What Is Vacation, Anyway?

There are many reasons why I might not like vacations.  One is, simply, that at home I am surrounded by everything I love, not the least of which are my dogs & cats, who (usually) can't come with.  A second might be that I grew up quite poor, & didn't ever take vacations as a child.  It just wasn't something we did.  When my mother would go back to Germany - she took me once, when I was six - it was to visit her family.  When I went again, in 1992, at the age of 24, I was bored out of my mind.  I didn't speak German well, I didn't really know anyone there, & my mother was at home, so when I suggested sightseeing, she understood it to mean I was taking her away from being with her brother & sister & their kids.

When I finally started  going other places when I was in my twenties, I didn't understand a lot of the common things folk did on vacation.  First & foremost, flying seemed out of the questions.  Why fly when you could rent a car? Never mind that that took much, much longer - flying seemed a luxury.  Another thing: hotels.  When I drove to see my friend Dale in Los Angeles, in 1995, I dropped off my girlfriend in Moab, Utah (that's a long story), & made the trek across Utah & Nevada toward the Bay Area.  When it seemed obvious I wouldn't make it in one go, I didn't find a cheap motel outside Reno to hole up in - I slept in the car.

That was half my life ago.  Whether I am better or not about traveling is a matter of debate - my wife likes to boast she is always the last person on the plane, while just contemplating such a situation increases my blood pressure to dangerous levels.  Hotels remain a weird, uncomfortable place for me - & not just because someone else was sleeping here the night before - or bedbugs, or whatever,  but just because they're not places I was ever made familiar with as a kid.  & don't get me started about Air B&B!

Luckily my wife, who was raised in a more affluent family, navigates this world better than I do.  She has to put up with my anxieties (which she mocks me for) & my occasional nervous outburst, but she knows what she's doing & most importantly knows she's in charge.

As for enjoying the vacation - oh good lord, how does one do that?