Against Vacating.

[elfs]

Against Vacation:

At the heart of the high internal tension, the enduring and gnawing discomfort, is the loss of the normal alternate rhythm of work and rest, work and rest, that brings such immense satisfaction, variety, and joy and that is, in fact, the very stuff of life. Most Americans were born into and inherited a world in which work doesn't "participate in happiness," to quote [John Crowe] Ransom once again. It isn't naturally coupled with rest or leisure. Work and rest are not paired together, like dance partners, but set at odds, like gunfighters.

Grief, yes. Especially when we're told, time and again, that "if you find something you love that pays the bills, you'll never 'work' another day in your life," the idea of leaving something you love behind for the capricious incidentals of even the most well-planned vacation feels ridiculous.

Comments

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

[shunra.livejournal.com]

Vacations may have, as their primary virtue, the ability to remind us how very much we love our routine.

[hydrolagus.livejournal.com]

Which makes for another reason why being out of work is stressful: that rhythm is missing.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_candide_/]

Oh Ye Goddes YES! Are you ever right!

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

I read the article, but it didn't resonate with me at all. I love my job, my current job is easily the best I've had and I don't really have any complaints about it. But I still love vacations and look forward to taking several trips a year. Next weekend my fiancee and I are going down to Wildwood, NJ. Two weeks later we're camping in Vermont. Mid-September we're spending a long weekend in the White Mountains in NH.

In October we're going to Walt Disney World for a trip that is part fun, part planning meeting for our wedding there in February. In January I'm thinking of going to CES - which is a vacation for me, not work. And if we weren't getting married in February anyway, that's when I usually go to FL to visit my folks and hit Disney, Kennedy, etc. And we're thinking of going to Europe or Hawaii later in the year.

We try to take several trips a year because we enjoy getting away and having a break from our routine. Either going to places we know we enjoy, like WDW, or going someplace new to see & try new things.

I think it really depends on an individuals preferences. Some people may not enjoy going on trips or leaving home and routine. I know I don't like taking a break of more than a couple of weeks, I start getting the itch to get back to my home and my normal routine, but the breaks help me appreciate what I have at home as well as just being a lot of fun.