Everytime I get back from vacation I feel like I need a vacation. I am sure plenty of you know what I mean, your vacations are busier and more hectic than your work. They are fun, but that is NOT what I need this summer. I don’t know what I need, but it almost certainly doesn’t involve running around form sight to sight. So I am seeking the help of the SDMB to find the most stress-free vacation for me this summer.
If you like hot weather, I suggest going to the ocean. Spend your days lounging by the pool with cabana boys (or girls) bringing you drinks and spreading lotion on you. Forget about going sight seeing. To me, that is the most relaxing vacation.
Many people go on vacation and make a routine that is much like their everyday life.
For example:
This couple obviously was still holding themselves to the rules we set up to day to day stuff.
Just go and have fun…leave the watch in the room (unless absolutely necessary.) and just do what you want, when you want. (Law permitting, of course.)
Well, if you don’t care about classiness or ambience or indeed ‘gourmet’ food, you can go up to a little dream of a place called
Evergreen Resort in Red Bay ontario Canada.
It’s a secluded little summer camp atmosphere, where you rent a cabin for the week, enjoy fishing, beach laying, hikes, boating, if you want to explore some local little towns you can…but otherwise everything is done for you!
they make your bed every morning, clean the bathroom, supply fresh towels. Every cabin has a cute little living room/kitchenette, so you can stay up late and play games while you listen to crickets.
They ring the bell three times a day and you go to the lodge and have your meal, complete with waitress (this is where the ambience goes away) it’s very basic food, roast beef and mashed potatoes, broiled chicken and vegetables, fresh fish. Nothing fancy.
They have sing a longs, weenie roasts, softball games.
You can do everything…or nothing. It’s fun for kids AND adults and everyone is very friendly and familial.
The best part? My husband and I go for…get this: $400 a person, (american).
$400 for a week of all inclusive, wildlife fun!
It’s a blast. I really love it.
jarbaby
Not sure what your situation is SO, kids etc,but… how about just stay home ???
NO stress involved in “getting somewhere” or “getting home”
so possibly TWO EXTRA days to vegetate…
You’ll save TONS of money.
Tell your friends you are leaving.
Turn off the phones, pagers etc.
Fill the pantry with ALL your favorite foods.
or Order Out Often or try new restaurants.
Hire a massage therapist to come to your house as often as you can afford. It is truly wonderful to NOT have to get dressed and move.
Rent lots of movies.
Read ALL those books you’ve been wanting to.
Go for a drive with no destination in mind.
Hang out at the public library.
Do the “Day Spa” thing.
Find a park, take food, and just SIT and BREATHE.
Try something you never tried before, rollerblading,yoga etc.
Go to the airport and just watch people…
Well, I will always find an excuse to mention Yosemite National Park! But the thing is, to really relax, you’d want to go off-season (to avoid the crowds) and you wouldn’t want to rush rush rush. Which is something people often do when they visit the Park, because they want to get the “whole” Yosemite experience!
I have had some nice relaxing days in Yosemite, by just puttering around the Valley, staying in one of the nicer hotels. The Wawona Hotel (which isn’t in the Valley, BTW) is a nice place to just relax. The atmosphere is glorious - lots of redwoods, a lovely vintage hotel, a great piano bar. Yeah, that’s a nice place to relax. And if you like to golf, they have a golf course too!
The secret, as you already know, is just to kick back. No agenda, no “things we gotta do today!” I grew up with parents who always took us kids on great family vacations. We went all over the US, Canada, etc. My dad always arranged the whole vacation, and yeah, they could be busy, busy, busy. However, there was this nice trip I took with my parents, shortly before my dad suddently died. We went up the CA coast, and since I was painting landscapes, we’d stop along the way so I could paint. At one spot, Ave. of the Giants, a scenic road with redwoods, I took HOURS to finish my painting, as my parents waited. I apologized for taking so long, but my dad later said that he secretly welcomed it all. It gave him the “excuse” to just linger, and loaf, and absorb the redwoods. He’d never allowed himself that before, he was always in rush rush rush mode!
I still treasure the memories of that day. And I treasure the painting I did that day as well. Sometimes “lazy” days are the best!
I have to agree with the stay at home thing…
If you live near a good resort (in Colorado we have tons of mountain resorts) that you can take two days off in the middle of the week to be elsewhere. Close to home, within driving distance.
