So whats the prime focus of a vacation. Getting away from it
all. Yes and no. getting away from it all is important. You cant really face the
stress of everyday living on a vacation. You like to go away, forget the daily
grind and enjoy life a bit. So getting away is important. But another one is
trying to bond and spend time with family. That’s an important one for Jasmine
and me. For us vacation is family time. Spending time with each other and
spending time with Jispa. Full on family time. We like to do things together
and hence we end up searching for stuff that allows everybody to be together. Of
course that means that we elders can get really really bored trying to do
things that the kid enjoys because you can’t really expect eth kid to
understand stuff that parents enjoy. So invariably it becomes a kid centered
vacation. I understand why my mom once told that she is now completely bored of
seeing zoos. Everywhere we went she and daddy would just take us to the zoo.
Yup. It does get boring after a while. Where
all have we visited zoos. From the more interesting ones at Singapore and
Mysore to the more tiring one at Junagadh. We have been everywhere. Go to a
city and check – zoo? Yup we are coming. One full hot day gone. Man it’s a good
thing that Jispa is growing up. I am nearly totally done with zoos.
This time around in London as well. I was completely tired
of them. I was going through the motions. Trying my best to enjoy the dam zoo,
but it just wasn’t fun enough. Also the fact is that Singapore zoo is far
better than the London zoo and once you have done that London doesn’t come
close. It does seem to me that Singapore copied the London zoo model and taken
it to another level altogether. It’s great and I was awestruck by it. So I honestly
hope and pray that is my last zoo experience to come for a long time.
But the point I am trying to make is slightly different. Jasmine
and I often discuss this. There are many of our friends who leave their kids
and go on vacations. The kids stay with the grandparents while the couple takes
off. That’s also a cool vacation but we just don’t understand it. I would want
to spend every time I get off with Jispa and Jasmine together. Of course the
dumb ass zoos come with the package but there are so many other benefits as
well. There is so much to talk to them, listen to them, have conversations and
have fun. Jispa is integral to the whole thing. I guess will grow older without
the chance to do many fun young stuff that young adults can do. But it would
have still been fun. I probably started working early, got married, became a
father before I got the money to do what I could have done as a young adult,
but hey, the joy of growing up with Jispa was unparalleled. So Jasmine and I just
can’t understand the others who go out for vacations without kids. But then
eacht o their own. Who am I to pass judgement.
The other thing about vacations is – luxury. Of course as
income goes up the kind of money one spends also goes up. We don’t travel by
second non AC sleeper trains anymore. That is too much. The loos and the crowd
and the dirt are probably too much to handle. And if the trains aren’t convenient
a flight booking is in order. But I think I want to draw the line as far as a
complete luxury holiday is concerned. I FOR NOW… don’t want a holiday in which
the family goes to a resort of sorts and stay at ease for a week, eating ,
drinking and relaxing. I don’t have anything against the five stars. I think
they are pretty cool and nice to be pampered, but I am not too sure on the pampering
thing for us. There is so much learning to be had just by staying in slightly
less sterile environments. You stay close to the city, you meet and talk to
more people, you take the train and public transport, you walk around… the
works. That’s the fun bit. When we stayed in London we stayed at a friends
place. She opened the doors of her home and heart to us. That was the only
reason we could afford a London vacation for as many days. It’s impossible otherwise.
But in hindsight, that was the smartest move we made. I think vacations are as
much about learning as much about relaxing. You go around, you meet, you see,
you explore and you learn. You learn about people, cultures, nature, and life. Everything
about things you weren’t exposed to. In London, staying at a friend’s place
gave us a sneak peek into the life of an everyday Londoner. What’s the commute what’s
the life and what normal people do. Taking the train and the bus to reach home
gave Jispa a real feel of London and its people. That is important. She all
sorts of people in the tube, she saw all the different types of stations, she
changed trains and understood how efficient and organized it is. That’s the
learning bit and who said learning can’t be fun. Staying with our friend in the
end is what made the trip extra memorable and FUN.
I admit I was being a
bit judgmental or a bit of an ass when a friend was asking me about my
vacation and I replies “well, we have a choice either to go on a one week luxury
vacation and come back dumber or go on a different vacation and come back
smarter”. I am not saying that every vacation has to be a boot camp but hell,
going out and feeling the city is a great thing to do. Leaning may be as
important as anything else in a vacation. It doesn’t cost too much to open your
eyes. In fact in hindsight I’d say it’s far better a call then a five star. Money
can make people do many things. Losing touch with reality is probably one of
them. But hell, when you are rich – do you really care about reality? You can
afford not :)
No comments:
Post a Comment