jenett: Big and Little Dipper constellations on a blue watercolor background (Default)
jenett ([personal profile] jenett) wrote2013-08-14 09:45 am

Eleventh salon: What makes a vacation a vacation?

Welcome to the eleventh salon! Wander in, invite a friend to come along, and chat! (Not sure what's going on? Here, have a brief FAQ.) You can find previous ones in my salon tag. Please take a quick look at the reminders at the bottom of this post, too.

I am now on vacation, so you get vacation question, round two!

What makes a really great vacation for you? Are you a person who just wants to sleep and recuperate and drink thing with little frilly umbrellas in them? Do you want to go to interesting and unfamiliar places and explore the world? Do you want to do this with other people or on your own?

My usual vacation is either "Stay home and get things done on projects" or "Go visit people I like in place I am not currently living". The current vacation is the latter, though not in my most usual place for it, and I'm contemplating what it would take to go do two weeks in England in the fall of 2014. (which would be a Go See All The Things vacation, for slightly odd values of 'Things' because I've already seen most of the obvious tourist things, and have a very specific "This museum and that place" set of goals.

(I am currently in a room filled with interesting and fascinating people in person, and there will be other people around tonight, so comment replies slightly slower than usual.)

Quick reminders

- [personal profile] jjhunter did a great guide to following conversations here on Dreamwidth. Also a roundup of regular Dreamwidth events.
- If you want to post anonymously, please pick a name (any name you like) that we can call you - it makes it more conversational and helps if we have more than one anon post.
- Base rule remains "Leave the conversation better than you found it, or at least not worse". If you're nervous about that, I'd rather you say something and we maybe sort out confusion later than have you not say something. (I've heard from a few people who worry they're going to say something that's going to be taken weirdly. If it helps, I am usually around and if there's a thing you'd like to get out in the conversation, but you're not sure how, feel free to PM or email or IM me, and I'll nudge the conversation that direction.)
- The FAQ still has useful stuff, and I added some thoughts about getting conversations going a few weeks ago.
- Comments tend to trickle in over the course of a day or two, with a few nearly a week later: you might enjoy checking back later if you're not tracking the conversation.
alexseanchai: Katsuki Yuuri wearing a blue jacket and his glasses and holding a poodle, in front of the asexual pride flag with a rainbow heart inset. (Default)

[personal profile] alexseanchai 2013-08-14 02:25 pm (UTC)(link)
It's not a vacation if there isn't some chance for relaxation. Obviously that's different person to person, but for me, staying home on vacation week means I'm evading the stress of work but not of home. (I live with my parents. So do all my siblings. My brother and I are saving up for places of our own, but it's gonna be a while.) I've got to get out, or else it's not a vacation.

My tentative plans for vacation next year are a week off at the beginning of the summer to either visit friends in Pittsburgh (six-hour drive thataway, not counting rest and food stops) or go to Shenandoah National Park (five-hour drive thataway, ditto) and spend a week doing nothing but writing, and then a week off at the end of the summer to do the other one. I'm hoping to someday have enough money that I can take two weeks to explore Ireland.
alexseanchai: Katsuki Yuuri wearing a blue jacket and his glasses and holding a poodle, in front of the asexual pride flag with a rainbow heart inset. (Default)

[personal profile] alexseanchai 2013-08-14 03:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Cat, computer, and pleasant apartment all to myself sounds like paradise.