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| Excite | 31% | 253 votes | Total: 811 votes | |
| Relax | 69% | 558 votes |
Excite
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Add to FavoritesThe idea of "vacation" dates back a long time, all the way to William the Conqueror. However, nobody cares very much about old William the Bastard these days, so we can push all that to the side: what is a vacation today? Obviously, a trip away from home; we "vacate" our house. But that doesn't help us very much: such a technical argument has no place in a piece about vacation. No, what we really care about is why people go on vacation.
This question is as old as time: why do we feel a need to "get away?"
Some go to see family, some go to escape stress, some go for the bikinis, others for the hiking. But everyone "goes." We can't just reduce the limitless "reasons" for vacation to just "excitement" or "relaxation," nor can we accept the Helium poll as a valid sampling of the whole population. The reasons for this are also limitless, but mostly it's just because of what we mean by excitement and by relaxation.
Most people do sleep in on vacation, and do relax. Obviously, nobody turns down a chance to "take it easy." But if all we wanted from a vacation was a chance to "take it easy," we could just lock ourselves in our house. Or we could go to unexciting places like Dalton, Georgia, home of the great American carpet industry. Now that would be relaxation: sit and lounge about in inland Georgia, in the city of rugs and carpets.
But we all know why that wouldn't be much of a vacation: because it would be boring. When we think of vacations, we think of going to the beach, or the mountains, or to an interesting city, or a summer home: places that evoke our sense of what is beautiful, what is alive, what is exciting. We do not vacation at a place for its dullness, but for its liveliness: for its inherent excitement. Yes, we sleep in. Yes, we relax. Yes, this is a fundamental part of a vacation. But when it comes time to decide if, how, where, and when we will go on vacation, the decisions are made in large part based on the potential for fun and excitement.
The problem with this question, and I suspect the reason most people chose "relaxation," is because of the associations of those words. Excitement screams of adventure, which seems difficult. When people think of excitement, they are more likely to think of kayaking, rock climbing, and roller coasters than swimming, hiking, or seeing beautiful places. Yet those things also excite us, they also make our blood flow at a more lively rate. Excitement is the spice of life, and we go on vacation for that spice, away from the dullness of the every-day life. Relaxation is best on the day after great fun: when we have run splashing through the waves, and then returned, and fling ourselves in the sun-warmed sand. We are able to relax and let go because we have released ourselves in excitement.
Learn more about this author, Lyman Stone.
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Relax
There is something magical about pulling back the covers of a king-size bed at a four-star hotel somewhere far away from home. This simple ritual, which usually occurs at the beginning of a vacation and continues each night for the duration of the getaway, is my personal starting point of the vacation. I can officially relax.
I'm not sure if it's the crisp, clean feel of linen sheets, the fact that someone else made this bed just for me, or the idea that come morning I have nowhere to go and no one to see that make it "ok" for me to relax. But what I do know is that vacations have become my way of escaping the drudgery of day-to-day living.
When I say that vacations have become my escape, I should be clear that there might have been a time in my life when excitement would have taken priority over relaxation when evaluating what type of vacation would bring me the most personal satisfaction. Today, with three kids, a demanding job and little free time to call my own, you might say I am "relaxation deprived".
That's what makes all of the bells and whistles at a top-notch resort worth it. Mints on the pillow, turned-down sheets, bathrobes and slippers, and an in-hotel spa are just a few of the details that carry me away from the stresses of my day to day life and into the realm of "care-free, relaxed vacation guy". My wife loves this guy, by the way. She wishes he would spend more time around the home for the other 50 weeks of the year when we're not traveling.
This is not to say that I am a grumpy, tightly wound stress case for the rest of the year. On the contrary, my wife and I have a wonderful and fulfilling relationship together and we love and dote on our three children. The drudgery of day-to-day living lies more in the mundane, joyless and even dreaded tasks, which come with the territory. Look, I am not telling you anything you don't already know. Filling out paperwork, going to meetings and logging into your computer on Monday morning are not what most normal people look forward to.
Therein lies the beauty of the vacation. It is an escape, a change from the everyday, a way to wipe the slate clean and come back energized and excited about life. Relaxing in a chaise lounge, sipping pina coladas and gazing out over the Pacific is the best way I can think of how to tune out all the noise that comes in our always-on, twenty-four seven world.
I am the first to admit that it's a vicious cycle. Though I am sure my wife already suspected, I came clean with her the other night that I am a travel addict. A junkie. At least I got that one off my chest. As soon as we get home from one vacation, it doesn't take me too long to start dreaming about the next one. Like a chronic user's drug of choice, it keeps me coming back for more. The complete relaxation that comes from a well-planned getaway is too much to resist.
Learn more about this author, Gordon Sumner.
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