Vacation Plans

It struck me as funny. Over a several day period at work this week, different people around me were talking about their vacation plans.

One young woman and her significant other are going on a cruise. Someone else just returned from India, a half work/half vacation trip. I overheard another conversation about going to the beach in Florida. The Director of the group I am in is going to St. Baart’s in the Carribbean. And where am I going??? To a big plot of land in the backwoods of Alabama. . . a place that looks much the same as it has for the last 100 years or more. . .and my day there will be as much fun as any expensive luxury vacation!

It will be just a day of getting together once again with cousins from my father’s side of the family. When the day is over, some of us will go to a house on the lake, about an hour’s drive away for a day or two of riding in the boat or just sitting on the massive deck, watching the world go by! The home is a vacation home owned by my cousin’s in-laws. I will sit on the deck in the morning with my coffee, taking in the early morning sounds of birds and the water brushing against the shore or an occasional boat going by. No work schedules, no demands on my time.

Sure, big luxury vacations are fun. Later in the summer, I have planned a bike tour of Quebec province in Canada. But there is a lot to be gained from an unpretentious break from the rat race world.