A few weeks ago I was sharing with a friend that I didn't like to vacation. She was appalled. Here I am, a Travel Tourism expert and I don't vacation. It's true. It really isn't my cup of tea. I would MUCH rather move someplace and treat most of my days, even when I am working, as vacation. Which is what I do now and what I have always done. When you live in a vacation destination it is always happy - or at least there is the option of finding something or nothing to do that makes you happy.
If I look back at why I don't like to vacation there are probably three culprits. One, I work in the travel industry and that puts a bit of the charm out the window. If you are constantly working with lodging owners, shop owners, and travel professionals that are griping about tourists, well, you don't want to be one. Plus, seeing the other side takes a bit of the magic off the idea of vacationing.
I also didn't come from a big vacationing family. Sure, my dad was a teacher so he had the summer off, but we didn't really do anything. In fact, I spent most of my elementary school years playing school in the summer. We would go off to Montana once in a while to see his mom, but she died when I was 9 so that didn't last long. We vacationed once when I was a baby, I have been told. Our VW bus broke down and we were stranded somewhere in Central or Northern California and we lived - yes LIVED - with some old man for a week or so before our part came in. A complete stranger took this family of hippies in - I think at some point my mother and I took a bus back home and cried the whole way home. Great trip. Glad I don't remember it.
Then there is the money. Not having a lot and paying for everything in cash makes vacationing hard. Sure, you can do it on the cheap, but that isn't fun either. Plus, I couldn't dive into the personality of a town or location in a week. I need more time to get the real feel of an area, of the people, the food, the vibe. I am slow to get accomodated and need to sink myself in completely. So, moving is my only real option... the Slow Food version of vacationing, I guess.
I'm not particulary sad about my lack of vacation status. I feel good knowing what I like and what I don't. I understand that others love it, and in my profession I like to give them what they are looking for: that sense of happiness that they are trying to attain. That happiness that I get to experience every single day because I live in my vacation land!