It's only de rigueur, to return more centred after a vacation. You can't visit an exotic island and come back, having learnt nothing new about yourself. Even if all you learnt was that sand, really does get in uncomfortable places and tan lines are beautiful only on the beach.
Here are my pearls of wisdom :
1. There is something called Vacation Lighting- Much like soft lighting, it makes everything you wear and everybody around, look just that much better. It also makes decision making, hazier- like trusting a fruity drink with a flower in it ( The Beach's answer to hard liquor). Think about it, when have you made fluid, floppy decisions under fluorescent lighting?
Vacation Lighting is beautiful and dangerous. As all beautiful things are.
2. A bongo playing hippy lives in all of us - Even the Suits. Maybe you will recognize them getting massages bare chested, with slim ties on. But, there is a collective effect that vacation goers have on one another. Suddenly, even the most in control, type A personality can be seen dancing with other people.
This effect is escalated if you travel in a group, or as backpackers. Most conversations begin in hoots and only conclusively end in high fives.
3. There is life meaning everywhere- Even those who are completely content with their jobs (who are you? And if you're reading this during office hours- you know you're not), stumble onto some form of life lessons, while on holiday.
Unlike, regular life, these lessons seem to serendipitously occur everywhere. From street signs to random doodles on beach shack napkins.
It was only this trip, that a woman tore across the beach yelling, "that's it I QUIT". Rumor has it, her waiter served her a pudding with a small message scrawled in chocolate sauce- You can do it.
Cynics would argue, that these signs can be found even in your everyday life. But really, when you're rushing to finish that power point presentation in Tahoma, who has the time to look for messages from the Universe.
4. It's only special, because it didn't last forever - One of the much abused and over used words in most young people (I forget if we are gen x/y/z) lexicon is forever. I will love you, forever.
This movie is my favorite, ever.
No, it is not, young lady. Now put that down and go eat your greens.
What makes a holiday special, is that it gets over. There was a definitive end in sight, which let you carpe diem each day with reckless abandon and too little sunscreen. No matter how beautiful the island, how tropical the fish, if you had to stay there, forever- the chinks in the armour would only be too obvious.
Other vacationers would irritate you, and career choices would be limited to
Open a beach shack
vs.
Open a beach shack and bar.
The magic truly lies in the impending demise of these days. You take more pictures, smile a whole lot more, forgive, otherwise irritating, habits of your travel companions, and finally, find a zen place.
5. Honey, I told her she wasn't that important - Because, you're really not. None of us are. Neither are the daily crises we are always entangled in.
There is something bigger, better, more beautiful out there. You could find it in oddly coloured corals at the bottom of the sea-bed, or in late night conversations under the starlit sky.
This has to be the most reassuring thought- I'm not that important. Neither are these problems. Not today, anyway.
" I must down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life.
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over"
- Masefield
Here are my pearls of wisdom :
1. There is something called Vacation Lighting- Much like soft lighting, it makes everything you wear and everybody around, look just that much better. It also makes decision making, hazier- like trusting a fruity drink with a flower in it ( The Beach's answer to hard liquor). Think about it, when have you made fluid, floppy decisions under fluorescent lighting?
Vacation Lighting is beautiful and dangerous. As all beautiful things are.
2. A bongo playing hippy lives in all of us - Even the Suits. Maybe you will recognize them getting massages bare chested, with slim ties on. But, there is a collective effect that vacation goers have on one another. Suddenly, even the most in control, type A personality can be seen dancing with other people.
This effect is escalated if you travel in a group, or as backpackers. Most conversations begin in hoots and only conclusively end in high fives.
3. There is life meaning everywhere- Even those who are completely content with their jobs (who are you? And if you're reading this during office hours- you know you're not), stumble onto some form of life lessons, while on holiday.
Unlike, regular life, these lessons seem to serendipitously occur everywhere. From street signs to random doodles on beach shack napkins.
It was only this trip, that a woman tore across the beach yelling, "that's it I QUIT". Rumor has it, her waiter served her a pudding with a small message scrawled in chocolate sauce- You can do it.
Cynics would argue, that these signs can be found even in your everyday life. But really, when you're rushing to finish that power point presentation in Tahoma, who has the time to look for messages from the Universe.
4. It's only special, because it didn't last forever - One of the much abused and over used words in most young people (I forget if we are gen x/y/z) lexicon is forever. I will love you, forever.
This movie is my favorite, ever.
No, it is not, young lady. Now put that down and go eat your greens.
What makes a holiday special, is that it gets over. There was a definitive end in sight, which let you carpe diem each day with reckless abandon and too little sunscreen. No matter how beautiful the island, how tropical the fish, if you had to stay there, forever- the chinks in the armour would only be too obvious.
Other vacationers would irritate you, and career choices would be limited to
Open a beach shack
vs.
Open a beach shack and bar.
The magic truly lies in the impending demise of these days. You take more pictures, smile a whole lot more, forgive, otherwise irritating, habits of your travel companions, and finally, find a zen place.
5. Honey, I told her she wasn't that important - Because, you're really not. None of us are. Neither are the daily crises we are always entangled in.
There is something bigger, better, more beautiful out there. You could find it in oddly coloured corals at the bottom of the sea-bed, or in late night conversations under the starlit sky.
This has to be the most reassuring thought- I'm not that important. Neither are these problems. Not today, anyway.
" I must down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life.
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over"
- Masefield
(Photo credit: Moi. Ko Samui, July, 2012)
It's very nicely written.. just returning from a vacation I can relate to each bit precisely! :)
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