The Staycation: Not My Cup of Tea

I took vacation time from work in early March, when I learned that my mother would be out of town for the week and childcare would be dicey. In order to save money, I decided that it would be oh-so-smart to go the practical route and stay home (after much back and forth about taking a vacation to somewhere new and fun, hemming and hawing over where to go and how long to stay). 

The idea of the Staycation appeals to many; lounging around the house, maybe getting stuff done that has been bugging you for a while, perhaps taking a day trip to the coast or visit the aquarium with the kids. I can stand that crap for about one day before I am bored out of my mind and pacing the halls like a tiger at the zoo. I don't procrastinate very often, so I don't feel like I have a million "projects" at home that I need to complete. Being home all day for a week sounds like a good way to go out of my mind, whilst pretending to be productive and accomplished in the name of saving money. Both of my parents, but my dad especially, are terrible at being bored and are not into staying home for too long, so the apple does not fall too far from the airplane. I love getting out and going places a whole lot more than I should given that I am not independently wealthy, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to change. 

So Jon and I planned a long week off to stay home and putter around and be productive and righteous and all sorts of good things. Facing this unbearable reality, the other day I did the only logical thing I could do in these circumstances: I panicked and booked us tickets to Florida. We leave on Saturday. I am officially the WORST staycationer on the face of the earth. Key West here we come!

The New Relationship Heads Overseas...

So I just realized that I never followed up on our weekend away to Guadeloupe. Well, three weeks have gone by and it feels as far away as anything, but it was a wonderful weekend, to say the least. Guadeloupe is a beautiful island (as many of them are) where they don't really speak anything other than French (hilarious watching us work out how to buy a bag of ice in the grocery store), and where they have the absolute WORST rum I have ever tasted (something about the distilling process, Jon explained it in detail but I couldn't retain enough to tell you properly). Despite those two annoying realities, we had an AMAZING time (not a shock). We swam, drank imported rum in the sand (hooray for grocery stores), and ate spectacular crepes (how we managed to order those crepes is still a mystery to me). We almost missed our flight home due to comical circumstances, and we solidified the truth that we love to travel together (also not a shock).

It was interesting traveling with a partner for the first time in forever. My ex and I routinely did not go places together, as he did not like to leave the house, and I enjoyed escaping our unhappy reality to wherever I could. So this trip involved not only traveling some place new, but seeing how compatible we are in a foreign circumstance. Unsurprisingly, we got along splendidly. We also learned some new and valuable bits of information about each other that will be useful as we further our relationship, as some information can only be revealed in the most extraordinary circumstances (i.e. I do not like to miss a meal. Like, ever. And apparently I'd never shared that with Jon before, eek! As it turns out, he can go approximately 75 hours on a handful of almonds and not complain once. Bionic. Good to know). All in all, we are extremely compatible, and compliment each other very well. More importantly, we enjoy going places together, and we want the same things out of most of our trips, so planning a new trip is exciting and fun, a complete 180 from the life I once lived. It really is a dream come true.

So onto our next journey, which isn't happening until April, but stay tuned for the next installment, I'm sure it only gets better from here.