Vacation Mode

It’s always great to go on vacation.  Vacation mode is the best.

This morning I started my day off waking up without an alarm.  Stunning views of the mountains.  Coffee.  Eggs.  Making pancakes, only to realize we have no butter or syrup.  Finding the syrup.  A small rejoice at the realization that pancakes were happening.  Turning the burner a little higher than you planned.  Eating crunchy pancakes with extra syrup.

A hike with friends.  Conversations about life, plans, and happiness.  Being out of breath repeatedly.  A snowball fight.  More beautiful views.  Our destination.  A dip in the lake, that some would call a polar plunge.  A trail run back with my beautiful wife, all down hill of course.  Laying on a giant rock waiting for your friends to come back.

Driving miles of unpaved roads and adventurous driving.  Meeting a woodchuck.  Amazing tacos, matched with crisp refreshing beer.  Stops at a book store, thrift store, and ice cream shop.  Butter and bacon.  A missed turn.  A refreshing shower.  A little iced coffee.  Planning for later, maybe even tomorrow.  I’m not sure I really care what’s next.  I’m just happy to be in vacation mode.

Vacation Mode, No Money No Problem

Today, tomorrow, maybe forever I’ll be in vacation mode.

Until this point and time money wasn’t mentioned one time.  I didn’t talk about savings rates, 401K plans, or paying off debt.  Instead I talked about something else.  Friends, mother nature, my beautiful wife, and few mentions of mouth watering food, maybe an al dente pancake, and refreshing drinks.

It’s funny to think about life a little more when you are in vacation mode.  An opportunity to get the weight off your back from work, relations, the push for consistency, and the concrete jungles that so many of us entertain as “our normal”.

Every time I am in vacation mode, nature show’s it’s beauty and the same thoughts cross my mind.  I begin to think and talk about how we are not meant to stare at a computer for 40+ hours a week, walk around our square built cities, and make it all about the money.

I’ve probably already said too much, bored too many of you, but sometimes my mind ends up in vacation mode.  I wonder if I’ll ever leave.