes down to it I just feel like I'm wasting time and end up doing lots of things anyway.
Hopefully now I've got a very long-term trip coming up I will learn to relax and take time out a bit more, as otherwise I'm just going to burn myself out.
Ah, quite so, Katherina. Sometimes the zero vacation (zero apart from the indulgent things you mention) is the ONLY way to go.
I'm guessing you're heading somewhere like…the Seychelles? Mauritius?
@Brenna that sounds like a great time! Probably the secret is to combine both wisely… so you can choose culture or relaxing, depending on how you wake up that morning.
I agree completely! Sometimes you really need to make yourself relax. Sometimes when I travel I have to remember that I can always come back, I don't need to see everything this time :) Sometimes the beach is the best place to visit!
Great blog by the way!
Oh gosh, you have no idea how much that last picture touched me, since I'll be there in less than 3 months. Ahhhh, I can't wait!!! I never return from a trip relaxed, rather beyond exhausted. I want to change that too! :)
@Kristiang85I'm usually the same, I can't stand still! Even when going to a beach, after an hour I wonder what's next! Let's see if I can change it this summer…
@Wombat Seychelles, Mauritius…. I WISH! But I would need some more months to save up for those ones ;)
@Tonya I try to tell myself the same, that I can come back another time! It just not always helps keeping me relaxed.
@Andi of My Beautiful Adventures Andi, you're going to have a GREAT time in Fernando de Noronha!
haha totally know what u mean. last trips i went on were all city locations, so it was all about running around, see, experience… and afterwards i felt as if i was in need of a vacation :) but that's typical me.. i'm bad at relaxing. wishing u good luck with your experiment, not sure if i was strong enough to make it ;)
respacedgirl.blogspot.com
That's what I always do when I go to my parents in florida: many many days of the beach, and book, and my ipod. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Sounds like an amazing summer. I look forward to following along and seeing if follow through and relax all summer or get sucked in to get up and get moving again. I myself am planning on my 2012 RTW to stop 2-3 times for a couple months at a time to "just chill".