I was glad for the opportunity to recently (mostly) disconnect from all things digital and experience time away from the day to day as one should.
A lot of it was getting out of my comfort zone.
As things were turning colder at home I was headed for a tropical destination with temps at the other end of the spectrum.
It’s November and I’m typically looking forward to scraping ice off my windshield in the morning. I’ve always been crazy like that. But I always feel very comfortable when it’s that time of the year as I’ve always lived in a four seasons place.
Going to a place where it’s summer all year long meant I had to get in sunscreen and white t-shirt mode out of season. This was definitely going to be out of my comfort zone.
Until it wasn’t.
You don’t know how much you miss the ocean, swimming in it and walking along sandy beaches until you’re doing it again. Someone can describe the wonders of it all to you before you embark. But, no matter how apt the descriptions are they cannot take the place of actually experiencing it for one to truly appreciate how critical revisiting these climes are.
Plus there’s beer and rum.
In moderation of course (insert smiley face).
I like to unwind and have fun as much as the next person–especially when you’re surrounded by the in-your-comfort zone and familiar feeling of good friends along for the proverbial ride.
Laughter flows freely.
Listening to waves crashing in glorious real-time surround sound is an expectation to be satisfied all day long by the time the second day at the beach rolls around.
Back at the ranch
All good things must come to a close as good things (like bad) are best experienced in moderation.
Getting back home at night when it’s 50 degrees cooler than you had before you boarded the plane is somewhat of a shock.
Not physically.
Just perhaps spiritually and mentally.
You know you’re due for an adjustment period.
I wouldn’t call it a bad thing.
It’s just an adjustment. You’re back home.
And adjustments are best served by traveling down a familiar road–just not the one you usually take.
In my case, it was going to a different store than I normally do to pick up some things.
It was sunny out and I no longer sported just my swim trunks.
I fought back the urge to frown.
I wondered if the whole experience would make me feel like writing. I brought the Chromebook down on vacation but did not try to write anything. Vacations are meant to take a break from working on all things in the life you leave behind.
You really can’t do that if you try to do something when you should be relaxing.
I guess that means the whole point of my getting away was a success.
My home and surroundings just feel different in a way I can’t describe with words. Different in a good way, but also perhaps, in the long run, this perspective could sour.
When things feel different in a not so good way it will be time to get away once more.
And I will respond to this feeling by getting away as that is living well.