By Shae Hadden | Bio
Friends and family have been stressing the importance of taking vacations with me for years. I have somewhat deliberately avoided the conversation as much as possible until now. End result: a lifetime of little travel, lots of work and limited ‘fun’. All work and no play makes for a dull life. I’ve been beginning to wonder if perhaps I am afraid of taking vacations…for every time I think about it, my concerns about all the things that are remaining ‘undone’
I am always a little amazed and delighted when I discover something that I didn’t even know existed. The older I become, the more delighted I seem to be. For example, this week I’ve been having a vacation at home. Basically that means playing the tourist in the city where I live, going to new restaurants and generally wandering around. Someone recommended a new movie called “Across the Universe”—a musical about the 1960s written round the music of the Beatles. I never heard of the director,
Darlene and I have spent a couple of lovely days in Seville. I am learning about Spanish history—which is pretty bloody over all, but also has produced some incredible art and architecture. It is always amazing to me how we require a few days ‘off’ before we begin to unwind, relax and really ‘be’ on vacation. Having the Internet is a bit like cheating, but I am beginning to let go of other commitments for a bit and just take each day in stride.
We were having a conversation this afternoon
Perspective really is everything. When Barb and Jim tell friends they’re ‘out of town’, they’re not necessarily where you might expect them to be. They may actually be just down the street or in a neighbouring community in the cosmopolitan city in which they live. To this retired couple, being ‘away from home’ translates into days or weeks spent in someone else’s home, soaking up the ambience of the neighbourhood, re-creating days spent in foreign cities, immersing themselves in