Before the vacation, do all the things you normally would do before a regular vacation. Just take a two - three days to go to a local hideaway, but you have the before and after to kick back and truly relax. Make a promise to yourself that you will let it all be. If it helps you, why not get a house cleaning company one day during your vacation. Get a company to mow the lawn.
While at home, rent some movies, tell the office you are going to see the family in Mexico or some far off place, go to the store and get a week’s worth of food, drink and turn off that damn phone. Tell the family that you will be around but this is your vacation and not sure when you will be out of town.
My opinion is, your home is your sanctuary. If you must get out of town then just find a place within two hours for the week or so you vacation and spend it there. You will already have your vehicle (assuming you own one) so you don’t have to suffer from taxis or rentals. You don’t have to deal with planes and delays, and if you feel like you want to cut the time short, you tell the hotel you have a family emergency and go home.
That’s my ideal vacation…home a couple of days, elsewhere in close proximity for a couple of days then the remainder to be a sloth in front of my TV with the curtains closed, the phones off and acting like a kid again.
I’ll second anenquiringmind. Stay home, and day-trip once or twice. Do only what you and your’s like to do. Play.
Peace,
mangeorge
You’ve got to like the outdoors, but consider spending awhile canoeing and camping in the “boundary waters”, the many many lakes at the Canada/Minnesota border. There are many outfitters who’ll provide pretty much everything you need–you just bring some clothes, sunscreen, insect repellant (bring more than you’ll think you’ll need) and suchlike. The outfitter will provide the canoes (go fiberglass, a “lightweight” aluminum one is still pretty damn heavy, and you’ll be schlepping them through overland trails between lakes), all the food, cookware, map, help you plan the route for as long as you intend to go, etc. The time I went with several friends we used Cliff Wolds (which URL doesn’t seem to work right now, but might later), so I can vouch for them.
And once out there, the first lake you’ll be on will be pretty busy, and have powerboats cruising around, with fishermen and such. Make the first port to the next lake, and the real vacation begins.
Gorgeous scenery. Serene. Try to schedule it on the new moon, so you can see what the night sky really* looks like when you’re far away from any urban light pollution. Canoeing and porting everything you’ve got is good hard labor, and the food will taste like heaven when you rest. A watch is absolutely pointless, rise as it gets light, sleep will come easily after sitting around a low-burning fire, seeing the glory of the full night sky, hearing the dueling cries of loons on the water.
If I ever get a chance to do it again, I’d want to try one of the package options where they fly you up into Canada for a ways, where you’ll be even more away from others until days later when you get back the pickup point.
What the others said.
Don’t worry about you not relaxing - I play chess tournaments on holidays :eek:
TURN OFF THE PHONE!
Drastic, somehow the code on your URL got messed up, so that it doesn’t direct to the real domain. I’ve fixed that, but I still am not able to get through! Bummer.
two words…
Club Med
'nuff said.
I was gonna say stay home, but two other people have already mentioned it so I’ll say something different. Go to Mommy’s place. She makes dinner, does your laundry etc. Mine wont but many will. Stay up late, eat her food, pretend your 15 again ahhhhh, that’s the life.
If you do go away, come back home at least two days before your vacation ends, not the day before your vacation ends. Yes, it’s sad leaving somewhere you’ve enjoyed yourself (hopefully, you have), but look at it this way:
[li] you have breathing room in case something should go wrong (car breaks down, flight delay, etc.).[/li][li] you are not going to want to unpack the car the day you get home (assuming you drove to where you went).[/li][li] you have an extra day to say Hi! to Opal.[/li][li] you have a day to do laundry from the vacation and take the film to be processed before getting back into the regular grind.[/li][li] don’t know if you have a spouse and kids - let’s say you left the kids with gramma - let them stay another day (pay gramma extra for this) and you and spouse can enjoy a clean house for one day before the kids get home.[/li][li] you have a day to unwind, readjust and reminisce before getting back into the daily grind.[/li]
Trust me on this last one - wish I took my own advice when I went to Jamaica - I wanted to milk the vacation for all it was worth, so I stayed until Sunday morning (had to be back into work on Monday at 8:30 am teaching). Left the hotel at 10 am (85 degrees F), 2 hour shuttle to the airport, several flights, connections and a taxi ride later (no luggage delay this time, thank g*d), I make it into the house at midnight (New York state).
6:30 am Monday, I’m scraping ice off my windshield from a freak April freeze. I really could have used that extra day to recoup, and Monday was essentially a loss, since my mind was seriously back in Jamaica. Now whenever I have a vacation, I come back a day early - this way I am still on vacation, and not rushed the next day.