How do you vacation? Do you unwind or rewind?
Can you leave yourself at home? Is vacationing even a good idea to begin with!?!
After spending 10 days vacationing with friends – all under one roof – I am totally comfortable saying NO – we do not leave ourselves at home. Not only do we pack all of our stuff but we pack our shtick, too. Mine has a huge bag all its own.
After we arrive at our destination, we begin adapting to it. We begin indulging in each other’s neurosis. You do this in part because you have no choice, but also because you can morph each other’s neurosis to benefit the group. This is key to “group” vacationing.
If you are lucky, there’s one guest who simply can’t sit still. Immediately, assign them the role of Head Chef. This is a huge job, as it involves lots of planning and grocery shopping. Needless to say, they will be thrilled and everyone else’s desire for fabulous food is satiated. Next, find someone who likes to organize – doing dishes and laundry can help ease the organizer. Then there is the Blackberry, iPhone, laptop, and iPad addicted traveler. This one is easy to spot as they immediately unpack all of the devices and plug them in! Everyone in the group assists with making sure that these mechanical devices never go dead to avoid any melt downs or devastating withdrawals. Last but not least, we have the pacer – the overseer of everything. If you are lucky you get this job as you dabble in everything but don’t have to be responsible for anything.
It is a good thing we can’t leave ourselves behind, because too many laughs and memories would be missed!
