some thoughts about vacations

Last year I did something that I will never do again. I took a two week vacation and did not go somewhere outside the island. I went to the beach, to the movies, spent some pretty cool mornings browsing through books at Borders. But I went back to work and it didn't feel like I had taken a vacation. I was rested, but I did not have that feeling of "I had a great time, but I am glad to be back to work."

Then this year I went to Miami and California for a couple of weeks and I realized how important it is to catch a plane and go somewhere. It doesn't have to be a place far away. It can be a short trip to a Caribbean island. And it doesn't have to be for a long time. It can be just for a couple of days. But one notices the difference.

Maybe its just the feeling of seeing a new place, seeing people you have never seen before. Maybe it's the realizing the diversity of cultures (and culture) that is out there but that we miss because we live on a small island. Or maybe, it is something as simple as the great feeling of waking up late in another city and just ordering room service and realizing that, indeed, one is on vacation.

So in a few days, I am taking a week off. And, for a second. I thought of staying around here. But no, I am leaving, just for a couple of days. Enough time to make me realize that I am really on vacation.