Now, while “Adult Spring Break” might sound like something suited for the 18 and up crowd, that’s not what I had in mind when I decided to call my trip that. When I landed on “Adult Spring Break,” I meant a time to completely unplug and not think of/do one thing related to work. I thought back to what Spring Break was like as a kid – did I plan a day ahead or let my activities of the day depend on how I felt that day? Young SRS let weather and mood dictate my day’s activities, so I adopted this approach while in Paris for my “Adult Spring Break.”
There is something magical about wandering for days with no particular plan other than the one you are cooking up as you go. For my daily adventures, I also decided to use my phone as little as possible (thanks to reading Bored and Brillant). I would use my phone to capture only the most breathtaking images (it turns out there are fewer than you might think, even in Paris) and for directions if I really got lost. Otherwise, I would use my memory to soak in scenes and my mind to remember landmarks to get me back to my hotel. What I did use, and a lot, on my adventure, was my notebook – yes, an old school analog notebook and a pen (and I write in cursive, so there’s that, too…).
I used my notebook to capture things I saw and thought about throughout the day and the feelings they brought up for me. Interestingly, many people in Paris seemed to be doing a similar thing as I was—simply wandering about. I returned from my trip feeling inspired, refreshed, and surprisingly not too jet-lagged (I have a system for managing this; more on that in a future essay). As I shared my Spring Break experience with other adults, I learned that most people came back from their holidays tired – exhausted, actually. I also learned many people worked the entire time they were away and/or packed their calendars with so many activities that they never had the opportunity to unwind or the space to think and be (I’m a big fan of “being” vs. “doing,” especially on holidays).
My conversations with others and the fact that the “real” holiday season (Summer) is swiftly approaching led me to write this essay and pose the question—How do you holiday? By this, I do not mean where you go. However, the location can be critical to you feeling like you got what you needed out of your holiday, but how do you approach your holidays?
Do you get what you need from your holidays? If you want to rest, does your current approach to your time off deliver on that desire?
Do you use holidays for creative inspiration, general mind-wandering, or focused thinking time? If so, are you mindfully selecting locations that support those goals?
I encourage you to take a moment before you plan your summer holidays to answer the questions above to ensure your holidays truly serve the purpose you would like them to – which could include doing absolutely nothing.
