Oh yeah. Or the first time in the year when you feel sand between your toes.
I haven’t had a vacation in so long, my feelings may have changed, but to be honest, getting back home was always my favorite part.
That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy the other things like the beach and great seafood, but I’m kind of a home body.
I do wish my home was the on the beach though.
I love exploring a new place - figuring out how to get from where I am to where I want to go, how the roads/transit system works, how to interact with others along the way, how reality fits into the maps I’ve been staring at for weeks. The very best part is when everything clicks and I can get from point A to point B and do whatever it is I want to do there effortlessly. I’ve had that feeling in the Parisian Metro, walking the streets of Bangkok, and navigating the mountains of Monteverde in Costa Rica, among other places.
The best part is the first few hours after we arrive. Sun! Warmth! Palm trees! Beach! Ocean! Pool! WHERE’S MY SWIMSUIT???
I love to be in the water. Especially in the ocean.
I tend to go more on trips than on vacations it seems. Running around a country or two and learning as much as I can, seeing the sights, meeting the people, eating the local foods. All that.
But the best part is actually to spend uninterrupted time with my partner.
I like it best at the half-way point. By then, the scenery is familiar, I have long stopped worrying about stuff that I left behind at home, I don’t have to fret about unpleasant surprises with my accommodations, I’ve had success working down my “must see/do” list, and I’ve gotten over all travel fatigue.
I don’t like the beginning of vacation because my head is usually still back at home and I’m exhausted from the drive and/or flight. I don’t like the end of vacation because there is no more fun left, I’m tired, and my mind starts thinking about work. But the middle? You can’t get no better than that!
When the plane takes off and I’m positive I’m on my way. That and after I check into the hotel, grabbing my first vacation drink.
First palm tree sighting.
So do I, but my best vacations are in places where I go every year. It’s not so much a feeling of going away, but one of coming home. I meet people there all the time that know exactly what I mean.
If we’re driving someplace new, this. I’m a happy pappy with strange asphalt ahead of me.
But for our typical beach vacations, it’s that first full day’s afternoon when I’m sitting out on the deck in shorts and tank top with a cold gin drink and new book.
Definitely not packing or unpacking. I’d say a couple days in, when you’re starting to forget about the daily routine at home and you’ve got all the possibilities of what you can do on vacation ahead of you.
Going on vacation is such a hassle. Plan, pack, deal with the TSA and car rental people. The best two parts of vacation are 1) When I’m out of the airport driving the rental car on the freeway and realizing “I’m really here”, and 2) When I get home and realize that despite my fears I didn’t smash up the rental car / get mugged / get arrested / get sick, and can see my pets again.
Being wasted all day.
Sadly I don’t really get to vacation like this anymore, and probably won’t for 20 years or so.
For me, it’s the moment of arrival through to the end of the first full day. When a place is new, before a feeling of familiarity sets in.
For me it’s stepping onto the runway from the aircraft stairs and feeling that warm, moist air of the Caribbean and smelling the scent of the tropics. Next up: the charter boat base and a rum punch!
I just got back from a trip to Poughkeepsie <which is not the armpit many said it was!> It’s a suburb but it’s near a lot of stuff and the Hudson River Valley is GORGEOUS! We were there for roughly a month and didn’t have the linens cleaned crazy amounts.
I love not washing sheets and not making the bed. The washing isn’t bad but I can’t stand making the bed.
I’m sure many of you are clean freaks that it need it done everyday or something. But that feeling of getting into a lovely clean bed, that I had nothing to do with making it happen? Awesome. About two to three times a week.
Also the pool was great.
Ok, I’ll admit it.
Really nice hotel beds. The ones with about fifteen different types of pillows, extra fluffy memory foam or feathers under the fitted sheet, a round dozen different types of (all soft and comfy) blankets and throws, and even more snuggly shit in the closet.
And I didn’t wash ANY OF IT. And I don’t HAVE TO WASH ANY OF IT! And I can eat chips in bed, and drink in bed, and get SAND in the bed, and every single night when I go to bed, it’s all fresh and clean and nicely made, and I never even THOUGHT about it the whole day long.
God it’s amazing. Don’t even get me started on the places with towel warmers. My husband calls and checks for them now, because if there is one in the bathroom or the actual room, I’m not leaving the whirlpool for a couple of days at least. (Hint: you can stuff your whole bathrobe in there!)
I like the planning of it. the maps, the websites of wonderful hotels…
Being smack dab in the middle of it. Leaning my hair back into the water and watching my toes bob up. Knowing I don’t have to cook supper. Feeling like this is the way it should be, and it is.
Mr. Akimbo does not like to travel, so my trips are solo. I love it. Favorite parts are the hours reading, totally undisturbed. No dogs want to be let in/out/played with, no one asks me stupid questions, no one cares if I sit and read for hours instead of driving to go look at the largest ball of twine. Wake up when I want, have coffee on deck or porch or patio with great view and good book, read for hours. When camping, read inside with coffee, then take book and chair and camera to the beach and read till my butt is sore from sitting, then walk a little and then go back to reading. Another favorite part is the total lack of compromise required on a solo vacation. Waking up in the morning knowing I can do or not do whatever I want all day.