It’s been far too long since I took a proper vacation. I won’t get into all (any) of the details as to “why”, but … suffice it to say, it’s been over a decade. That’s (been) changing this year, due mainly to changing circumstances.
My new employer has a very … generous … PTO policy. This is largely due to it being an international company, based in the EU, so they need to hew to EU standards. And, rather than fine-tuning everything by location, they just have blanket policies. Now, because they are international, they also don’t really understand local holiday calendars so even “official” holidays have to come out of the same bucket, but still…
One other element of the policy is they have a strict “Use-It-Or-Lose-It” policy which resets on January 1. So all PTO must be fully used / accounted for or – POOF – it’s gone. With all of the holidays allocated, I found myself with a LOT of time left to “burn”,
Sure, I could’ve just put in for the time off and done a staycation, but that would just mean doing the same thing(s) I do at home anyway – just without working and (honestly) being as bored at home as usual. Yeah, I’d be reading and watching anime, but I’d be doing it in the exact same environment as always – which certainly isn’t very vacation-y.
Working My Way Up
For lots of the reasons I’m not getting into, I didn’t want to just jump into the deep end and potentially wind up with problems.
I decided to fall back on the tried-and-true method known as “long weekends”. I realize corporate culture has shifted a lot, but, “back in the day”, employees who had been with a company for a long time tended to accrue a lot of time off. And one way it was often spent was by “wrapping” a weekend, taking the Friday-before and Monday-after off. Instant four day vacation at the “cost” of only two days off.
First Stop: Central-ish Pennsylvania
My first “mini-vacation”, around the end of May, was just that. I booked a “real” B&B (Bed and Breakfast, not the “AirBnB” type), and headed out Friday morning to just outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
I did enjoy my time there (and the breakfasts delivered to my room were delicious), but I also discovered a few things. In Lancaster I was … too close to “civilization”. I definitely got some reading done, but, in retrospect, not nearly as much as I might’ve liked to. I also didn’t quite “unwind” the way I had hoped to.
But, even with that, it was a start, right? I spent an extended weekend away from home and … the world didn’t come crashing down on me.
That sounded a lot like a win to me.
Second Stop: Catskills / Hudson Valley, New York
Lately, my younger son, Z, has gotten very into hiking (both solo and with friends). I don’t remember exactly how it came about, but I suggested he look at some possible trails and such in the Catskills. He was interested and was thinking of doing a few trails in a fairly concentrated area.
Since I knew I wanted to do another long weekend, I offered to figure out an AirBnB and then he, a friend of his, and I could stay there. Then, he could enjoy more than just “drive to trail from home, hike, return home”. He liked the idea, so that was the plan, targeting early July. This time, the “long weekend” started on Thursday, but ended on Sunday. It wasn’t wrapped the same way, but it still was combined with a weekend.
Since this was an AirBnB, breakfast was not delivered to the door, but the location had a full kitchen, so breakfast was on each of us to figure out. [Typically, he was out the door early to get to a trail and then we’d meet back up for lunch and/or dinner.] A large part of this trip was that we would both be “doing our own thing”, and we would just be living in the same space – much like we usually do at home.
What Next?
And that brings me to “Now”. Remember how I said Z’s really gotten into hiking? He’s also trying to get a lot of “recreational activities” done because he’s about to start his last year in college. Oh, and he works full-time as well.
One thing he mentioned, a few weeks ago, was how he’d really like to go hiking in one of the National Parks, and he was thinking of taking a week off from work before school resumes in September to do so. Unfortunately, the region centered on New Jersey doesn’t really have any. The nearest ones are in Maine and Virginia … and he’d already done at least one hike with friends in Shenandoah. In looking around more, he contemplated the Smoky Mountains National Park as a possible location. And, specifically, the entrance he was thinking of using is the one in Gatlinburg, TN. The problem is that it’s a LOOOONG drive from New Jersey – around 10+ hours behind the wheel.
I happen to enjoy driving, and always have since I first got my license. While not recently, I’ve done 8+ hour drives (solo or with my mother, when I was younger) with no issues.
We talked about it and, since this would also be a legitimate chance for me to do a “real vacation” (not just an extended weekend), we agreed that we’d both go. We’ll take one car and swap off as needed. While we’re there, he’ll use the car to get to and from hiking. Meanwhile, I can stay at the AirBnB and read, or use alternate transportation (ride-share or the trolleys) to get around.
So – You’re Going to Tennessee?
We have the AirBnB(s) booked. [It’s two because we’d originally planned on Monday-through-Sunday, and booked that. And then I did a mental double-take and realized we should just head down on the first Saturday. Then we get an extra two days on-site – with more time to actually enjoy the area together.]
Yesterday (Friday), we both had the realization of “Oh, wow … our vacation is only a week away!”
Needless to say, we’re both very excited about it – even to the extent of trying to figure out specifically what we want to do there (aside from him hiking) to make sure: 1) we don’t just twiddle our thumbs with “I dunno; what do you want to do?”; and, 2) we get a chance to do all the things that we know we want to.
What will this trip hold? I have no idea. But I think I can safely say that the pictures are going to be spectacular.
