by Alexandra Heep

Created on: March 10, 2008   Last Updated: August 10, 2008

I think that people go on vacation primarily for excitement, even if they think it will be about relaxation. Vacations at one time used to be about relaxation and doing nothing, so people could go back to work refreshed. Now it seems that it has become a competition of some sorts. If you turn on the TV, you can see that everything recently has been turned into a rivalry, from cooking to weddings.

Vacationing appears to be no exception. Now people are interested in how many events and sights to see you can cram into the few days you manage to get off work, and what kind of pictures you can bring back to turn your co-workers and friends green with envy. In turn, that can make those co-workers and friends frantically plan next years vacation, seeing if they can out-do you.

Planning a vacation may have people thinking about laying on a white sandy beach sipping drinks with umbrellas. However, in the end, even if they did not plan it that way, it usually turns out to be about how much excitement they can have.

Since I have never been on a real vacation (I don't think long weekends count in this context), I can only speculate on why they would want excitement and activities on a vacation. I guess people with boring jobs and daily routines would probably seek out on adventure.

Also, in the case of kids, I guess parents feel like they need to provide them with stuff to do. Laying on a beach reading a book obviously does not seem to work for kids. They probably want to live a vacation out similar to their favorite video games. In addition, we all know that after coming back from vacation, the first thing people at home will ask is: "So, what did you do?"

The media of course tends to advertise vacations in a package deal as well, which equals excitement. Even a beach vacation includes images of surfing, sailing, visiting amusement parks, snorkeling, etc. Most cruise ships as well have schedules of things to do, and they will even schedule dinner and socialization times.

I also wonder if all the excitement and planning of activities simply serve to cover the fact that some families plainly are afraid of quiet time with each other. I speculate that if they don't schedule their day until they can fall into their hotel beds exhausted, they may find that they don't know each other as well as they think they do and are afraid to find that out.

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