I suppose the great irony of choosing not to pack something, of deciding that you absolutely do not need the extra pound or so in your bag, is that you will be wanting for it later. Perhaps not needing said nameless thing but really wanting it. My choice to not bring my Japanese textbook is currently being regretted. I, however, did manage to pack my multi-tool keychain, which I have never needed to use, and my other keychain which, according to the site from which it was purchased, can hold up to 300 lbs. No keys mind you. I left all those back at the house. Nope, just keychains without a key to chain. Sad really. Where as my textbook I could benefit from. I could learn something. Now all I can do is haul a dead animal into a tree possibly, or attach a sled to the back of a bus... Which might be kind of fun...
This is the very great problem with days off on an active vacation, the fact that it is time off. The idea that relaxation should happen during a vacation apparently confuses my parents. My mother in particular. God knows I love her but she manages to turn a time of unwinding and peace into a jungle of stress. Jungle. Like with monkeys. I will say this for her scheduling, we end up doing more in a day than some families get done in an entire vacation. And it is very fun. That having been said I disagree with the philosophy that things ought to get done on a vacation at all. The point, to me at least, is that there is no 'to do' list. It's a vacation, the reason I went is to not have to do anything.
That is the balancing act. You need to have enough to do so as not to be bored yet not so much that you need a second vacation to recover from your first. Vacations like the latter are unfortunate. You often feel so tired that you forget it was fun. Ruins the experience. This happened in Egypt. Too much to see and do in too short an amount of time. It really took me awhile to realize all of the cool things I had seen. The only downside to lazy vacations is that you sometimes feel unfulfilled. Which is equally dissatisfying.
The real chore, however, is the work prior to a vacation. Especially if you are making plans for activities. All of the calling, all of the planning. Budgets and rentals and this and that. Travel agents are the best. They do all that for you (and a little of this if you ask politely). You tell them what you want for how much you want it and they sell it to you. Sounds reasonable to me. The truly unfortunate part of going on vacation is that things don't just happen, not often anyway. Random people don't just invite you to go on dog sled rides for free. You don't just find a pair of skis and decide to do a couple of runs before breakfast (you could but the owners of the skis might have some unkind words for you). You have to make things happen. Often by paying for them to happen. You get the occasional good luck where something truly amazing happens where you happen to be standing. I remember when I was very young my mother and I went to a Pier of some sort while on vacation. We met a man who was crab fishing, he offered, without incentive, to show me how to crab fish. I got to pull up a crab. That is one of the very few instances where a wonderful experience happened to occur. Emphasis on few. I suppose this is a good life lesson for us all though: if you want something to happen you need to make it happen.
-K
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