Why We Are Happy Doing Very Little on Vacation

Matt and I are traveling overseas (more on that soon) for Thanksgiving and friends and family are naturally asking the question, ‘what will you guys do there?’ For some reason I always get a little defensive with this question because my response to this, and most vacations is, very little. Let me tell you why.

Why I Feel Defensive

Matt and I are off to Portugal next week. Friendly and colleagues are asking us what we will do there, and when I answer with basically nothing, I see a look of disappointment on their face. I see a what a wasted opportunity face, but to us it is not. Let me explain why.

Why We Do Very Little

Not Enough Quiet Time at Home

Matt and I have been in a part-time long-distance relationship since we met. He (and more recently in our marriage I) both travel quite a bit for work, shlepping on late night or early morning flights, staying at mediocre hotels and dealing with clients yelling at us all day. We come home to 3 dogs that require attention, so our quiet moments are minimal. I am not complaining and know we are fortunate in many ways, but life is hectic. We use vacation time for those quieter moments.

We Are Introverted

Hanging out in larger touristy areas doing activities sounds more stressful to us than relaxing. Not that we are against doing a few things like that on vacation, but we keep it to a minimum as returning home exhausted is not a goal of ours.

We like to Walk and Eat Our Way Around Vacation

Truthfully our favorite activity on vacation is walking aimlessly around a town. So many great shopping, photo and eating opportunities. This is an activity we could easily do at home, but we usually use our weekends to spend time with the babies and catch up on sleep. Most times by walking aimlessly we can come across the same stuff as a bus tour for free and without the people. If we see something interesting, we take a picture and look it up on Wikipedia instead of paying for a guide.

Random Places Also Have a Great Story

One of the reasons why I love oversea travel so much is quite often small towns, religious structures and buildings have just as much history as the more famous locations, but without the people. In Italy one can stroll in a Tuscan town such as Montepulciano, walk into a church and see a random Botticelli painting.

Never Apologize for Your Vacation

If you are someone who likes to wake up at 5am on vacation to go cliff diving, then power to you! If you want to ride around a bus visiting as many tourist destinations as possible, great! It is your vacation, do what satisfies you. My only caveat is don’t allow public pressure to influence your vacation destinations or activities. Go to the place and plan activities that will make you happy. Remember there is a huge financial interest in the tourism industry to sell activities, tours, and experiences. You don’t need to do them just to do them. If vacation to you is sitting on a lounger for 6 days and getting up for meals, have at it! If vacation is climbing a mountain, Godspeed!

Bon Voyage,

Andrew