It's been said that no matter where you go, there you are. The statement is almost too obvious, but it's true. It doesn't really matter your physical location, the thing that doesn't change is you. Well that's partially true anyway. Sure you're still technically you, but you're a version of yourself that's away from the normal every day. In some cases people try to use vacations as a way to break free of themselves. Vegas turned the whole idea into an ad campaign. You can do whatever you want while you're there because once you leave, no one will talk about it. It's a great idea in theory, however, real life is always there, waiting for us to return.
What people do on vacation can tell a lot about them as a person. It's not some deep psychological indicator or anything. It just helps reveal what people are looking for or potentially trying to get away from. Now granted there are a lot of times where you have to compromise our vacations to various factors. If you have a partner, you have to consider what they want to do. How much time you have to play with is another thing that could limit the options. And of course there's everyone's favorite reason to compromise, which is money. In most cases money is a huge object and can be the determining factor in what we end up doing with our free time. If we had unlimited resources it's very possible that we would never come back from vacation.
Speaking of free time, it's really the crux of vacation if you think about it. As an adult we all have obligations. These could be work, school, family, and even hobbies. The day starts out potentially long, but quickly gets dwindled down to a point where you feel like you only have a few minutes to stand in the shower and just relax without obligation. Life can feel like a series of appointments and events, which only serve to chew through our precious time. Then we're left with a feeling like we've had something taken from us. And in a sense we have. Time is something we have a finite amount of and once it's used up, there's no going back to reuse it wisely. We've all fallen into the routine of working towards the moment when we can take a break. Now if you're fortunate enough to really love what you're doing, then the time doesn't seem wasted at all. In fact it's exactly how you want to be spending your days. Even if you love what you do, there comes a point for all of us when there is simply a need for a break. Without them things become stagnant. How we spend our time helps shape what we do when we're free of obligations. Even look at how you spend your evenings. It's very likely there is some kind of routine involved, one that you may not realize until you step back and look at the whole picture.
Sometimes the evenings aren't enough of a break and we get to a point where we need to get away from almost everything. This could include getting away from not just a location, but people as well. In fact most of my vacations have been as much about getting away from the various people in my life as they have been about going to a specific location. I think part of that is because being on vacation somewhere different allows you a chance to not have to be exactly you. I've talked about before how we put labels on nearly everything in our life. A person quickly becomes classified as something: friend, mother, sister, co-worker, husband. While we're in our every day lives it's very difficult to shake those labels. In a way we're playing a part for the world around us. Eventually though, like with any job, we need to step away from it, even if for a little while. Now you may love being a husband. You may love your children and being a parent is very rewarding. Still people need to remember who they were before that label was applied to their life. Otherwise we get lost in the roles that have been assigned to us and forget that we're just people. Going on vacation is a great way to get out from under those roles for a time. As I mentioned at the beginning, you're still you, but you're the vacation-you, where you can stop behaving like a wife or co-worker for a little while and either become someone else or just go back to being you from before.
As you can imagine when I use the term vacation, I'm referring to taking a trip away from every day life. Sometimes a vacation consists of taking the kids to Disneyland. Sure you're not at work anymore, but you're still playing the part of a parent to some degree. It's still better than not going, although I'm sure if you were to ask parents after they get home from a trip like that, they will tell you they could use a vacation from the vacation. A vacation doesn't have to be some elaborate trip to Italy where you wander the countryside for three weeks, although that would really count as a great vacation. It can be anything where you separate yourself from the normal day in and day out of life. This could be taking a drive to some secluded location and reading a book. It could be as simple as renting a hotel room up the road, just so you can have time to yourself. It can also be something as existential as going on a vacation from yourself mentally. Hopefully it will serve as not only a split from reality, but it will also reaffirm what is really important in your life.
