Many people seem to take vacations every summer. Our family never seemed to, though. Growing up, my friends would always go somewhere each summer and then when school started the following year the teacher would always have us write papers about what we did over the summer, and they’d always have these stories to tell. I can really only remember a few places that we went. I’m not sure why. I think maybe my parents just didn’t like to travel much. It seems that people do the same things into adulthood, too. Most of my coworkers take a vacation each summer, but I never really have. As I’m approaching middle age, now, I think it’s time I change that habit!
This summer I’m going to go somewhere and do something awesome. I still haven’t decided where I want to go, although I am leaning very heavily toward this luxury surf resort in Costa Rica I read about. Basically it’s a little resort you go to for a week and learn to surf, except when you’re not surfing you can chill on the beach, go shopping, get massages, and just relax and enjoy the scenery. So it’s basically like a tropical vacation designed around learning to surf.
Growing up in a non-coastal state it’s not like I really ever had the opportunity to go surfing. I’ve seen people doing it on TV but that’s about it. I have a few friends who have gone surfing and they said it’s tons of fun. So I figure why not give it a try? It will be like a combo of going on vacation and learning to do something that I’ve always wanted to do.
Then when people at work ask me “where was your last vacation?” I’ll actually have an awesome story to tell them other than “uh… I don’t really go on vacation that much. Saving that PTO.” Actually, I have used a bunch of my PTO at work but it was usually because I had something I needed to do at home or because I wanted to visit someone who lived far away, but neither of those really classifies as a “vacation.” My company has a “user it or lose it” policy regarding PTO anyway, so I figured I need to use it for something. It’s be silly to let paid time off expire. I might as well just take a staycation and have a Star Trek marathon or something so at least I’m using it up!