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Toiling away at our everyday jobs we tend to live for our vacations. Our day to day life is spent in windowless offices, warehouses, factories, and other dull and lifeless careers dreaming of vacation paradises. If we are lucky, we get two to three weeks a year of vacation but we may not have the money to go on a 'real' vacation.

Especially in todays world where the cost of vacations generally total in the thousands of dollars and the cost of living generally eats up most of our income. All that work and we just barely get by. One of my closest girl friends is a professional social worker in Minneapolis. I cannot count the number of years she and her daughter vacationed at home because they could not afford go anywhere. Now this may seem odd that a woman who earns $50,000 a year can't afford to holiday. But not if we look at where that income goes to. Modest house payments, auto payments, home repairs, food, utilities, cell phones, and health care can easily eat up $50,000 a year.

At 53 years old my friend had never taken a vacation, she escaped for weekends close by, but the money to holiday was just not there. She, like so many of us babyboomers, had been seduced in to longterm employment and career building that had been sold to us by the establishment. What the establishment failed to tell us was that it would cost more and more to just live and we would never really get to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

We see that fabulous vacation lifestyle on TV, in magazines, in movies, and in our daily newspaper. The room with a view never comes with the disclaimer that you will probably be lucky to sleep here once in your life.

In those vacations we dream of sand in our toes, snow capped mountains, rows of vineyards, and breath taking vistas combined with activity filled day. Hiking, snorkeling, fishing, wine tasting, swimming, sunning, or simply lounging in a flower filed valley reading. We long for down time and time to be creative as we slave at our jobs. Those days are sacred and to few in life, but we never really get them and when we do they are not long enough.

When we were young we were sold on a way to live and we believed in miracles. Each of us fantasized about the fabulous vacations we would have and the beautiful homes we would build. Those ideas were reinforced by 'sit com' families on TV. Didn't everyone get to live that way? The reality is 'no'. With 90% of the wealth held by 1% of the population, it quickly becomes apparent that we are going

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