Crafting your vacation
How do you feel after you change your bed?
I'm taking a 3-week vacation starting today. It's my first so-called vacation since December 2019. What do I mean by the word vacation? For me right now, it means not taking my laptop and not answering emails. Not being available to anyone except those I'm physically with on my trip. I've managed to do this a few times in the last few years, but only for 2-3 days at a time, max. I've had many short breaks, but no long ones like now.
My understanding of vacation has changed a bit since I was involved in a startup, started working remotely and by doing project-based work. My understanding of work and leisure has become mixed. That's partly because I've been working on projects related to travel and leisure, which means that every work trip for me also involved a leisure trip. Work became leisure and leisure became work.
It's also because I've really loved everything I've done in the last few years. Most of the time when I was working, it didn't feel like that at all. I kind of didn't feel the need for a longer vacation.
Recently, someone asked me what I was doing on Sunday, and I didn't know how to answer. In order for him to understand me, I had to tell him I was working in the morning. His reaction was outrageous. But to me, it didn't feel like work.
Some time ago, I also posted on social media that working on a Sunday is pure happiness and satisfaction for me. In response, I received a comment (in person) from someone that I must have a miserable life.
I’m glad I recently saw the quote from James Clear about his views on the topic because I didn’t know how to call this act of working on something which isn’t work - if that makes sense.
"Some things are a job, others are a craft. The primary difference is not the task, but the enthusiasm and curiosity put into the task. The more engaged and interested you are, the more it becomes a craft.” - James Clear
When people go on vacation, they are sometimes even more miserable than when they are working. When they are in leisure mode, they have more time to think about their problems and conflicts arise. A good example of this is the TV series White Lotus on HBO. I watched the 1st season and it has some very powerful messages about travel and life. The people who can afford to go on vacation, even to the most luxurious resorts, are not necessarily happy. A vacation will not solve your problems - it might even make them worse.
I worked in a 5-star hotel and experienced this firsthand. People might complain at the front desk and argue with the staff several times a day instead of enjoying their vacation. What is the point of a vacation then? Maybe it would be better for these people to travel virtually and not use up so many of the earth's resources just to be miserable again. And then they also make other people, like the hotel staff, unhappy. We live in the mistaken belief that a change of location somehow makes things better.
‘’This life is a hospital in which every patient is possessed with a desire to change his bed.’’ - Charles Baudelaire
After changing your bed and enjoying the window view, you realize that you aren't feeling any better.
De Botton spoke of similar problems we face on our travels, saying, ''We are sad at home and blame the weather and the ugliness of the buildings, but on the tropical island we learn (after an argument in a raffia bungalow under an azure sky) that the state of the skies and the appearance of our dwellings can never on their own underwrite our joy nor condemn us to misery.''
I don't know how I'll feel after I change beds this time. But I'm curious to see what the new views will offer.
Since I'll be without my computer, I'll not be sending out this newsletter either. Expect another post from me on January 15 - if I survive the Patagonia trek experience, of course. If I don’t, this newsletter had one hell of a ride.
Thank you for hanging around with me so far. Enjoy your vacation or working on your craft wherever you'll be. See you soon :)
Wonderfully written. Please survive the Patagonia trek so that I may learn more from you ;) Take care!